The Showbear Family Circus
was a big tent that may rise again one day.
Subscribe to the mailing list to know when we go live again:
Below you’ll find first the archive of what we published and then something of our vision and guiding mission below that. We hope to do this again some day, we currently simply do not have the horsepower to pull it off. It’ll take a full time editor, which will take many, many more subscriptions.
- It would take 188 patron subscriptions or gift subscriptions
- It would take 1,200 regular subscriptions or gift subscriptions
The Archive of what we’ve published in The Showbear Family Circus follows:
The Showbear Family Circus ended up publishing over 500 pieces from some 400 contributors. It seemed better to bracket off everything in a sort of linked archive than to simply say, “Search for everything published between late 2019 and early 2022.” This way folks can categorically browse through it all:
Essay + Academic.
- Hamlet’s Moral Philosophy: The Key to Unlocking Shakespeare’s Own Ethics by Aleah Dye
- Boumediene v. Bush: Unanswered Issues and Current Moral Codification by Camille Wilk
- THE EVOLUTION OF ECOLOGICAL ATTITUDES AS REPRESENTED IN AMERICAN LITERATURE by Trenton Mabey
- Modern Domestic Relations Civil Debt in the United States, Human Rights Considerations by Donald Guadagni
- Anselm Kiefer’s “Oh Stalks, Your Stalks, Oh Stalks of the Night”
posthumously by Michelle Mitchell-Foust, rest in peace - Homelessness in Santa Cruz, California and the Quest for Community
Jacob Moniz - George MacDonald against Hans Urs von Balthasar on Universal Salvation
Jordan Daniel Wood - Mr. Shit Meets the Cargo Cult Called Capitalism
John Hawkins - Beyond Belief: Harry Houdini in the Age of Alternative Facts
Gabriela Valencia - The Misconception of Machiavelli by : Alicia Basilica
- The Evangelical Abolitionists and the Rhetoric of Conversion by : Clayton Cormany
- The Decline of Civility by : Clayton Cormany
- The Power of Definitions by : Clayton Cormany
- A Common Problem With the “I-Me” Thing by : Johan Sigg
- Theo-Poetics – A Theory of the Divine by : Carey Gable
- Kamaʻāina: Geocriticism and the Philosophy of Place in Hawaii By : L.A. Hawbaker
- Inward Atrophy by Adam Carrington
- Reading and Decoding English for Dyslexics by Dennis Brooks
- Art as a Language Made Visible: the Art of Gregg Shorthand by Stacey Mandell
- SPANKING THE BABY: Second Thoughts on Discipline by Gregory Stephens
- Hume: Liberation and Sympathy by Lilian McCarthy
- Who if I Cried Out by poet Merrill Lee Girardeau
- The Death of Ivan Ilych by Prof. Jessica Scheuermann
- Self-Preservation for English Majors by Elizabeth Childs
- American Laureate by Pamela Sumners
- Black Mirror’s Bandersnatch is as Bad as Jordan Peele’s Twilight Zone Reboot Will Be by author Claire Marie Anderson
- 13 Ways of Looking Format by Merrill Lee Girardeau
- Beyoncé, William Carlos Williams, and Poetic StaminaThe Bogeyman & Writer’s BlockThe NotwriteGoofs & Breakthroughs Along The Artist’s Way by : Merrill Lee Girardeau
- John F. Kennedy’s Vision Revisited by : Craig Etchison
- Nine-Square Xylophone by : Troy Allan
- The Theological Imperative at Root in the Culture of Black Lives Matter by : Bobby Nichols
- Baseballs and CoVid by : William and Esther Purcell
- Ride On by : Donna Moss
- A DIY Project by : Quinn Cavaco
- Hair for Hopeby : Ayushi Jain
- Co-Dependent (One Foot) by : Chad Short
- Winter Mad Libs by Merrill Lee Girardeau
- Boxing Pikachu by Merrill Lee Girardeau
- Central Avenue; Albuquerque, New Mexico by Ben White
- 6 Tools of the Trade — organizational apps for artists by Mark 9
- 260 of the Best Children’s Book Agents by Lancelot Showbear
- Dead to Rights : Response to Article Claiming ‘Healthcare is Not a Human Right’ also by Lancelot Showbear
- Schadenfyre Festival by Chad Ragsdale
- The Metamorphasis by Franz Kafka analysis by J.L. Scheuermann
- Curated Podcasts from a Busy Coffeeshop by Colby Williams
- What I Do Is Me — How to write a sonnet by Merrill Lee Girardeau
- 12 Poetry Literary Agents by Lancelot Showbear
- Generational Culture — films, novels, and the rest by Lancelot Showbear
- Finishing Strong Stories in Avengers Endgame by Lancelot Showbear
- favorite poems of all time by Merrill Lee Girardeau
- Tax Psalm by Merrill Lee Girardeau
- 26 Military Literary Agents by Lancelot Showbear
- 12 Years a Librarian by : Vijay R. Nathan
- Unleashing the Individual on the Canvas of Writing by : Mark Antony Rossi
- Saturday Mourning by : Mallory Burns
- Modern Rhetorical Metacriticism by Kevin Izaguirre
English undergrad, Northwest University - Interview with Michael the Psychic by Martha Kendall Custard
creative writing student at University of Alabama - Suite Française by Irène Némirovsky by J.L. Scheuermann
English Professor, great books scholar - What is it then between us? by Merrill Lee Girardeau
poet + regular at the critique circle and brunches - An Ethics of Possibilities: A Phenomenological Reevaluation of “Is/Ought” by Will Pewitt
- A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens (Stave One)
A Christmas Carol (Stave Two)
A Christmas Carol (Stave Three)
A Christmas Carol (Stave Four)
A Christmas Carol (Stave Five)
by J.L. Scheuermann - The Invaluable Nature of an Arts Education by Emma Nicholson
- Moon Walks by Samuel Schwindt
- Kyle Voyles: Caveman — an interview with spelunkersby Devon Robinson
- Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens by J.L. Scheuermann
Unsheltered by Barbara Kingsolver by J.L. Scheuermann - Saints of the Plaguesby Lancelot Schaubert
- Why the Movie is Always Worse than the Book by Lancelot Schaubert
- After the Tornado: a Primer on Disaster by Lancelot Schaubert
- To Stand on the Shoulders of Giants You Must Climb their Legs by Lancelot Schaubert
- Reading and Decoding English for Dyslexics II
Reading and Decoding English III
Reading and Decoding English IV
by Dennis Brooks - Survival Diaries by Matt Otey
- Hopeful Apocalypses by Lancelot Schaubert
- The Invaluable Nature of an Arts Education by Emma Nicholson
- Moral Courage in an Age of Crisis by Lancelot Schaubert
Make Slowly — Moral Courage in an Age of Crisis by Lancelot Schaubert - Reading and Decoding English for Dyslexics
Reading and Decoding English II
Reading and Decoding English III
by Dennis Brooks - Yang Got UBI Right for Once by Lancelot Schaubert
- Our Work Here Is Done By : Charles Radke
- Prufrock’s Peach by : Merrill Lee Girardeau
- Art and Obedience by : Merrill Lee Girardeau
- Rhyme and Reason by : Merrill Lee Girardeau
- That’s my answer too by : Merrill Lee Girardeau
- A Matter of Imaginary Space by : Majo Delgadillo
- Railing harrow grid by : Pedro Lino
- All Your Faves are Fanfic by : Eve Taft
- 8 Weeks by : Elizabeth Winkler
- Routine by : Anastasia Jill
- Beyond Belief: Harry Houdini in the Age of Alternative Facts by Gabriela Valencia
- The Hunger Strike that Ended Stop and Frisk by Lancelot Schaubert
- Tolkien’s Art Finds a Hobbit Hole by Samantha Steiner
- Brooklyn Candle Studio Breathes New Life into Candles by Diana Piper
- Art as a Language Made Visible: the Art of Gregg Shorthand by Stacey Mandell
- Finding Yourself Through Music by Gary Alexander
- While Reading EA Abbott’s “Book on Solipsism” by Cal Freeman
- The Edge of Causal Imagination by Rachel Wilkerson
- Pursuits of Wholeness by bEllie Laabs
- SERIES TO CURE DYSLEXIA:
Reading and Decoding English IV
Reading and Decoding English V
Reading and Decoding English VI
Reading and Decoding English VII
by Dennis Brooks - Jenny Holzer’s Instagram by Sam Moore
- Estimate of Mass of the Precursor Star to our Sun that went Supernova
by Patrick Bruskiewich - the grey in my hair by Chad W. Lutz
- Apple of Sodom by Sam Schramski
- High Standards by Karisa Ham
- Night by Will Westmoreland
Fiction + Humor.
