Today is Abraham Lincoln’s birthday. I remember when we celebrated this birthday on his actual birthday, in school, with lots of information and details about his wondrous life and what he did as president. I loved it, even as much as Valentines day. Honest Abe we called him. And we heard stories about his log splitting, his politicking on trains, and even the growth of the beard as suggested by a young girl.
Then, of course, we also celebrated George Washington’s birthday, on his real birthday, too. His real birthday is February 22. We heard from our school teachers about him cutting down the cherry tree and then telling his dad “I cannot tell a lie!” and other tidbits of his true character. These two men were great examples to us, not only of honesty, but also of strength of character, overcoming obstacles, facing daunting problems.
A few posts back, I quoted a statement by Thomas Carlyle. Perhaps you’ll remember that he was a Scottish philosopher, writer, essayist, historian, and teacher. Here’s another quote from Carlyle that I think you’ll like:
While George Washington was laboring away trying to convince the soldiers under his command to be vigilant and courageous, he was joined in camp by a patriotic writer named Thomas Paine. Paine had written a booklet, “Common Sense”, that gave men more insight into the blessings of freedom and liberty.
OK. After the shenanigans in Iowa, and the politician sounding more like politicians than like real Americans, I am more convinced than ever that we need a businessman at the head of the country, rather than more politicians.
Yes, I usually find a story about one of the Founders of our Nation to report about in our blog. But today I found a quote that I believe George Washington, because of his “Rules of Civility,” and Benjamin Franklin, because of his “Plan for Moral Perfection,” and even Thomas Jefferson, because of his love of literature, would adopt and accept as worthy of acceptation.
My wife has been asking me what I want to do now that I’m retired. The other night I woke up at about 2 or 2:30 with a thought on my mind. It seemed important to me at that time in my groggy condition. So what did I do? I got out of bed, went into my office, found a scrap of paper and a pencil and wrote down my thought.
I always think it’s interesting that George Washington solemnly stated that it would be unwise to have political parties. He thought we should all be Americans and want what’s best for America. Little did he know that Americans disagreed on that score more than on the weather.
It’s interesting how much emphasis and importance all of the Founders put in the idea of Freedom and Liberty. They even warned us to take good care of the things they left for us.