Credo

Students often ask what I believe, where my values are rooted.

What follows below states my credo better than I could:

Were life a gift, we have an obligation

Were love a magic spell, we need a rite;

And were all truth for us, one with illusion,

We have a need for someone else’s sight.

Were there a door to life we could not open,

Who kept it closed might ask us for a fee;

Were heaven held, as by incorporation,

No doubt its stock would not be wholly free.

It is our fear that gives away our freedom;

It is our doubt that keeps full love away;

Our willing ignorance prevents our wisdom;

These are the only costs that we must pay.

-Thomas Paine