- Sillage by Nathaniel Darbonne
- trigger warning: Meat by Ryan Gossen
- Small Stories for Kids: BACK TO THEIR PRIDE by 7-year-old Dante
(you can always submit your child’s story, just enter SMALL STORIES FOR KIDS in the title) - The Weight of Pine Trees by maalika jacobs
- A Good Night to Hunt by Penny Sebring
- THE REPUBLIC OF LETTERS by Oliver Fox
- The first of several zero star reviews by humorist Matt Otey
- Wild Things + Nowadays + Southern Trees Bear Strange Fruit + The Forest by Rowan Smith — part two of her six-part serialized fiction
- TAKES A SPOONFUL OF SUGAR TO MAKE THE REALITY OF DEATH GO DOWN: Butterfinger Smooth and Crunchy Peanut Butter Cups Skulls by Gilmore Tamny
- Oh, JACK: DORITOS JACKED 3D Jalapeño Pepper Jack Flavored Torilla Snacks by Gilmore Tamny
- Vea’s Thai Coconut Mini Crunch Bars by : Gilmore Tamny
- A Snack Review in Prosody: SKIPPY DOUBLE PEANUT BUTTER P.B. BITES by Gilmore Tammy
- BABY’S GOT SNACK by Gilmore Tamny
- Five out of Five by : James B. Nicola
- Letting Your Dreams Fly by Tanner McClelland
- Dora’s Light by Allen Forrest
- The Duel by Buell Hollister
- Christmas Grave by Scott Beard
- Jason’s Daddy by Kristin Leonard
- for Love of the Damaged and Unbroken by Eliot Hudson
- The Food Chain by Barry Hill
- McDonald’s v. Wendy’s by Matt Otey
- Of Wine and Women by Toye Eskridge
- Free Solo in Seattle by Matt Otey
- The Smartphone Adjuster by Sharon Wishnow
- Santa Quit: I am Applying to the Position of Santa by Kendall Krantz
- Dear Famous Agent by Helen Sheehy
- Chronic, Traumatic, Eden by George Evans
- Dream Box by Jordan McCaw
- The Curbside Discount by Kedar Berntson
- Leofflæd by Elyssa Campbell
- The Valley by David McVey
- Treasure in My Head by David McVey
- When vanity is otherwise the poor girl’s only virtue by Zoe Rose
- The Secrets of Kraken Mare by. M. Earl Smith
- Beauty In Pain by Mehul Malik
- Jake by Misty Coldpony
- A Scratched Head and A Scraggly Beard by Kenneth Kapp
- Playboy by Raluca Comanelea
- Metamorfossi by Alan Furry
- Green Witch by Breanna Coe
- Thunder-turtles by Ingrid Jensen
- Retainer On A Bedside Table by Lillian Johnson
- 6424 Avenue Z by : Emily Cogburn
- These Artists by : Franky Louis
- Antares’ Benediction by : August B. Clark
- For the Win by : Kasie Whitener
- Big Stick by : Robert Walton
- Felicia and Her Sisters by : Karmella Mahr
- Jacobi Fuji by : Simran Bhakta
- Call by : Au gusto Todoele
- Big Dave by : Travis Stephens
- Heart of Glass by : Bethany Barton
- Academic Jobs Wiki, Creative Writing 2021 By : Dawn Davies
- Locket by Sante Matteo
- Dream Box by Jordan McCaw
- The Curbside Discount by Kedar Berntson
- The Valley by David McVey
- Treasure in My Head by David McVey
- Pomegranate Wine by Paul Van Sickle
- Harvest, 1992 by Pauletta Burgeis
- A Friend In Need by C.D. Marcum
- Pythagoras by Ilse Eskelsen
- Spread by Emalee Long
- After the Postponement: Speaking for the Graduating Class of 2020 by Ken Hogarty
- Invisible Woman Eats Attention Span of City Dwellers by Zoha Arif
- Backstreet Violations by Jennifer Schneider
- Sloppy Grows by Mariam Ahmed
- The Existentialist Starter Kit by Con Chapman
- Smell of Snow By : Lindsay Brown
- Looking Glass Theory by : Alex Atkinson
- Angel of the Battlefield by : Laura Williams
- At World’s Edge by : Talbot Hook
- The Miracles of San Batista by : J.B. Polk
- Naked Vicar by : Andrew Lee-Hart
- A Ghost Wouldn’t Say That by : John M Donovan
- The Chinese Lessons by : Jill Bronfman
- Yellowjacket Kidby : Ryan Gossen
- GEE MONEY! by : Phillip Barcio
- Invisible Microphone By : Matthew Christian
- Witless Witness By : Warren Woods
- Writing for Justice By : AARON SCHMELZER
- Atlantic by : Raquel Milosavljevic
- Moonlight by : Yeji Kim
- OBIE COASTER DOODLELOO by : Bridget Flynn
- Last Adventure with Ray Mundo by : Roberta Murphy
- Circular Dreaming By : Rebecca Dempsey
- The Testament of Algorithmsby : Buell Hollister
- Going Home by : Kristin Leonard
- For All One Knows by : Tammy Tamkin
- Animals by Daryl Ellerbe
- Under the Circumstances by Ed Meek
- That which is binding. by Donald Guadagn
- The Sound of Bells by Warren Wood
- NO ONE TOLD ME by Carter Boucher
- The Ferryman’s Coin by William Price
- Amongst the Gentiles by Andrew Lee-Hart
- My Telescope by Andy Betz
- Blake’s Wilderness by Augusto Todoele
- Alchemist’s Coffee by Caroline Harris
- Thoughts and Prayers by Breslin Sand
- Meet a Girl at a Bar by Srijan Dubey
- Seventh Heaven by Kenneth Norton
- An Interview with Writer Ron Riekki Using the Questions of physicsforums.com’s interview with Astrophysicist Adam Becker byRon Riekki
- Womb to Tomb Care — aka WTC by Andy Betz
- Victuals Voyeurism by Paul Rousseau
- The Greatest of All Time by David R. Bowne, Ph.D.
