Citatepedia^®.com

Learning is not compulsory... neither is survival.

quote by W. Edwards Deming
Added by Lucian Velea
Comment! | Vote! | Copy! | In Romanian

An Essay on Criticism

Part I

INTRODUCTION. That it is as great a fault to judge ill as to write ill, and a more dangerous one to the public. That a true Taste is as rare to be found as a true Genius. That most men are born with some Taste, but spoiled by false education. The multitude of Critics, and causes of them. That we are to study our own Taste, and know the limits of it. Nature the best guide of judgment. Improved by Art and rules, which are but methodized Nature. Rules derived from the practice of the ancient poets. That therefore the ancients are necessary to be studied by a Critic, particularly Homer and Virgil. Of licenses, and the use of them by the ancients. Reverence due to the ancients, and praise of them.

'Tis hard to say if greater want of skill
Appear in writing or in judging ill;
But of the two less dangerous is th'offence
To tire our patience than mislead our sense:
Some few in that, but numbers err in this;
Ten censure wrong for one who writes amiss;
A fool might once himself alone expose;
Now one in verse makes many more in prose.

'Tis with our judgments as our watches, none
Go just alike, yet each believes his own.
In Poets as true Genius is but rare,
True Taste as seldom is the Critic's share;
Both must alike from Heav'n derive their light,
These born to judge, as well as those to write.
Let such teach others who themselves excel,
And censure freely who have written well;
Authors are partial to their wit, 'tis true,
But are not Critics to their judgment too?

Yet if we look more closely, we shall find
Most have the seeds of judgment in their mind:
Nature affords at least a glimm'ring light;
The lines, tho' touch'd but faintly, are drawn right:
But as the slightest sketch, if justly traced,
Is by ill col'ring but the more disgraced,
So by false learning is good sense defaced:
Some are bewilder'd in the maze of schools,
And some made coxcombs Nature meant but fools:
In search of wit these lose their common sense,
And then turn Critics in their own defence:
Each burns alike, who can or cannot write,
Or with a rival's or an eunuch's spite.
All fools have still an itching to deride,
And fain would be upon the laughing side.
If Mævius scribble in Apollo's spite,
There are who judge still worse than he can write.

Some have at first for Wits, then Poets pass'd;
Turn'd Critics next, and prov'd plain Fools at last.
Some neither can for Wits nor Critics pass,
As heavy mules are neither horse nor ass.
Those half-learn'd witlings, numerous in our isle,
As half-form'd insects on the banks of Nile;
Unfinish'd things, one knows not what to call,

[...] Read more

poem by Alexander Pope
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

The Impact Of Poverty On Education

THE IMPACT OF POVERTY ON EDUCATION.

INTRODUCTION

There are so many different tools that have been thought relevant in people’s developmental projects both at individual and societal levels. Education is one of such practical tools. Importantly to note, there are also various meanings that denote the broad term ‘education’. In this essay, however, we are mainly interested in defining formal education since our discussion will dwell much on it. According to Nwomonoh (1998) , formal education is the process of gaining knowledge, attitudes, information and skills during the course of life especially at school.

Though education is said to be so instrumental in human development but also in the revamping of world economies, it is very unfortunate that education systems, world wide, are being held to ransom all because of poverty at both governmental and household levels. According to Thibault (2009) , poverty means the shortage of common things such as food, clothing, shelter and safe drinking water, all of which determine our quality of life. It may also include lack of access to opportunities like education and employment which aid the escape of poverty.

Problems in our society are interconnected in one way or the other, just like poverty and personal family problems affect a student’s capability to learn. Improving education entails improving the living conditions of students. Having in mind that education is basically responsible for the development of many countries including Malawi, as the back ground suggests, we cannot afford to bypass such a vital element without a mention. Considering also the fact that poverty is one of the forces that come in the way; blocking the success of education, we feel it rational to look at how the two realities, education and poverty, affect each other both positively and negatively. That is also why we are convinced that this topic is worth studying. Our awareness of this source, poverty, and its impact on education will enable us devise some proper measures of intervention with the hope of minimizing the negative impact of poverty on education. This point, in short, explains the purpose of our investigation and why we are so passionate in getting into this research. During the whole discussion we are being guided by two questions thus, ‘does poverty really affect education? And if it does, what points do we have on the positive and negative impacts of poverty on education? ’

