Anthem Quotes

“For what prevents us from saying that the happy life is to have a mind that is free, lofty, fearless and steadfast - a mind that is placed beyond the reach of fear, beyond the reach of desire, that counts virtue the only good, baseness the only evil, and all else but a worthless mass of things, which come and go without increasing or diminishing the highest good, and neither subtract any part from the happy life nor add any part to it?
A man thus grounded must, whether he wills or not, necessarily be attended by constant cheerfulness and a joy that is deep and issues from deep within, since he finds delight in his own resources, and desires no joys greater than his inner joys.”
― Lucius Annaeus Seneca, The Stoic Philosophy of Seneca: Essays and Letters

“Saya dalam gelap.
Dan salah siapa kalau saya tak nampak?
Kenapa orang keliling hanya pandai bising.
Tapi tak pandai menghulur tangan?

Jangan pernah 'judge' masa lampau orang lain. Mana mungkin kita tahu jika masa lampaunya tu adalah masa depan kita.

Jangan pernah merasa kita mulia jika baju kita putih dan tak pernah bercemar noda, kalau tak pernah kita hulur tangan kepada mereka yang bergelumang lumpur dan kotor.

Jangan rasa bagus dengan hanya menggeleng kepala dan bising pada yang salah dan pincang, jika tak pernah kita sinsing lengan untuk membetulkan dan membantu.

Jangan menyalahkan mereka yang larut hanyut, jika tak pernah nak cuba tarik mereka yang lemas dan tenggelam. Apatah lagi nak mengajarkan mereka berenang atau meminjamkan pelampung.

Moga hari ini, esok dan akan datang adalah yang baik-baik 'je' sampai ke penghujung nyawa. Moga walau hari ini adalah hitam, kelabu dan kelam tapi esok masih punya harapan untuk jadi pelangi seribu warna. Minta dengan doa.”
― Hlovate, Anthem

“Raising the flag and singing the anthem are, while somewhat suspicious, not in themselves acts of treason.”
― Terry Pratchett, Night Watch

“And did those feet in ancient time
Walk upon England's mountains green?
And was the holy Lamb of God
On England's pleasant pastures seen?

And did the Countenance Divine
Shine forth upon our clouded hills?
And was Jerusalem builded here,
Among these dark Satanic Mills?

Bring me my Bow of burning gold:
Bring me my Arrows of desire:
Bring me my Spear: O clouds unfold!
Bring me my Chariot of fire!

I will not cease from Mental Fight,
Nor shall my Sword sleep in my hand,
Till we have built Jerusalem
In England's green & pleasant Land.”
― William Blake, Milton: A Poem

“We are defined by what we believe in. Identity is shaped by what we believe is right. Culture is cultured, pun intended; by what we believe is right.'

Kita diertikan dengan apa yang kita percaya sebagai benda betul. Dan budaya serta nilai itu sendiri, memang dibentuk dengan benda yang sama juga, apa yang kita percaya sebagai benda yang betul baik. Cuma yang membezakan antara manusia tu ialah apa yang difahami sebagai benda yang betul dan benda yang baik.

Contoh, 'Westerners' percaya minum wain merah baik untuk kesihatan jantung. Tapi kalau untuk orang Islam, sah la benda tu haram.

Contoh lain, 'Englishmen are all about tea, and Americans are all about coffee.”
― Hlovate, Anthem

“But I still wonder how it was possible, in those graceless years of transition, long ago, that men did not see whither they were going, and went on, in blindness and cowardice, to their fate. I wonder, for it is hard for me to conceive how men who knew the word "I," could give it up and not know what they lost. But such has been the story, for I have lived in the City of the damned, and I know what horror men permitted to be brought upon them.”
― Ayn Rand, Anthem

“This is an ode to life.
The anthem of the world.
For as there are billions
of different stars that
make up the sky
so, too, are there billions
of different humans that
make up the Earth.
Some shine brighter
but all are made of
the same cosmic dust.
O the joy of being
in life with all these people!
I speak of differences
because they are there.
Like the different organs
that make up our bodies.
Earth, itself, is one large body.
Listen to how it howls
when one human is
in misery.
When one kills another, the
Earth feels the pang in its
chest. When one orgasms,
the Earth craves a cigarette.
Look carefully,
these animals are
beauty spots that make the
Earth’s face lovelier
and more loveable.
These oceans are the Earth’s
limpid eyes. These trees, its hair.
This is an ode to life.
The anthem of the world.
I will no longer speak of
differences, for the similarities
are larger.
Look even closer. There may be
distances between our limbs but
there are no spaces between
our hearts. We long to be one.
We long to be in nature and
to run wild with its wildlife.
Let us celebrate life and living,
for it is sacrilegious
to be ungrateful.
Let us play and be playful,
for it is sacrilegious
to be serious.
Let us celebrate imperfections
and make existence
proud of us, for tomorrow is
death, and this is an ode to life.
The anthem of the world.”
― Kamand Kojouri