- Borrowed Time by Carolyn Kesterman
- Experiments in Time and Space by Chris Neilan
Poetry.
- on being human by Jared Scowther
- there’s something by Jared Scowther
- The Shortest Years by KG Newman
- Hide-’n’-Seek by James B. Nicola
- Twilight by James B. Nicola
- Deliberating the Drastic by James B. Nicola
- Revisions by James B. Nicola
- Lemon Bird by Rex Wilder
- The Photographer by Rex Wilder
- Am I the Ice Cream Man? by Rex Wilder
- Battle Wounds by Tess Eggleston
- (Don’t) Eat Your Feelings by Tess Eggleston
- The Anchor of Your Life by Ashley Kauffman
- the girls, the girlsby Kayla Coolican
- Every House by Thomas Benfield
- Catalogue by Diane Glancy
- A Preliminary for the Identification and Classification of by Diane Glancy
- Baby’s Breath by Michael Maul
- Sounds of Cotton by Scott Urquhart
Counting Expectations by Scott Urquhart - Pi Mysterium by Bobbi Phillips
- Polaroid by Fiona Perreault
- The Mirror by Susan Little
- Economics of the Heart by Jessica Tyner Mehta
- Second Home by Keith Kennedy
- Flyer Poem #79 By : Z.M. Wise
- Flyer Poem #150: Verbal First Draft By : Z.M. Wise
- OLD MARILYN DOWN ON CEDAR STREET By : David J.S. Pickering
- BOB OVER ON 2ND STREET USED TO BE A PASTOR By : David J.S. Pickering
- MONA, WHO VOLUNTEERS DOWN AT WOMEN’S CRISISJERRY, WHO WORKS OVER AT SCOOBY’S TIRESBy : David J.S. Pickering
- building blocks by : Dace Jangblude
- SIDE VIEW OF THE TEMPORAL REGION by : Colin James
- TinghirDust Pneumonia, 1937 by : Yael Veitz
- Homage to H.D.Glosa on Romance Languages
- DOÑA QUIXOTE by : Mark Mitchell
- Antonio & The AvocadosGirls at YangshuoThree Ways to Defeat the BourgeoisieI Listened to Schumann by : Carl Boon
- Changing the Duvets by : Amy Randall
- Salt-LickKey Lime by : Will Harmon
- Everything Is Stripped These Daysby : Karisa Ham
- Hillhiker by : Josie Levin
- In the 3rd museum to kick me out by : Josie Levin
- child psychics by : Josie Levin
- walk woods by : Josie Levin
- The Curse of the Colonel by : Atsushi Ikeda
- Correction by : Natalli Amato
- Untitled by : Natalli Amato
- WakingWax by : David Shipley
- Pulse by : Samantha Wright
- Loveliest by : Samantha Wright
- One Man In His Time by : Brian Yapko
- Starry Night by : Brian Yapko
- Vector by : Jennifer MacBain-Stephens
- Little Fifteen by : Jennifer MacBain-Stephens
- The Purple PacifierTourist by : Rich Glinnen
- Used car lot shepherd by : Theodore Zahrfeld
- Morning; Yellow Tree by Luke Park
- Noon; Orange Tree by Luke Park
- Evening; Red Tree by Luke Park
- PCH by Rex Wilder
- Love Like a Field Guide by Rex Wilder
- Routine by William Greene
- A Second Longer by William Greene
- Hourglass by Zoe Cunniffe
- The Phone Call by Zoe Cunniffe
- A Broken Girl by Stacy Petty
- It Came To Me by Stacy Petty
- To the Peasant Poet by Camarie Cirilla
- Divine by Jim Peterson
- Eternal Mind by Jim Peterson
- Greater Reason by Jim Peterson
- He Likes Primary Colors by Roger Sippl
- If We Speak At All by Keith Kennedy
- We Hear Everything by Keith Kennedy
- A Brief Look of Concern by Keith Kennedy
- What Pains Await MeSecond HomeThe Park by Keith Kennedy
- And They Did by Jeffrey Burghauser
- Ames Room by Charles Scherer
- Roald Dahl’s Tree by Charles Scherer
- For P.D. by Charles Scherer
- Visions of Working Life by Charles Scherer
- Transformation by Michelle Mitchell-Foust
- Chilean Mines by Michelle Mitchell-Foust
- Vineland Drive-In by Michelle Mitchell-Foust
- REFORGED MATRIMONY by James Ph. Kotsybar
- Mindlessly Commonplace by James Ph. Kotsybar
- In the Junk Shop by Malcolm Glass
- Her Journey by Malcolm Glass
- First Kiss by Malcolm Glass
- An Almost World by Bryan Edward Helton
- The Mountain Sky by Bryan Edward Helton
- Walking Out by Bryan Edward Helton
- An Island in West Point Lake by Bryan Edward Helton
- The Taste Of A Second by Zachary Gaskill
- Ode to Victor Frankenstein by Victoria Gross
- Portland Summer by Ken Tomaro
- Like a Dart Frog by Elizabeth Wing
- The New Day Comes Quietly in the Apex of the Night by Elizabeth Wing
- Bee by Elizabeth Wing
- When the Elder Seam Maker Died by KJ Hannah Greenberg
- The Winter Wrinkles by Merve Namli
- SCIENCE AND SOCIAL STUDIES by Adem Garic
- Hope is a Thing with Cuts by A.R. Dugan
- INDELIBLE by Candice Kelsey
- Circling the Light by KJ Hannah Greenberg
- Epigraph by Adem Garic, Translated from Croatian by Mario Frömml
- The Kindergarten by Adem Garic, Translated from Croatian by Mario From
- Arabic Coffee as a Treat by Adem Garic, Translated from Croatian by Mario Frömml
- Mother at Home by Andrew Dugan
- Letter to the Slaughtered Animal in my Recurring Dream, as Deli Meat by Andrew Dugan (aka: ode to bacon)
- The Parade by Benajah Joseph
- Shepherd the Gravity of Ignorance. She is Precious. by Benajah Joseph
- The Estates of Celibacy by Ehab Al Yousef
- Luna Park in Winter by Elizabeth Wing
- At the Graveyard by Erica Schaef
- Sirens At Sea by Erica Schaef
- NO by Zoe Nikolopoulou
- Self-Directed by Adam Dugan
- Bird of Prey by Adam Dugan
- Closing Time by Anjali Sarkar
- The Subway by Elizabeth Wing
- Race A Penny by Noah Carlin
- Screenplay by Adem Garic — “U američkim filmovima”
Translated From Croatian by Mario Frömml - The Road Out to You by Leah Baker
- Sukidayo by Katie Neumaier
- Hypostasis by Hannah Braught
- Hyacinth by Katlin Brock
- THE BLUE BOOK by : Ayşe Tekşen
- A Melody of Persistence by : Katie Neumaier
- Ten to Sven by : Chad W. Lutz
- Paper House by : Yael Veitz
- The Lineage Annotations by : Vijay R. Nathan
- Awaiting Direction by : Breelyn Shelkey
- Man Made Art by : Maria Sebastian
- Sightless by J.D.S. Jones, editor
- Natures Scream by Shayla Long
- My Brother’s Curls by Coleman Bomar
- And Don’t Forget to Text Mom by James Swansbrough
- Anyways by Tesa Blue Flores
- Ulster County by Tesa Blue Flores
- Americana by Tesa Blue Flores
- TIME by Priyanka Kapoor
- M I D A S A N D C O L L E G E B O O K S by Priyanka Kapoor
- G E R M I N A T I O N by Priyanka Kapoor