METHODOLOGY

The study was basically qualitative in approach because of the nature of the issue that was being addressed. This was the case because the issue of how poverty affects education, both positively and negatively is particularly very difficult to predict the conclusions without penetrating into the core of the issue. For instance, one may unreasonably rush into concluding that poverty affects education negatively only and we cannot even dare to speak of poverty affecting education positively. The study was conducted in three schools namely; Mulunguzi, Masongola and Chirunga Private Secondary schools in Zomba district between 24th April and 3rd May. In this research we used both government and private funded schools to have a more balanced result on how poverty affects formal education in these different institutions. The information required for the study was collected through group interviews of form three students and individual interviews with teachers using semi-structured interview schedules. We opted to use these interviews in the first place because we felt books are more theoretical whereas a field research is practical and it involves real life experiences. Nevertheless, we still used desk research as a supplementary source of information and for clarity in some areas.

RESULTS

Positive impacts of poverty on education
To begin with, poverty encourages one to get educated and of course work hard in class. This is because the problems faced due to poverty are very serious and therefore students who are from poverty stricken families strive to end the problems and one of the best solutions is through education. That is to say, if a person, for instance, due to poverty, is taking just a meal in a day instead of three meals, and again if he/she is sometimes sleeping on an empty stomach, he/she will resort to education bearing in mind that if he/she gets educated they will secure formal employment and eventually be able to make ends meet for themselves as well as fending for their families.

Not only does poverty encourage one to get educated, but also it helped in the introduction of free primary education. In Malawi, for instance, when Bakili Muluzi became president, he introduced free primary education and he had eliminated the requirements for school uniform forthwith (Kadzamira & Rose,2001) . This had increased the access to education dramatically as those pupils who were coming from less privileged families were also given access to this free primary education. It should also be noted that the free primary education system was not only implemented to fulfill an electoral pledge but also bearing in mind that some families were not able to send their children to school due to poverty. Free primary education was there to deal with illiteracy by reducing families’ direct costs of education. Again due to the influx in the number of pupils in primary schools; there was a lack of teachers. Sonani (2002) , testifies that the Ministry of Education re-employed all retired teachers below the age of 65. This also meant that the once retired teachers got back to their source of income which helped them support their families as well as hauling the economy of the country. The implementation of free primary education system in Malawi forced the government to provide infrastructures so as to accommodate the large number of pupils in these schools. Simply put, poverty had led to the introduction of free primary education which means that more children are going to school, and again more teachers are being trained and getting employed and finally the construction of school blocks culminating into infrastructural development, all these branching from poverty.

We may also look at poverty from a positive angle bearing in mind that when a country is poor more funds and donations come into it. These funds and donations are also given to the education sector to build new infrastructures and in the maintenance of already existing ones in the sector. These privileged countries also provide learning materials to schools that are poor as a result students in these less privileged schools perform well in accordance with the amount and quality of the learning materials that they have been provided with. For instance, a United States based non governmental organization known as “Water for People” handed over 44 water toilets they built to Chimwankhunda primary school. The school toilet facilities had been vandalized 11 years ago but because of poverty the school could not renovate them (Gausi,2007) .

In addition, these funds and donations help more people to get educated. This is so because people can use funds as school fees, pocket money and buy stationery. The donations may include library books, chairs and writing materials. These can make a conducive environment for one to learn since there will be enough facilities at the school. For instance, with funding from the “United States Agency for International Development” (USAID) ,3,300 needy Malawian primary school girls are being funded. They are being provided with food, clothing, school supplies and hygienic products like soap and body lotion (Muhaliwa,2005) . Likewise,500 pupils at Katoto primary school in Mzuzu no longer sit on the floors during lessons courtesy of Southern Bottlers Limited and Lions Club of Limbe. Before these funds and donations, pupils used to sit on the floor due to scarcity of desks. These donations improved the pupils’ school attendance in such a way that pupils have started going to school regularly.

In the same line, a needy student can be given a scholarship to go further with his/her education. In this case the scholarship is given to the person just because he/she cannot manage to pay school fees on her own. This in turn benefits the needy person and the community at large. In this situation poverty has assisted in the development of education in an area by beckoning funds and donations from rich countries and organisations.

Further more; in most cases poverty facilitates one’s ambitions to attain formal education. It becomes easier for a poor child to put much of his concentration on education as compared to a rich child. This is because a poverty stricken student will have less destructive materials for entertainment. He/she will also have less or no money to indulge him/herself in activities that require spending a lot of money for instance, drinking beer. Sometimes even if the child can find money he/she can buy basic needs and not just spending it anyhow. Contrast to this a rich child may obtain things like ipods, mp3s, games for entertainment. These things in most cases destruct the concentration of students in their studies. As a result, one’s class performance is negatively affected since most of his/her time is being spent on entertainment.

