Dedicatory Oath

(Beautiful World by Anna Mary Robertson “Grandma”
Moses, 1860-1961, American painter)

We now come to the end of our study of Philia, or friendship.

“Oh, the comfort — the inexpressible comfort of feeling safe with a person — having neither to weigh thoughts nor measure words, but pouring them all right out, just as they are, chaff and grain together; certain that a faithful hand will take and sift them, keep what is worth keeping, and then with the breadth of kindness blow the rest away.”

~ Dinah Maria Craik (1826-1887), English novelist and poet, from A Life for a Life

from DEDICATORY OATH

They say that in the unchanging place,
Where all we loved is always clear,
We meet our morning face to face
And find at last our twentieth year. . . .

They say (and I am glad they say),
It is so; and it may be so:
It may be just the other way,
I cannot tell. But this I know:

From quiet homes and first beginning,
Out to the undiscovered ends,
There’s nothing worth the wear of winning,
But laughter and the love of friends.

~ Hilaire Belloc (1870-1953), French-born poet, essayist, and historian, who became a naturalized British citizen and even served as a Member of Parliament for five years