- From the Burrow’s Edge by Rachel Roth
- Heat by Annelise Tate
- Insomnia by Annelise Tate
- The Empties and the Infinites by Annelise Tate
- Purgatory by Annelise Tate
- Novel Assassination by Andrew Jone
- So Long Ago by Anthony Salandy
- Bright Flower by Pauletta Burgeis
- Harvest by Pauletta Burgeis
- Black Sonnet: Saturn Devouring His Son by Logan Davis
- Black Sonnet: Judith and Holofernes by Logan Davis
- Black Sonnet: The Great He-Goat by Logan Davis
- Like A Dog by Logan Davis
- The Crazy by Logan Davis
- sorry by Helena Pantsis
- i think my grandma’s going to die by Helena Pantsis
- How the Dead are Revered by Helena Pantsis
- emotional by Helena Pantsis
- the street sweeper by Luke Harvey
- 100 Strokes by Keith Kennedy
- Fun Isn’t Something One Considers When Balancing the Universe by Beatrice Benson
- Periwinkle by Zoe Cunniffe
- Golddeep by Allister Nelson
- The Lower I Go by Stacy Petty
- A Brand New Day by Stacy Petty
- All the Rooms of the House by Keith Kennedy
- Whom by Bethany Richmond
- Tardigrade Physiology by Thomas Simmons
- Tardigrade Nomenclature by Thomas Simmons
- Tardigrade Morphology & Reproduction by Thomas Simmons
- Hurry by Cole Depuy
- Lies My Mother Told Me, or The Seven Deadly Sins
Rubies by Tess Eggleson - Safety by Ben Mcnair
- The Skywalker Conundrum by Ben Mcnair
- A Life Winding Down by Laura Stroebel
- 55 by Jared Scowther
- Artificial Sonnets I by David Davies
- Artificial Sonnets II by David Davies
- Artificial Sonnets III by David Davies
- Artificial Sonnets IV by David Davies
- Artificial Sonnets V by David Davies
- Artificial Sonnets VI by David Davies
- Artificial Sonnets VII by David Davies
- Love and God
You Will Never Find Me This Way
Write Fearless by Jonathan Dowdle — rest in peace, Jonathan - In the City of Slaughter
Adapted from the Hebrew of Ḥayyim Naḥman Bialik
by Jeffrey Burghauser - Lydia by Diane Glancy
- Mea Culpa by Melissa C. Johnson
- House Cat Pantoum by Melissa C. Johnson
- Greeting the New Year by Melissa C. Johnson
- Aubade by Melissa C. Johnson
- Warm Winter by Melissa C. Johnson
- Warped by Tess Eggleston
- Heart is full of everything by Dace Jangblude
- Boy in the moon by Dace Jangblude
- Girl in the sun by Dace Jangblude
- Bay-Sick Scene by Mariam Ahmed
- Politics by Anthony Salandy
- Destruction poem by Anthony Salandy
- Youth by Anthony Salandy
- Mother May I by Mickie Kennedy
- Blue Eye Sky by Mark Hammerschick
- (Hillsborough River, Tampa, Florida, a quarter-mile upstream from the Save A Lot overpass.) by Kimilee Norman
- A CRITIQUE OF SONNETS by Pamela Sumners
- graphite by Kelly Hegi
- smoke by Kelly Hegi
- echo by Kelly Hegi
- dust by Kelly Hegi
- beyond is this that by Kelly Hegi
- Within My Happy-Go-Lucky Head by Gerard Sarnat
- Airplane Mode by Gerard Sarnat
- Home from Chores by Gerard Sarnat
- Decimation by Samuel Armen
- River’s Branches by Hongvan Nguyen
- Similitude by Hongvan Nguyen
- Musing by Hongvan Nguyen
- “Wishing on Worlds” by Breelyn Shelkey
- “Evaporations at 17,000 Ft” by Breelyn Shelkey
- “Sanguine” by Breelyn Shelkey
- that kiss was mine by Philipp Ammon
- Lass-scorned by Philipp Ammon
- Flowers Beauty by Austin Draper
- Cov-Son-19 By : John Hawkins
- Chauvinist Pigs By : John Hawkins
- 1/3 of a Proper Sonnet by : Molly McGrane
- company by : Fiona Perreault
- Joy by : Marilyn Stachenfeld
- Hunger by : Marilyn Stachenfeld
- Dreaming in Flatware by : Lois Harrod
- Cento for a Slate Day by : Lois Harrod
- A Calm and Strange Uneasiness by Frank William Finney
- Agrestic Ditty by Frank William Finney
- Hitchhiking in the 70’s by Frank William Finney
- Year of the Rat by Frank William Finney
- Retirement Reading by Frank William Finney
- Sign Read CLOSED By : John Leonard
- Children in the Trees By : John Leonard
- The Crimson Reminder By : Jack Ricketts
- THE TIDE By : Lawrence Bridges
- WHERE LOVERS CONVERGE By : Lawrence Bridges
- BACKBONE TRAIL By : Lawrence Bridges
- THE INFINITE ROPE TO FOREVER By : Lawrence Bridges
- The Desert of Dependence by Mark Hammerschick
- Dreaming of Beth by Mark Hammerschick
- Shooting Star by Mark Hammerschick
- Barometer Leaking Brass by : Mickie Kennedy
- Birds of a Feather by : Mickie Kennedy
- Oasis by : Mickie Kennedy
- O’Hara by : John Leonard
- I name my vain entitlement Jonahby : Allison Boyd Justus
- Technetium Element 43 by : Alicia Sometimes
- 1 Year by : Thomas Walro
- Juggler of Fire by : Thomas Walrod
- Darkness, World, No Flame by : Thomas Walrod
- Christmas Out On Route Thirty-three by : James Fox
- Six-Word Stories by : Mercury-Marvin Sunderland
- Soviet Rocket Scientists Canto 1: Konstantin Tsiolkovsky
- Soviet Rocket Scientists Canto 2: Yuriy Vasilievich Kondratyuk by : Thomas Simmons
- Soviet Rocket Scientists Canto 3: Gavriil Adrianovich Tikhov by : Thomas Simmons
- Soviet Rocket Scientists Canto 3.5: Tikhov in Awkward Rhyme by : Thomas Simmons
- Octopus by : C. Perricone
- Mr. Snuggles by : Hillary Chapman
- Post-Pink by : Cory Steel-O’Meara
- The Deep End by : Cory Steel-O’Meara
- La Ciel by : Cory Steel-O’Meara
- Cow Milk Silo by : Cory Steel-O’Meara
- Saying Goodbye to Books by : Victoria England
- The Old Neighborhood in Winter, A Villanelle by : Sheila Bender
- I think of Matisse’s goldfish by : Lois Harrod
- This Lethal Practice by : Stephen Finlay
- Pfeilstorchs by : Stephen Finlay
- Freud Considering the Eel by : Stephen Finlay
- Hope by : Stephen Finlay
- Dens of our Grandfathers by : Stephen Finlay
- Blueblack of the Liar’s Sea by : Dylan Sonderman
- Santa Fe by : Brian Yapko
- The Fan by : Charlotte Griffiths
- St Modomnóc By : Neil Rhind
- Very much I need to be By : Jesse Owen
- The realization that By : Jesse Owen
- Saucerie Sonnet by : Kathleen Culver
- Totem by : Kathleen Culver
- The Will by : Jaimeson Oakley
- Tendril by : Pablo Saborio
- damned girls by : Ani Bachan
- we pick out our plots one afternoon by : Ani Bachan
- To Moor in Greenness of Early May by : Q. M.
