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Dan Rather signed off last night, as he began 24 years ago, with "Courage". History may remember him for his last mistake, but it would be better if history remembered him for his last word. This forum is for "favorite words" and, after thinking about why Dan Rather chose this single word as his sign-off through all the years, "courage" has just become one of my favorite words. At the root of courage, of course, is the word "heart", and courage comes from the heart. Just like love. But love and all the other virtues are really only skin deep without courage to sustain them. Therefore, this limerick celebrates Dan Rather's last word [whatever we may think of Dan Rather's last mistake]: "Love conquers all", they say. How true. But from the heart comes courage too. Armed with courage What could discourage A heart sure and pure and true right through? Signing Off, Rather's Wish for Viewers Is Still 'Courage'New York Times, March 10, 2005 http://snipurl.com/dcn8Dictionary.com: cour·age (kûrj, kr-) n. The state or quality of mind or spirit that enables one to face danger, fear, or vicissitudes with self-possession, confidence, and resolution; bravery.[Middle English corage, from Old French, from Vulgar Latin *corticum, from Latin cor, heart. See kerd- in Indo-European Roots.]
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"At the root of courage, of course, is the word "heart", and courage comes from the heart. Just like love. But love and all the other virtues are really only skin deep without courage to sustain them."
Well said, Plutarch. No...insightfully said.
And somehow I will summon up the courage here to not say what I think of Dan Rather.
Thank you, Plutarch, now don't you think well of me?
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Your high-mindedness is an inspiration as always, themilum.
One should never speak ill of the dead, it is said, and Dan Rather is dead to the airwaves.
Whatever any of us may think of Dan Rather and his prime time career, he left us with "Courage". :)
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Carpal Tunnel
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Well worth emulating.
the only reason I read this was I had my hopes up...
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My father actually started Rather on the road of Courage. He was a news commentator on radio back in the mid 1940s, and there was even a full-page advertisement for his radio show in one of the national magazines of the time (I think Life Magazine). He was at WNOX in Knoxville, which is where I was born.
Anyway, he ended each of his programs, "Lager, folks."
(One of the preceding paragraphs is mainly true, the other one is completely false!)
TEd
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"Lager, folks."Yeah, some people get their courage from a lager, TEd Rem. Some from a luger*. But once the bottle or the bullet chamber is empty, so is their courage. :) * Luger. From Wikipedia [with photo] Although obsolete in many ways today, the Luger is still sought after by collectors both for its sleek design, good accuracy, great durability and to some extent by its connection to Nazi Germany. In Switzerland, the OP00 is still being used in sports shooting events because of its accuracy.
Production of the Luger P-08 ended when Walther refurbished a lot of Lugers in 1999 for the pistol's 100 years anniversary.
Thousands of Lugers were brought back as souvenirs by American GIs after World War II, and are still in circulation. Modern look-alike pistols are built by several companies.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luger
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