Negative impacts of poverty on education

Just as a coin has got two sides, a head and a tail, poverty also, apart from having positive impacts on education, it does have negative impacts on the same. We have talked much about the positive face of poverty on education. We shall surely do ourselves injustice if we do not look at the negative part. In spite of the fact that poverty has an impact on education that is worth complimenting, we cannot afford in this discussion to overlook the point that so many students have been forced to leave the corridors of learning institutions due to the same poverty. One of the reasons that force some students leave the learning institutions prematurely is pregnancy, which in most cases, come because of poverty. It is almost common knowledge that a good number of students who come from poor families wish they could be sailing in the same boat with those who come from well to do families as far as luxurious life is concerned. The poor students constantly feel that there is something missing at the core psychologically. With this feeling in their minds, they tend to regard themselves as incomplete and not accepted socially. Consequently, they envy the rich students and squarely want to posses the things that are associated with the rich students. Very unfortunate that the poor students’ parents cannot afford to fulfill their children’s desires like what the rich parents would provide. Because the pull towards recognition is too strong for the poor students to resist, they end up in indulging themselves into prostitution in their search for money. Pity indeed that instead of recreating, as anticipated, their promiscuous behavior sees most of them getting pregnant and for some very unfortunate ones get even HIV and other STIs. From this discussion, commonsense convinces us that this school dropp out due to pregnancy is one of the negative impacts of poverty on education.

Adding more flesh to this discussion, we can also appreciate that hunger has been so instrumental in bringing down the standards of education world wide, in general, and Malawi, in particular. Frankly speaking, there are very few students if not none, who concentrate on their studies on empty stomachs. Food is one of the basic needs that every person is obliged to have if he/she is to survive. It is not surprising, therefore, to see some students performing miserably in class simply because they have not taken enough food or they have taken none altogether. The question of hunger finds its way into the education system because the government has failed to provide adequate food in most of its boarding schools. This is poverty at governmental level. There are also some students who are not boarders but still endure the hostile reality of hunger right in their homes. This is due to poverty at household level. It is sad that poverty, both at governmental and household level, has helped in engineering the deteriorating of education standards in Malawi.

Bearing in mind that it is only the eagle that can tell us the real whisper of a cloud, we visited Masongola Secondary school with the hope of getting first hand information from the students and their teachers since they are the ones who mostly benefit or get destructed by poverty. The Masongola secondary school students and their teacher, Mr. Enock Abraham, testified to us during an interview that government’s inability to provide extra food, apart from the usual beans that the institution offers, has seen many students developing ulcers. It would sound bizarre to reason that one can attend classes whilst he/she is on a hospital bed battling with ulcers. The Masongola students further testified that most poor students who have ulcers just bow down out of the race of learning because they cannot afford to buy extra food whenever the institution is serving the students beans.

This pitiful development goes beyond the boundaries of Masongola secondary school. Mulunguzi secondary school as Mr……the head teacher at the institution testifies, has not been spared from the scourge of school dropp outs simply because the school has not been able to provide extra or adequate food to students who cannot take what their friends take on health grounds. Needless to say this leaves the education standards in Malawi vacillating. It is a pity that though we have wrestled with this question of poverty a dozen times, we have not been successful in the battle. At one point in time, the government attempted to minimize the chances of school dropout in primary schools through its provision of porridge to pupils in the junior section. This attempt was in itself a good gesture but the government has failed to implement the initiative further in other schools that up to now have not benefited from the program.

It may not sound an exaggeration if we may say poverty has also forced a good number of students to give up their hopes of getting educated simply because they find it so difficult traveling to and from their respective schools. Lack of transport means, in short, has pushed them well towards the blink of despair as far as attaining formal education is concerned. This point speaks for itself how poverty can sometimes work on the education’s disadvantage.