- Split Apart by : Samantha Wright
- The Alchemy of Advice by : James B. Nicola
- Legacy by : Gian Carla Agbisit
- DepressionTestimony by : Joshua Gage
- For They Shall Be Called Children of God by : Joshua Gage
- I built a rocketship by : Nikhita Makam
- digestinky skies by : Nikhita Makam
- Can We Industrialize Wonder? by : Hunter Hodkinson
- The women of my family by : Nikhita Makam
- Two Lips! Click! by : Chad Short
- Timber by : Chad Short
- Dog Days by : Diana Ybarra
- Blank Verse for the Intertwined by : Jennifer Dennehy
- Framed by : Jennifer Dennehy
- For The Unknown by : Fiona Perreault
- Never Meant To Be by : Fiona Perreault
- The Wisest Woman by : Krystie Johnston
- Death of a Dream by Melinda Canny
- Choose by Melinda Canny
- Reach by Melinda Canny
- Durmitor by Amy Hardy
- Holding Myself Back by Ryan McMasters
- These Straits by Scott Dalgarno
- Parable of the Absent Mother by Scott Dalgarno
- Prodigals by Scott Dalgarno
- Spark by B. R. Burdette
- Digging for Gold by Molly Silverman
- Charlotte’s Web by Molly Silverman
- 2 sets of Lilies Soon to Bloom by Molly Silverman
- My Boy Vagary by Molly Silverman
- My Husband’s Teenage Daughter came to live with us Recently by Molly Silverman
- Home by B. R. Burdette
- Basketball Tryouts by Tomy Pierre
- Summer 2012 by Tomy Pierre
- Lamadrid by B. R. Burdette
- democracy dies under jabba the chief by Raymond Hammond
- Grathaholt & Ever-Grower by Erik Peters
- natal: relating to the place or time of one’s birth (the Oxford Dictionary)
- Homegrown Daughters by Anya Trofimova
- Crab by Shannon Laws
- Grandma’s Closet by Shannon Laws
- The Bog by Shannon Laws
- Times Square Heatwave Noon by Gad Kaynar
- like Walter Benjamin by Gad Kaynar
- a thought by Gad Kaynar
- a plea by Gad Kaynar
- in my mother’s drawer by Gad Kaynar
- Oedipus Goes into Exile by Gad Kaynar
- Self Portrait with Modern Man by Shyla Shehan
- Cure for the Common Equation by Shyla Shehan
- Concourse B by Shyla Shehan
- finding the river by Shyla Shehan
- Trapped In Line by Shyla Shehan
- Hallow’s Eve by Chad W. Lutz
- Poet’s Prayer by Carl “Papa” Palmer
- regret at 3am by
- spring is my love by Dylan Benjamin
- i live near the beach by Dylan Benjamin
- leave all valuables by Dylan Benjamin
- The Worst Gut Instinct Ever by Steve Brightman
- Morta by Brian John Yule
- wandering man by Amelia Reed
- NO ATTORNEY, JUDGE, OR JURY NEEDED
by Nancy Smiler Levinson - The Porchlight by Peter Coe Verbica
- Dusk’s Heart by Jordan Daniel Wood
- Pádraig Ó Tuama Holds Me in the Bed of the Poem by Craig Finlay
Visual Art + Music.
- Reflections — a composition for piano by : Jon Tho
- Education for All — 1 of 8 — 8-part series by Brazilian photographer Guilherme Bergamini
- Art of Timothy F. Phillips
- तरंग Tarang by Chetan Bhakuni is a hand-illustrated, autobiographical short film about a poor Indian kid who wants to learn English. As the English language has became one more barrier in the sprawling caste system, this ballpoint-pen-and-paper animation tells a slow and steady story about the hurdles and costs for a poor boy to learn English.
- Birthmark by Don Swartzentruber
- “Sex Wax:” A Nicholas Cueva Exhibit by Jessica Tyner Mehta
- Five by George Stein
- Tightie-Whitie Wind by Izzy B
- Altars in the Dwellings of Memories by : Amalia Galdona Broche
- Self Intervariactif Portrait: Anamnesis Project by : Seve Favre
- Bountiful Colors Nature’s Eye Candy by : Timothy F. Phillips
- Bountiful Colors Nature’s Eye Candy (II) by : Timothy F. Phillips
- Recent Work (I) by : Josh Stein
- Recent Work (II) by : Josh Stein
- Original of Love by Kaloyan Ivanov
- Jaina Cipriano Photography by Jaina Cipriano
- 5 photos on farming by George Stein
- Debate – Conference Call
Sales Plan – Conference Call
Lunch Meeting – Conference Call
Interview – Conference Call
Sandeep Shete - Immigration Documentation Mobile Application Design by Linh Dao
- Reclaiming the Earth by : Sophia Shultz
- Lines by : Edward Supranowicz
- The Pop Machine by : Jay O’Neal
- The New Art of Book Making by : Kage Athlee
- Confessions of a Non-Best-Selling Author by : Tom McKenna
- Sign Beside the Stop Sign by : Edward Supranowicz
- Waiting for the Woe by : Ed Friedman
- Final Thoughts By : Erik Such
- How To Create a Guise of Productivity While Witnessing the Fall of Democracy by : Ashley Sengstaken
That’s the archive of what The Showbear Family Circus published and what follows is our vision and guiding mission. We hope to do this again some day, we currently simply do not have the horsepower to pull it off. It’ll take a full time editor, which will take many, many more subscriptions.
- It would take 188 patron subscriptions or gift subscriptions
- It would take 1,200 regular subscriptions or gift subscriptions
Two values governed our selections: publishing liberal arts focused on moral law and virtue ethics.
