One can never be 100% certain when it comes to family lineage. One must always keep an open mind, willing to go wherever the facts may lead.
Love is a powerful thing. It transcends time and place. If you’re looking for immortality, love long and love well. The rest will take care of itself.
The truth is the truth. Denying it doesn’t make it go away.
Fantasy, myth, legend, truth – all are intertwined in the story that is Scotland.
New generations recognize, money is just a plaything. The new bottom line is humanity itself.
Wisdom is finding the path that is best for all – considering the options, the positives and the negatives – and having the courage to change what must be changed for the sake of the entire world.
Through the various branches of your tree, you are connected to the entirety of human history. When we talk about the ancient Egyptians building the pyramids, we’re not talking about a bunch of exotic strangers, we’re talking about our great-great-many-times-great grandparents!
Love is kindness, compassion, generosity, empathy, respect, understanding, forgiveness and sacrifice: the very best in us.
Public condemnation goes a long way in establishing what is and what is not acceptable in a society. The public good will prevail if the public demands it.
Truth is the greatest enemy of tyrants everywhere.
Doing the right thing, surrendering our short-term self-interest to serve the needs of the whole, has never been easy for humankind, but now, more than ever, that is exactly what we must do. Future generations are counting on us.
I have embraced Robert Burns and his beloved Scotland. I have heard the music of the authentic mother tongue. I have walked where he walked, lived where he lived, if only for a brief time, and seen where he died and where he was finally laid to rest. The ghost of Rabbie Burns will continue to walk beside me. And when I am gone, I will walk beside others who fight for the cause of truth.
While most of our major religions acknowledge the truth of universal brotherhood, too many human beings are still hanging on to their hate and fear of “the other.” We have created our own misery. We can also heal ourselves through kindness, cooperation, compassion, generosity, forgiveness, honesty, understanding and sacrifice. The choice is ours.
Every creature has a right to be on this Earth. Who am I to disrupt the natural order? “Respect” is a good word worth handing down to our children.
I am not a skin color. I contain all of humanity in my heart and my mind, my flesh, my blood and my bones, and I am proud of that fact. You should be, too.
Only through love will we find our way to create a world worthy of our children and our grandchildren.
Ultimately, the great truths of family history don’t live in any book. They live in the hearts and minds of the living descendants. They live in the way we conduct our lives, in the passing of traditions and values to those who will follow.
Dare to find your own truth, despite what others say, then have the courage to live it.
Poetry is not life. Life is poetry.
Glorious creation, so easy to destroy, yet the palette of possibility somehow prevails.