As we go further with this discussion, we also appreciate the fact that the problem that mostly hinders a student’s success is inadequate resources that include; few teachers and learning materials. It must be highlighted that these problems are not only in developing countries but they may also find their way in reasonably developed countries like South Africa. In a developing country like Malawi, the education system encounters these problems because of the government’s failure to look into problems of infrastructure, capacity and availability of teaching and learning materials (Nkawike,2005) . The Muluzi government did a little if any; in as far as infrastructure is concerned. Lack of school blocks facilitated by a large number of pupils due to the introduction of the free primary education in 1994, forced pupils to have lessons under trees. In 2003, for example, lack of school blocks resulted in a tragedy at Nkomachi in Lilongwe when a tree fell onto an outdoor class, resulting in injury and deaths of pupils (Mvula & Chanika,2004) . This problem of learning materials continues till date, in all levels of the education system. According to Abraham (2009) , the school has always had shortage of learning blocks to an extent that the Physical Science and Biology laboratories are used as classrooms. There is also great shortage of books in all departments, and some departments like the technical department needs new equipment and current books which are very expensive. With this unfortunate situation we cannot anticipate good performance from Masongola secondary school.

In order to deal with these issues, the Muluzi government thought it wise to disregard the provision of learning materials in schools. Instead the Malawi School Certificate of Education (MSCE) pass mark was reduced to ensure the success of students in their examinations. Even the director of Basic Education, Nelson Kaperemera admitted that funds intended for learning materials were servicing the debts of government at the expense of improving quality education. Instead of reducing the pass mark, the government and other stake holders should strive to improve quality of education, improve teacher salaries, and provide adequate materials and train teachers properly (Malawi News,2006) .

In developing countries like Malawi, the schools are understaffed (teaching personnel) and they tend to be handling a large number of students for long hours. Furthermore, the teachers are subjected to meager salaries, which are even made late. The government does not seem to have the welfare of teachers at heart, for instance the education Manager for Phalombe, Enoch Ali says the district is facing a dire shortage of teachers, a situation that is contributing to low education standards. The teacher pupil ratio in Phalombe is 1: 120, whilst the recommended ratio is 1: 60 (The Nation,2006) . Due to low pay teachers resort to organizing part time classes, which demand an extra amount of money on top of the normal fees. These changes clearly affect those students who come from very poor families, as they do not receive adequate studies because of lack of money.
This does not only occur in secondary schools, but it also happens in universities. As the academic staff of the Universities go on strike because of the government’s reluctance to increase their salaries. One considers how this is supposed to retain staff in the University. As a result lecturers spend more time doing consultancies; instead of preparing lectures and doing University mandated research. If we are serious about fighting poverty, formal education is the hub of ideas to fight these problems by improving its standards (Kapasula,2008) .
Child labour is one of the major problems that contribute to school dropp out. The majority of child labour victims are children who are living in poverty. This is so because they lack basic needs, for this reason they are forced even against their will to do any kind of work in order to gain financial wealth. This, therefore, affects school attendance. Evidence of school dropp out due to child labour is found in central region where most children are being employed in estates. This region has high tobacco production. Since this crop demands a lot of work, children are at high demand because they do not claim high wages compared to adults. Research, therefore, showed that the percentage of children attending schools is lower compared to that of northern and southern region (Nyirongo,2004) . We have the case of two brothers aged between 12 and 15 who were forced to work at a tobacco farm at Mpherembe in Kasungu district, where they were receiving 150 kwacha a day due to poverty (Namangale,2005) . We can see that child labour has a great impact on education because through it, a lot of children are being deprived of their right to education as they spend most of their time working.

In addition to that, Chirwa (2003) found out that child labour is also taking place in people’s houses. In this case children are forced to dropp out of school either by parents or on their own, to work in neighbouring homes. Here one of the victims is a 12 year old girl Elizabeth Chalimba, who left school when she was in standard six to work as a nanny in order to support her siblings. Children from low income families are at risk because though school is their only hope for a better future, they dropp out because their parents are failing to provide them with basic needs. Apart from child labour, psychological problems due to poverty is also another cause of school dropp outs. Research shows that the impact of poverty is greater on children as opposed to adults. Firstly, the problem arises due to the environment in which these children are raised. These environments being impoverished, they are intellectually unstimulating, and lack of stimulation results in impaired intellectual development of a child. This in turn contributes to failure in class which can later on lead to school dropp out.