- The liberal arts governed what we liked to publish. We want pieces grounded in logic, grammar, and rhetoric per se — that is we want pieces that are well-reasoned (the creator is thinking clearly and coherently), well-articulated (the creator is helping us to think precisely what she thinks), and beautiful (the creator is composing so as to make us feel what she feels and persuade us that her view is correct, good, and gorgeous). We seldom cave to academese, monotonous purple prose in the absence of moving narrative, art that adds to the noise and nihilism of our present state, or reporting that simply tears down all the contributions its subjects have made to thought and public service. If you do not understand the classical definition of the liberal arts and think we mean merely painting and fiction, we encourage you to read Dr. Cirilla’s Liberal Arts Definition.
Short of that, we assume the highest end of art and science moves towards meta-thought about ultimate reality, The Good, The True, The Beautiful. Metaphysical assumptions undergird every other art and science. Creative writing (fiction, poetry, essay) forms the crossroads of the arts and sciences, for in them logic, grammar, and rhetoric form a sort of parallel world wherein we play with the real hypotheses behind every other art and science. From there we publish fine art that makes us think and feel (visual, music, film, etc.), academic pieces on the arts of application (medicine, law, sciences, etc.), and reporting or practical ideas and innovative designs in the arts of production (farming, 3D printing, book binding, etc.).
Therefore we accept very broadly in terms of genres, but we have two long term goals: why we publish and how we publish. - Moral law and virtue ethics governed our ends: why we published. We assume all cultures adhere to moral — that is natural — law (some proof below) and we seek pieces that build up civil society towards that end, rather than tear her down. As for virtue ethics, we simply mean that the habits of what is good and sincere quest for wisdom matters more to us than mere hypotheticals and sophistry: the most brilliant ethicist in the world can be a scoundrel if he’s out of practice, the most brilliant scientist in the world can become a tyrant if in his quest to triumph over nature he merely triumphs over his fellow man with nature as the instrument. We want to make it easier to be good and to better ourselves in the process.
The journal was a victim of its own success.
We outgrew our capacity to hire editors. Perhaps with a larger fan and funding base, we can restart it all over again. Keep reading, making, submitting, and subscribing.
But most of all, keep juggling fire.
Lancelot
A few have asked in recent days what we mean when we say “moral law” or “virtue” or “moral philosophy” in the liberal arts. A broad reading of the keystone works from every culture — or a deep reading of the keystone texts of one’s own culture — will present something like the Tao or moral law. We present this appendix from Dr. Lewis’s Abolition of Man as a sampling from around the world of the core tenets of Natural Law.
We encourage you to bolster the selection below by commenting with citations from an ancient text of your choosing whether legal, poetic, mythic, or religious that arose from your own culture. I think you’ll find these basic tenets represented in every culture around the world.
from “The Abolition of Man” —
Illustrations of the Tao:
The following illustrations of the Natural Law are collected from such sources as come readily to the hand of one who is not a professional historian. The list makes no pretense of completeness. It will be noticed that writers such as Locke and Hooker, who wrote within the Christian tradition, are quoted side by side with the New Testament. This would, of course, be absurd if I were trying to collect independent testimonies to the Tao. But (1) I am not trying to prove its validity by the argument from common consent. Its validity cannot be deduced. For those who do not perceive its rationality, even universal consent could not prove it. (2) The idea of collecting independent testimonies presupposes that ‘civilizations’ have arisen in the world independently of one another; or even that humanity has had several independent emergences on this planet. The biology and anthropology involved in such an assumption are extremely doubtful. It is by no means certain that there has ever (in the sense required) been more than one civilization in all history. It is at least arguable that every civilization we find has been derived from another civilization and, in the last resort, from a single centre — ‘carried’ like an infectious disease or like the Apostolical succession.
I. The Law of General Beneficence
(a) Negative
- ‘I have not slain men.’ (Ancient Egyptian. From the Confession of the Righteous Soul, ‘Book of the Dead’, v. Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics [= ERE], vol. v, p. 478)
- ‘Do not murder.’ (Ancient Jewish. Exodus 20:13)
- ‘Terrify not men or God will terrify thee.’ (Ancient Egyptian. Precepts of Ptahhetep. H. R. Hall, Ancient History of the Near East, p. i3}n)
- ‘In Nastrond (= Hell) I saw… murderers.’ (Old Norse. Volospá 38, 39)
- ‘I have not brought misery upon my fellows. I have not made the beginning of every day laborious in the sight of him who worked for me.’ (Ancient Egyptian. Confession of the Righteous Soul. ERE v. 478)
- ‘I have not been grasping.’ (Ancient Egyptian. Ibid.)
- ‘Who meditates oppression, his dwelling is overturned.’ (Babylonian. Hymn to Samas. ERE v. 445)
- ‘He who is cruel and calumnious has the character of a cat.’ (Hindu. Laws of Manu. Janet, Histoire de la Science Politique, vol. i, p. 6)
- ‘Slander not.’ (Babylonian. Hymn to Samas. ERE v. 445)
- ‘Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.’ (Ancient Jewish. Exodus 20:16)
- ‘Utter not a word by which anyone could be wounded.’ (Hindu. Janet, p. 7)
- ‘Has he … driven an honest man from his family? broken up a well cemented clan?’ (Babylonian. List of Sins from incantation tablets. ERE v. 446)
- ‘I have not caused hunger. I have not caused weeping.’ (Ancient Egyptian. ERE v. 478)
- ‘Never do to others what you would not like them to do to you.’ (Ancient Chinese. Analects of Confucius, trans. A. Waley, xv. 23; cf. xii. 2)
- ‘Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thy heart.’ (Ancient Jewish. Leviticus 19:17)
- ‘He whose heart is in the smallest degree set upon goodness will dislike no one.’ (Ancient Chinese. Analects, iv. 4)
(b) Positive
- ‘Nature urges that a man should wish human society to exist and should wish to enter it.’ (Roman. Cicero, De Officiis, i. iv)
- ‘By the fundamental Law of Nature Man [is] to be preserved as much as possible.’ (Locke, Treatises of Civil Govt. ii. 3)
- ‘When the people have multiplied, what next should be done for them? The Master said, Enrich them. Jan Ch’iu said, When one has enriched them, what next should be done for them? The Master said, Instruct them.’ (Ancient Chinese. Analects, xiii. 9)
- ‘Speak kindness … show good will.’ (Babylonian. Hymn to Samas. ERE v. 445)
- ‘Men were brought into existence for the sake of men that they might do one another good.’ (Roman. Cicero. De Off. i. vii) ‘Man is man’s delight.’ (Old Norse. Hávamál 47)
- ‘He who is asked for alms should always give.’ (Hindu. Janet, i. 7)
- ‘What good man regards any misfortune as no concern of his?’ (Roman. Juvenal xv. 140)
- ‘I am a man: nothing human is alien to me.’ (Roman. Terence, Heaut. Tim.)
