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There is an inherent risk in virtue.
A thousand cautionary tales are told,
of kindness meeting unscrupulous response.
Mercy does not always beget mercy.
And he who demonstrates charity,
for the sake of reciprocity,
flirts with disappointment,
and will soon make her acquaintance.
Yet, a nation remains,
in no small measure,
an aggregate
of what we each
have cultivated
ourselves to become.
And we ought never hope
to extricate virtue from culture,
the latter, often reflecting
the style, manner and practice,
of the former.
Consequently,
the leadership of a nation,
the preservation of a society,
commands a higher calling,
than simply safe-guarding
the brick and mortar
which house its institutions,
and adorn its landscape.
Since,
he who would
wantonly inflict misery,
for the sake of security,
has reduced living
to the interlude
between life and death.
A thousand cautionary tales are told,
of kindness meeting unscrupulous response.
Mercy does not always beget mercy.
And he who demonstrates charity,
for the sake of reciprocity,
flirts with disappointment,
and will soon make her acquaintance.
Yet, a nation remains,
in no small measure,
an aggregate
of what we each
have cultivated
ourselves to become.
And we ought never hope
to extricate virtue from culture,
the latter, often reflecting
the style, manner and practice,
of the former.
Consequently,
the leadership of a nation,
the preservation of a society,
commands a higher calling,
than simply safe-guarding
the brick and mortar
which house its institutions,
and adorn its landscape.
Since,
he who would
wantonly inflict misery,
for the sake of security,
has reduced living
to the interlude
between life and death.
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