[...] Read more

poem by Innocent Masina Nkhonyo
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

Survival

Sunshine is creeping in
And somewhere in a field a life begins
An egg too proud to rape
The beginning of a shape of things to come
That starts the run
Life has begu
Fly fast the gun
The mother flew too late
And life within the egg was left to fate
Not really knowing how
The world outside would take it when it came
And lifes the same
For things we aim
Are we to blame?
Dont doubt the fact theres life within you
Yesterdays endings will tomorrow life give you
All that dies
Dies for a reason
To put its strength into the seasons
Survival,
Survival
They take away and they give
The livings right to live (its all that we need to give)
The livings right to know
The egg breaks all is out
The crawling bird begins to scream and shout
Where is the parent bird?
A loneliness arose and heard its name ring in
For lives, begin
Survival win
Survival sin
So soon the evening comes
And with it runs the aching fear of hate
Could someone still remain
Who thinks he still could gain by escaping fate?
Its much too late
Dont underrate
Appreciate
Dont doubt the fact theres life within you
Yesterdays endings will tomorrow life give you
All that dies
Dies for a reason
To put its strength into the seasons
Survival,
Survival
They take away and they give
The livings right to live (its all that we need to give)
The livings right to know
Survival,
Survival

[...] Read more

song performed by Yes
Added by Lucian Velea
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

Survival

Sunshine is creeping in
And somewhere in a field a life begins
An egg too proud to rape
The beginning of a shape of things to come
That starts the run
Life has begu
Fly fast the gun
The mother flew too late
And life within the egg was left to fate
Not really knowing how
The world outside would take it when it came
And lifes the same
For things we aim
Are we to blame?
Dont doubt the fact theres life within you
Yesterdays endings will tomorrow life give you
All that dies
Dies for a reason
To put its strength into the seasons
Survival,
Survival
They take away and they give
The livings right to live (its all that we need to give)
The livings right to know
The egg breaks all is out
The crawling bird begins to scream and shout
Where is the parent bird?
A loneliness arose and heard its name ring in
For lives, begin
Survival win
Survival sin
So soon the evening comes
And with it runs the aching fear of hate
Could someone still remain
Who thinks he still could gain by escaping fate?
Its much too late
Dont underrate
Appreciate
Dont doubt the fact theres life within you
Yesterdays endings will tomorrow life give you
All that dies
Dies for a reason
To put its strength into the seasons
Survival,
Survival
They take away and they give
The livings right to live (its all that we need to give)
The livings right to know
Survival,
Survival

[...] Read more

song performed by Yes
Added by Lucian Velea
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

Youre Learning

(ira louvin/charlie louvin)
You are learning what its like to sit and cry
And wonder why your plans went wrong
You are learning how it feels when pain is real
To realize youre all alone
Yes youre learning
We had the chance to be happy
Nothing stood in our way
If only youd meant what you promised
We wouldnt crying today
You are learning that a lie can make you cry
For the truth your heart reveals
You are learning that a flirt can cause a hurt
Even though your love is real
Yes youre learning
We had the chance to be happy
Nothing stood in our way
If only youd meant what you promised
We wouldnt crying today
You are learning that a lie can make you cry
For the truth your heart reveals
You are learning that a flirt can cause a hurt
Even though your love is real
Yes youre learning
Yes youre learning

song performed by Emmylou Harris
Added by Lucian Velea
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

Learning To Live

(without your love)
I still have your picture
By the bed where you used to lay
I still have the memories
That you aint goin from day to day
I still miss the little things
You used to do and say
Ill always believe in love
Come what may
Im learning to live
Without your love
All I can do is carry on
Living without you
Im learning to live
Without your love
Now that youre gone
Whatever the emptiness
Whatever the pain
I wont change my love for you
Ill always feel the same
Im learning to live
Without your love
All I can do is carry on
Living without you
Im learning to live
Without your love
Now that youre gone
Im learning to live
Im learning to live
Im learning to live
Im learning to live
I still call your number
Im still in love with you
I still believe in love
Maybe that will see me through
Im learning to live
Without your love
All I can do is carry on
Living without you
Im learning to live
Without your love
Now that youre gone
[repeat / fade]

song performed by Rick Astley
Added by Lucian Velea
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

Survival

Shadows of night falling over my head
People walking
Passing me by
Shadows of dreams falling out of the blue
People talking
What can I do
Where do I go from here
Where do I go from here
I could give you any dream and watch it grow
I could take you for a ride but you would know
I could tell you every answer that I know
It wouldnt be much tho
It wouldnt be anything you didnt know
But
Survival
Nothing more than survival
Shadows of days hanging endless in time
Slowly fading
Passing us by
Shadows of worlds disappearing from view
People asking
What could we do?
Where do I go from here
Where do I go from here
If I gave you every dream they would grow
If I took you for a ride would you know
If I told you every answer that I know
It wouldnt be much tho
It wouldnt be anything you didnt know
But survival
In you love, I have all that
I need for
Survival
With your love I have all that
I need for
Survival
With our love we have all that
We need for
Survival

song performed by Moody Blues
Added by Lucian Velea
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