- ‘Love thy neighbour as thyself.’ (Ancient Jewish. Leviticus 19:18)
- ‘Love the stranger as thyself.’ (Ancient Jewish. Ibid. 33, 34)
- ‘Do to men what you wish men to do to you.’ (Christian. Matthew 7:12)
2. The Law of Special Beneficence
- ‘It is upon the trunk that a gentleman works. When that is firmly set up, the Way grows. And surely proper behaviour to parents and elder brothers is the trunk of goodness.’ (Ancient Chinese. Analects, i. 2)
- ‘Brothers shall fight and be each others’ bane.’ (Old Norse. Account of the Evil Age before the World’s end, Volospá 45)
- ‘Has he insulted his elder sister?’ (Babylonian. List of Sins. ERE v. 446)
- ‘You will see them take care of their kindred [and] the children of their friends … never reproaching them in the least.’ (Native American. Le Jeune, quoted ERE v. 437)
- ‘Love thy wife studiously. Gladden her heart all thy life long.’ (Ancient Egyptian. ERE v. 481)
- ‘Nothing can ever change the claims of kinship for a right thinking man.’ (AngloSaxon. Beowulf, 2600)
- ‘Did not Socrates love his own children, though he did so as a free man and as one not forgetting that the gods have the first claim on our friendship?’ (Greek, Epictetus, iii. 24)
- ‘Natural affection is a thing right and according to Nature.’ (Greek. Ibid. i. xi)
- ‘I ought not to be unfeeling like a statue but should fulfil both my natural and artificial relations, as a worshipper, a son, a brother, a father, and a citizen.’ (Greek. Ibid. 111. ii)
- ‘This first I rede thee: be blameless to thy kindred. Take no vengeance even though they do thee wrong.’ (Old Norse. Sigdrifumál, 22)
- ‘Is it only the sons of Atreus who love their wives? For every good man, who is right-minded, loves and cherishes his own.’ (Greek. Homer, Iliad, ix. 340)
- ‘The union and fellowship of men will be best preserved if each receives from us the more kindness in proportion as he is more closely connected with us.’ (Roman. Cicero. De Off. i. xvi)
- ‘Part of us is claimed by our country, part by our parents, part by our friends.’ (Roman. Ibid. i. vii)
- ‘If a ruler … compassed the salvation of the whole state, surely you would call him Good? The Master said, It would no longer be a matter of “Good”. He would without doubt be a Divine Sage.’ (Ancient Chinese. Analects, vi. 28)
- ‘Has it escaped you that, in the eyes of gods and good men, your native land deserves from you more honour, worship, and reverence than your mother and father and all your ancestors? That you should give a softer answer to its anger than to a father’s anger? That if you cannot persuade it to alter its mind you must obey it in all quietness, whether it binds you or beats you or sends you to a war where you may get wounds or death?’ (Greek. Plato, Crito, 51, a, b)
- ‘If any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith.’ (Christian. I Timothy 5:8)
- ‘Put them in mind to obey magistrates.’… ‘I exhort that prayers be made for kings and all that are in authority.’ (Christian. Titus 3:1 and I Timothy 2:1, 2)
3. Duties to Parents, Elders, Ancestors
- ‘Your father is an image of the Lord of Creation, your mother an image of the Earth. For him who fails to honour them, every work of piety is in vain. This is the first duty.’ (Hindu. Janet, i. 9)
- ‘Has he despised Father and Mother?’ (Babylonian. List of Sins. ERE v. 446)
- ‘I was a staff by my Father’s side … I went in and out at his command.’ (Ancient Egyptian. Confession of the Righteous Soul. ERE v. 481)
- ‘Honour thy Father and thy Mother.’ (Ancient Jewish. Exodus 20:12)
- ‘To care for parents.’ (Greek. List of duties in Epictetus, in. vii)
- ‘Children, old men, the poor, and the sick, should be considered as the lords of the atmosphere.’ (Hindu. Janet, i. 8)
- ‘Rise up before the hoary head and honour the old man.’ (Ancient Jewish. Leviticus 19:32)
- ‘I tended the old man, I gave him my staff.’ (Ancient Egyptian. ERE v. 481)
- ‘You will see them take care … of old men.’ (Native American. Le Jeune, quoted ERE v. 437)
- ‘I have not taken away the oblations of the blessed dead.’ (Ancient Egyptian. Confession of the Righteous Soul. ERE v. 478)
- ‘When proper respect towards the dead is shown at the end and continued after they are far away, the moral force (tê) of a people has reached its highest point.’ (Ancient Chinese. Analects, i. 9)
4. Duties to Children and Posterity
- ‘Children, the old, the poor, etc. should be considered as lords of the atmosphere.’ (Hindu. Janet, i. 8)
- ‘To marry and to beget children.’ (Greek. List of duties. Epictetus, in. vii)
- ‘Can you conceive an Epicurean commonwealth? . . . What will happen? Whence is the population to be kept up? Who will educate them? Who will be Director of Adolescents? Who will be Director of Physical Training? What will be taught?’ (Greek. Ibid.)
- ‘Nature produces a special love of offspring’ and ‘To live according to Nature is the supreme good.’ (Roman. Cicero, De Off. i. iv, and De Legibus, i. xxi)
- ‘The second of these achievements is no less glorious than the first; for while the first did good on one occasion, the second will continue to benefit the state for ever.’ (Roman. Cicero. De Off. i. xxii)
- ‘Great reverence is owed to a child.’ (Roman. Juvenal, xiv. 47)
- ‘The Master said, Respect the young.’ (Ancient Chinese. Analects, ix. 22)
- ‘The killing of the women and more especially of the young boys and girls who are to go to make up the future strength of the people, is the saddest part… and we feel it very sorely.’ (Native American. Account of the Battle of Wounded Knee. ERE v. 432)
5. The Law of Justice
(a) Sexual Justice
- ‘Has he approached his neighbour’s wife?’ (Babylonian. List of Sins. ERE v. 446)
- ‘Thou shalt not commit adultery.’ (Ancient Jewish. Exodus 20:14)
- ‘I saw in Nastrond (= Hell)… beguilers of others’ wives.’ (Old Norse. Volospá 38, 39)
(b) Honesty
- ‘Has he drawn false boundaries?’ (Babylonian. List of Sins. ERE v. 446)
- ‘To wrong, to rob, to cause to be robbed.’ (Babylonian. Ibid.)
- ‘I have not stolen.’ (Ancient Egyptian. Confession of the Righteous Soul. ERE v. 478)
- ‘Thou shalt not steal.’ (Ancient Jewish. Exodus 20:15)
- ‘Choose loss rather than shameful gains.’ (Greek. Chilon Fr. 10. Diels)
- ‘Justice is the settled and permanent intention of rendering to each man his rights.’ (Roman. Justinian, Institutions, I. i)
- ‘If the native made a “find” of any kind (e.g., a honey tree) and marked it, it was thereafter safe for him, as far as his own tribesmen were concerned, no matter how long he left it.’ (Australian Aborigines. ERE v. 441)
- ‘The first point of justice is that none should do any mischief to another unless he has first been attacked by the other’s wrongdoing. The second is that a man should treat common property as common property, and private property as his own. There is no such thing as private property by nature, but things have become private either through prior occupation (as when men of old came into empty territory) or by conquest, or law, or agreement, or stipulation, or casting lots.’ (Roman. Cicero, De Off. I. vii)
(c) Justice in Court, &c.
