Manhood

Takes more than combat gear to make a man
Takes more than a license for a gun
Confront your enemies, avoid them when you can
A Gentleman wil walk but never run

Modesty, propriety can lead to notoriety
You could end up as the only one
Gentleness, sobriety are rare in this society
At night a candle's brighter than the sun

If, "Manners maketh man" as someone said
Then he's the hero of the day
It takes a man to suffer ignorance and smile
Be yourself no matter what they say

On Friends and Fire

Humans need each other for warmth. Which comes with pain, like fire does. We're here to learn to deal with that.
- an email from a friend

Tough Guy

My heart moved through deep and silent water. No one, and nothing, could really hurt me. No one, and nothing, could make me very happy. I was tough, which is probably the saddest thing you can say about a man.
- Gregory David Roberts, Shantaram

Paramount, NY, 9:34 A.M.

In the morning tiny bells go off
that light a darkened path
Reluctant as pinpricks
dawn pierces sleep
with nimble fingers
I am unwoven
the rich yoke of slumber
unraveled thread by thread
until I am naked and glistening
standing before the newness
of another day
a tiny form birthed of white linen
and restless dreams

- from "A Night Without Armor" a book of poems by Jewel

Free Will

It took me a long time and most of the world to learn what I know about love and fate and the choices we make, but the heart of it came to me in an instant, while I was chained to a wall and being tortured. I realized, somehow, through the screaming in my mind, that even in that shackled, bloody helplessness, I was still free: free to hate the men who were torturing me, or to forgive them.
- first sentences of the novel Shantaram, by Gregory David Roberts

She'll Always Have A Special Place

"She saved my life."
"What do you mean! What did she do, take a bullet for you or something?"
"In a sense. Sometimes life is a bullet."
- anonymous conversation

How To Tackle A Demon

"You know what old Jack Burton always says at a time like this?"
"Who?"
"Jack Burton- me. I always say, what the hell."
- Jack Burton before attacking 2,000 year old chinese demon Lo Pan, Big Trouble in Little China