Spirit Of Survival

AndersonHoweSquireWhite
September 11, 2001
In this world the gods have lost their way
Can't keep this picture from out of my mind
This fear hand in hand crossing innocence, time
Surrounding creation they caught in a trap
The youngest offenders will witness confusion
They driving so fast not a care in the end
Escaping collision every twist every bend
When you're young invincible nothing to lose
Keep seeing this picture standing in a circle
The gods have forgotten to switch on the light
Who's lost in the dark will crash in the night
These lessons we're living the lies of the day
Expect them to honor and never disobey
Yet greed is controlling the elders display
No wonder the younger look at them in shame
The spirit of survival
Who's teaching the hatred
The spirit of survival
Or the class of your school
The spirit of survival
The color of your money
We're standing in a circle
We don't understand at all
They don't understand at all
In this world I truly do believe there is a safer place
In this world I truly do believe there is a safer place
The younger the older the wiser become
Recover misfortune this true life as one
Our genius is shining the past has all gone
What's left is the clearest perception of one
The spirit of survival
To magnify the power
The spirit of survival
To magnify the soul
The spirit of survival
To magnify the love
We're standing in a circle
We don't understand at all
We don't understand at all
In this world the gods have lost their way
In this world the gods have lost their way

song performed by Yes
Added by Lucian Velea
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

Spirit Of Survival

AndersonHoweSquireWhite
September 11, 2001
In this world the gods have lost their way
Can't keep this picture from out of my mind
This fear hand in hand crossing innocence, time
Surrounding creation they caught in a trap
The youngest offenders will witness confusion
They driving so fast not a care in the end
Escaping collision every twist every bend
When you're young invincible nothing to lose
Keep seeing this picture standing in a circle
The gods have forgotten to switch on the light
Who's lost in the dark will crash in the night
These lessons we're living the lies of the day
Expect them to honor and never disobey
Yet greed is controlling the elders display
No wonder the younger look at them in shame
The spirit of survival
Who's teaching the hatred
The spirit of survival
Or the class of your school
The spirit of survival
The color of your money
We're standing in a circle
We don't understand at all
They don't understand at all
In this world I truly do believe there is a safer place
In this world I truly do believe there is a safer place
The younger the older the wiser become
Recover misfortune this true life as one
Our genius is shining the past has all gone
What's left is the clearest perception of one
The spirit of survival
To magnify the power
The spirit of survival
To magnify the soul
The spirit of survival
To magnify the love
We're standing in a circle
We don't understand at all
We don't understand at all
In this world the gods have lost their way
In this world the gods have lost their way

song performed by Yes
Added by Lucian Velea
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

Urgent

Urgent...
To leave philosophies,
That survival is a personal need to feed.
It's urgent...
That we all now see,
Dependency on others we must all heed.
Yes it's urgent...
That a greed and gluttony be released.
So urgent...
Is the writing on the wall,
No one must ignore at all!

It's urgent...
To leave philosophies,
That survival is a personal need to feed.
It's urgent...
That we all now see,
Dependency on others we must all heed.
So urgent...
That a greed and gluttony be released,
The writing's on the wall for all to see!
The writing's on the wall for all to see!

It's urgent...
To leave philosophies,
That survival is a personal need to feed.
It's urgent...
To leave philosophies,
That survival is a personal need to feed.
So urgent...
To leave philosophies,
That survival is a personal need to feed.
And we must leave philosphies,
That survival is a personal need to feed.
While others are starving as we feed greed.
While others are starving as we feed greed.
Thinking of others is the urgency!

Urgent IS the emergency,
That we START to think of others...
And STOP our greed.

Urgent IS the emergency,
That we START to think of others...
And STOP our greed.

Urgent IS the emergency,
That we START to think of others...
And STOP our greed.