“The stars and stripes were fluttering bright against the rain, clear blue overhead, and their minds were saying the words before their ears heard them.”
― Laura Ingalls Wilder, Little House on the Prairie

“The introvert's anthem for not wanting to hang out is 'It's not you; it's me.”
― Criss Jami, Healology

“Fifteen years ago, the cultural critic Greil Marcus wrote of Jimi's performance of our national anthem as "his great NO to the war, to racism, to whatever you or he might think of and want gone. But then that discord shattered, and for more than four and a half long, complex minutes Hendrix pursued each invisible crack in a vessel that had once been whole, feeling out and exploring and testing himself and his music against anguish, rage, fear, hate, love offered, and love refused. When he finished, he had created an anthem that could never be summed up and that would never come to rest. In the end it was a great YES, both a threat and a beckoning, an invitation to America to match its danger, glamour, and freedom."

...

In late 1969, Jimi Hendrix wrote a poem celebrating Woodstock, saying with words what his music had in August: "500,000 halos outshined the mud and history. We washed and drank in God's tears of joy. And for once, and for everyone, the truth was not still a mystery.”
― Michael Lang, The Road to Woodstock

“My happiness is not the means to any end. It is the end. It is its own goal. It is its own purpose.

Neither am I the means to any end others may wish to accomplish . I am not a tool for their use. I am not a servant of their needs. I am not a bandage for their wounds. I am not a sacrifice on their altars.”
― Ayn Rand, Anthem

“Have you ever heard the Hungarian national anthem? No? Good for you! I wouldn’t recommend it at all. Unless you are looking for inspiration for your suicide attempt. If it is not just an attempt but you are deadly serious about your suicide then I strongly recommend you not only read the lyrics but listen to the music too. The most mournful funeral song sounds jolly compared to it. Other nations have inspiring anthems like ‘God Save the Queen’ or the ‘La Marseillaise’ or ‘The StarSpangled Banner’, and their lyrics are about victory and proudness like ‘Russia – our sacred homeland, Russia – our beloved country’ or ‘Germany, Germany above everything, Above everything in the world!’ But what about the Hungarian anthem? It starts with ‘O Lord, bless the Hungarian’ and then follow eight long and painful stanzas about our ‘slave yoke’ and ‘funeral urn’ and ‘the corpses of our defeated army’ and ‘groans of death, weeping’ and finally it finishes with ‘Pity, O Lord, the Hungarians they who have suffered for all sins of the past and of the future!’ Yes, of the future too.”
― Angela Kiss, How to Be an Alien in England: A Guide to the English

“I suppose we have to change the national anthem then.”
“You want to take out ‘the land of the brave’?”
“No,” he protested. “The whole thing has to be replaced.”
“With what?”
“With Britney. Remember ‘Oops!…I Did It Again’?”
― Syed M. Masood, The Bad Muslim Discount

“If every citizen should recite their national anthem daily, you will develop love to serve your country better.”
― Lailah Gifty Akita, Think Great: Be Great!

“Let us throw away our candles and our torches. Let us flood the cities with light. Let us bring a new light to men!
-Equality 7-2521”
― Ayn Rand

“Fear walks through the City, fear without name, without shape. All men feel it and none dare to speak.”
― Ayn Rand

“All the brass instruments and big drums in the world cannot turn ‘God Save the King’ into a good tune, but on the very rare occasions when it is sung in full it does spring to life in the two lines:

Confound their politics,
Frustrate their knavish tricks!

And, in fact, I had always imagined that the second verse is habitually left out because of a vague suspicion on the part of the Tories that these lines refer to themselves.”
― George Orwell

“Ne’er a day will pass before us When we have not tried our best, Kept our cauldrons bubbling nicely, Cast our spells and charms with zest. Full of joy we mix our potions, Working by each other’s side. When our days at school are over Let us think of them with pride.”
― Jill Murphy