- ‘Whoso takes no bribe … well pleasing is this to Samas.’ (Babylonian. ERE v. 445)
- ‘I have not traduced the slave to him who is set over him.’ (Ancient Egyptian. Confession of the Righteous Soul. ERE v. 478)
- ‘Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.’ (Ancient Jewish. Exodus 20:16)
- ‘Regard him whom thou knowest like him whom thou knowest not.’ (Ancient Egyptian. ERE v. 482)
- ‘Do no unrighteousness in judgement. You must not consider the fact that one party is poor nor the fact that the other is a great man.’ (Ancient Jewish. Leviticus 19:15)
6. The Law of Good Faith and Veracity
- ‘A sacrifice is obliterated by a lie and the merit of alms by an act of fraud.’ (Hindu. Janet, i. 6)
- ‘Whose mouth, full of lying, avails not before thee: thou burnest their utterance.’ (Babylonian. Hymn to Samas. ERE v. 445)
- ‘With his mouth was he full of Yea, in his heart full of Nay? (Babylonian. ERE v. 446)
- ‘I have not spoken falsehood.’ (Ancient Egyptian. Confession of the Righteous Soul. ERE v. 478)
- ‘I sought no trickery, nor swore false oaths.’ (Anglo-Saxon. Beowulf, 2738)
- ‘The Master said, Be of unwavering good faith.’ (Ancient Chinese. Analects, viii. 13)
- ‘In Nastrond (= Hell) I saw the perjurers.’ (Old Norse. Volospá 39)
- ‘Hateful to me as are the gates of Hades is that man who says one thing, and hides another in his heart.’ (Greek. Homer. Iliad, ix. 312)
- ‘The foundation of justice is good faith.’ (Roman. Cicero, De Off. i.vii)
- ‘[The gentleman] must learn to be faithful to his superiors and to keep promises.’ (Ancient Chinese. Analects, i. 8)
- ‘Anything is better than treachery.’ (Old Norse. Hávamál 124)
7. The Law of Mercy
- ‘The poor and the sick should be regarded as lords of the atmosphere.’ (Hindu. Janet, i. 8)
- ‘Whoso makes intercession for the weak, well pleasing is this to Samas.’ (Babylonian. ERE v. 445)
- ‘Has he failed to set a prisoner free?’ (Babylonian. List of Sins. ERE v. 446)
- ‘I have given bread to the hungry, water to the thirsty, clothes to the naked, a ferry boat to the boatless.’ (Ancient Egyptian. ERE v. 446)
- ‘One should never strike a woman; not even with a flower.’ (Hindu. Janet, i. 8)
- ‘There, Thor, you got disgrace, when you beat women.’ (Old Norse. Hárbarthsljóth 38)
- ‘In the Dalebura tribe a woman, a cripple from birth, was carried about by the tribes-people in turn until her death at the age of sixty-six.’… ‘They never desert the sick.’ (Australian Aborigines. ERE v. 443)
- ‘You will see them take care of… widows, orphans, and old men, never reproaching them.’ (Native American. ERE v. 439)
- ‘Nature confesses that she has given to the human race the tenderest hearts, by giving us the power to weep. This is the best part of us.’ (Roman. Juvenal, xv. 131)
- ‘They said that he had been the mildest and gentlest of the kings of the world.’ (Anglo-Saxon. Praise of the hero in Beowulf, 3180)
- ‘When thou cuttest down thine harvest… and hast forgot a sheaf… thou shalt not go again to fetch it: it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow.’ (Ancient Jewish. Deuteronomy 24:19)
8. The Law of Magnanimity
(A)
- ‘There are two kinds of injustice: the first is found in those who do an injury, the second in those who fail to protect another from injury when they can.’ (Roman. Cicero, De Off. I. vii)
- ‘Men always knew that when force and injury was offered they might be defenders of themselves; they knew that howsoever men may seek their own commodity, yet if this were done with injury unto others it was not to be suffered, but by all men and by all good means to be withstood.’ (English. Hooker, Laws of Eccl. Polity, I. ix. 4)
- ‘To take no notice of a violent attack is to strengthen the heart of the enemy. Vigour is valiant, but cowardice is vile.’ (Ancient Egyptian. The Pharaoh Senusert III, cit. H. R. Hall, Ancient History of the Near East, p. 161)
- ‘They came to the fields of joy, the fresh turf of the Fortunate Woods and the dwellings of the Blessed . . . here was the company of those who had suffered wounds fighting for their fatherland.’ (Roman. Virgil, Aeneid, vi. 638-9, 660)
- ‘Courage has got to be harder, heart the stouter, spirit the sterner, as our strength weakens. Here lies our lord, cut to pieces, out best man in the dust. If anyone thinks of leaving this battle, he can howl forever.’ (Anglo-Saxon. Maldon, 312)
- ‘Praise and imitate that man to whom, while life is pleasing, death is not grievous.’ (Stoic. Seneca, Ep. liv)
- ‘The Master said, Love learning and if attacked be ready to die for the Good Way.’ (Ancient Chinese. Analects, viii. 13)
(B)
- ‘Death is to be chosen before slavery and base deeds.’ (Roman. Cicero, De Off. i, xxiii)
- ‘Death is better for every man than life with shame.’ (Anglo-Saxon. Beowulf, 2890)
- ‘Nature and Reason command that nothing uncomely, nothing effeminate, nothing lascivious be done or thought.’ (Roman. Cicero, De Off. i. iv)
- ‘We must not listen to those who advise us “being men to think human thoughts, and being mortal to think mortal thoughts,” but must put on immortality as much as is possible and strain every nerve to live according to that best part of us, which, being small in bulk, yet much more in its power and honour surpasses all else.’ (Ancient Greek. Aristotle, Eth. Nic. 1177 B)
- ‘The soul then ought to conduct the body, and the spirit of our minds the soul. This is therefore the first Law, whereby the highest power of the mind requireth obedience at the hands of all the rest.’ (Hooker, op. cit. i. viii. 6)
- ‘Let him not desire to die, let him not desire to live, let him wait for his time … let him patiently bear hard words, entirely abstaining from bodily pleasures.’ (Ancient Indian. Laws of Manu. ERE ii. 98)
- ‘He who is unmoved, who has restrained his senses … is said to be devoted. As a flame in a windless place that flickers not, so is the devoted.’ (Ancient Indian. Bhagavad gita. ERE ii 90)
(C)
- ‘Is not the love of Wisdom a practice of death?’ (Ancient Greek. Plato, Phadeo, 81 A)
- ‘I know that I hung on the gallows for nine nights, wounded with the spear as a sacrifice to Odin, myself offered to Myself.’ (Old Norse. Hávamál, I. 10 in Corpus Poeticum Boreale; stanza 139 in Hildebrand’s Lieder der Älteren Edda. 1922)
- ‘Verily, verily I say to you unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone, but if it dies it bears much fruit. He who loves his life loses it.’ (Christian. John 12:24,25)