[...] Read more

poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

Learning To Love Him

Im learning to love him
To love and forgive
Im learning to trust him
To let the man live
Im learning to see him
To see who he is
Im learning to love
The beauty he is
Im learning to love him
To love and forgive
Im learning to trust him
To let the man live
Im learning to hold
His life in my hands
Im learning to love
Me just as I am

song performed by Waterboys
Added by Lucian Velea
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

Learning To Love Him

Im learning to love him
To love and forgive
Im learning to trust him
To let the man live
Im learning to see him
To see who he is
Im learning to love
The beauty he is
Im learning to love him
To love and forgive
Im learning to trust him
To let the man live
Im learning to hold
His life in my hands
Im learning to love
Me just as I am

song performed by Waterboys
Added by Lucian Velea
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

Learning

I'm learning to say thank you.
And I'm learning to say please.
And I'm learning to use Kleenex,
Not my sweater, when I sneeze.
And I'm learning not to dribble.
And I'm learning not to slurp.
And I'm learning (though it sometimes really hurts me)
Not to burp.
And I'm learning to chew softer
When I eat corn on the cob.
And I'm learning that it's much
Much easier to be a slob.

poem by Judith Viorst
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

Survival

Ill survive you, I will survive you
Well, its too late, I know, to change the way we go
From this day on I want to stay on
Now that Ive started learning
And the tides started turning
Well, its here I want to stay
Ill let the moon announce my arrival
To every eye that cares to see
Just working on the art of survival
Where do we go from here, where do we go from here
Im alive here, I can survive dear
Though the weather might change
From the wind to the rain
Well, my heart remains the same
Ill let the moon announce my arrival
To every eye that cares to see
Just working on the art of survival
Where do we go from here, where do we go from here
Looked out on a sea of trouble
And I tried to stall for awhile
Its so hard to answer every question
And its hard to protect your heart anymore
Ill let the moon announce my arrival (I am alive)
To every eye that cares to see
Just working on the art of survival (but I wonder)
Where do we go from here
Ill let the moon announce my arrival (I am alive)
To every eye that cares to see
Just working on the art of survival (but I wonder)
Where do we go from here
Ill let the moon announce my arrival (I am alive)
To every eye that cares to see
Just working on the art of survival (but I wonder)
Where do we go from here ...

song performed by America
Added by Lucian Velea
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

Right to education

Right to education

Free and compulsory
Education to all

Free and compulsory
Education through mother tongue

Right to education
Education to maintain
Peace and harmony
Education to keep
The world order
And discipline

Right to education
Education to earn
For livelihood
Education to provide
Food clothing and shelter
Without depending others

Right to education
Free and compulsory
To educate all
That we all are
Brothers and sisters

poem by Gajanan Mishra
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

Learning To Breathe

Hello, good morning, how you do?
What makes your risin' sun so new?
I could use a fresh beginning too
All of my regrets are nothing new
So this is a way, that I say I need You
This is a way
This is a way
That I'm learning to breathe
I'm learning to crawl
I'm finding that you and you alone can break my fall
I'm living again, awake and alive
I'm dying to breathe in these abundant skies
Hello, good morning, how you been?
Yesterday left my head kicked in
I never, never thought that
I would fall like that
Never knew that I could hurt this bad
I'm learning to breathe
I'm learning to crawl
I'm finding that you and you alone can break my fall
I'm living again, awake and alive
I'm dying to breathe in these abundant skies
These abundant skies
Yeah, abundant skies, yeah
This is a way that I say I need You
This is a way that I say I love You
This is a way that I say I'm Yours
This is a way
This is a way
That I'm learning to breathe
I'm learning to crawl
(Leaning to breathe)
I'm finding that you and you alone can break my fall
I'm living again, awake and alive
(Living again, awake and alive)
I'm dying to breathe in these abundant skies
(I'm dyin')
Yes I'm dying to breathe in
(I'm dyin')
These abundant skies
These abundant skies, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
I'm learning to breathe
I'm dying to breathe in these abundant skies
Hello, good morning, how you do?
How you do?
How you do?
Breathe

song performed by Switchfoot
Added by Lucian Velea
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

Learning To Fly

Well I started out down a dirty r oad
Started out all alone
And the sun went down as I crossed the hill
The town lit up the world got still
Im learning to fly but I aint got wings
Comin down is the hardest thing
Well the good old days may not return
And the rocks might melt, and the sea may burn
Im learning to fly but I aint got wings
Comin down is the hardest thing
Well some say life will beat you down
Break your heart, steal your crown
So I started out for God kno ws where
But I guess Ill know when I get there
Im learning to fly around the clouds
But what goes up must come down
Im learning to fly but I aint got wings
Comin down is the hardest thing
Im learning to fly around the clouds
But what goes up must come down
Im learning to fly
Im learning to fly

song performed by Tom Petty
Added by Lucian Velea
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

The Borough. Letter XXIV: Schools

To every class we have a School assign'd,
Rules for all ranks and food for every mind:
Yet one there is, that small regard to rule
Or study pays, and still is deem'd a School:
That, where a deaf, poor, patient widow sits,
And awes some thirty infants as she knits;
Infants of humble, busy wives, who pay
Some trifling price for freedom through the day:
At this good matron's hut the children meet,
Who thus becomes the mother of the street:
Her room is small they cannot widely stray, -
Her threshold high they cannot run away:
Though deaf, she sees the rebel-heroes shout, -
Though lame, her white rod nimbly walks about;
With band of yarn she keeps offenders in,
And to her gown the sturdiest rogue can pin:
Aided by these, and spells, and tell-tale birds,
Her power they dread and reverence her words.
To Learning's second seats we now proceed,
Where humming students gilded primers read;
Or books with letters large and pictures gay,
To make their reading but a kind of play -
'Reading made easy,' so the titles tell;
But they who read must first begin to spell:
There may be profit in these arts, but still
Learning is labour, call it what you will;
Upon the youthful mind a heavy load,
Nor must we hope to find the royal road.
Some will their easy steps to science show,
And some to heav'n itself their by-way know;
Ah! trust them not,--who fame or bliss would share,
Must learn by labour, and must live by care.
Another matron, of superior kind,
For higher schools prepares the rising mind;
Preparatory she her Learning calls,
The step first made to colleges and halls.
She early sees to what the mind will grow,
Nor abler judge of infant-powers I know:
She sees what soon the lively will impede,
And how the steadier will in turn succeed;
Observes the dawn of wisdom, fancy, taste,
And knows what parts will wear, and what will

waste:
She marks the mind too lively, and at once
Sees the gay coxcomb and the rattling dunce.
Long has she lived, and much she loves to trace
Her former pupils, now a lordly race;
Whom when she sees rich robes and furs bedeck,
She marks the pride which once she strove to check.

[...] Read more

poem by George Crabbe
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

Good Lives

There's a plastic toy four door in the cereal box and
He's licking off the sugar off the breakfast of chumps
Promise that forever we will never get better at growing up and learning to lie
There is no floor 13 there's not even a second story
You got one to tell and its sad as hell
Promise that forever we will never get better at growing up and learning to lie
Grad school kid with wall street glib
Got a suit and a tie and a record with winners
Promise that forever we will never get better at growing up and learning to lie
I'm on my way back home now
Good lives are gold, like the oldest story
Will mine be told while I'm still young and horney
I know my role is to beond confusion
Set the clock back when I'm growing old
This kid came over and I let him crash
But he went into my wallet and he grabbed my cash
Promise that forever we will never get better at growing up and learning to lie
And the good girlfriend she turned me in
I was lying with my eyes about adultery sin
Promise that forever we will never get better at growing up and learning to lie
I'm on my way back home now
Good lives are gold, like the oldest story
Will mine be told while I'm still young and horney
I know my role is to beond confusion
Set the clock back when I'm growing old
Never wanted to be like you or all the rest
I've always been the first one to settle for second best
I never wanted to be I never wanted to be I never wanted to be
Like you
Good lives are gold, like the oldest story
Will mine be told while I'm still young and horney
I know my role is to beond confusion
Set the clock back when I'm growing old
Promise that forever we will never get better at growing up and learning to lie x4

song performed by Eve 6
Added by Lucian Velea
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

Ive Been Driving On Bald Mountain

Well Ive been driving on bald mountain
Well Ive been driving on bald mountain
Well Ive been driving on bald mountain
But Ive done my time, you know Ive done my time
Well look here buddy, whered you get your learning[? ]?
Well look here buddy, whered you get your learning[? ]?
Well look here buddy, whered you get your learning[? ]?
Well here you come, boy, here you come
Well I got my learning[? ] on big, bad guitar man [? ]
Well I got my learning[? ] on big, bad guitar man [? ]
Well I got my learning[? ] on big, bad guitar man [? ]
Well Ive done my time, Ive done my time
Well every little thing that, that you see shining
Well every little thing that, that you see shining
Well every little thing that, that you see shining
Well it aint no gold, lord, well it aint no gold
Well Ive been driving since johnny was a baby
Well Ive been driving since johnny was a baby
Well Ive been driving since johnny was a baby
Well Ive done my time, Ive done my time
Well Ive been driving on bald mountain
Well Ive been driving on bald mountain

song performed by Kinks
Added by Lucian Velea
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!