Masonic Quotes
"The secret of Masonry, like the secret of life, can be known only by those who seek it, serve it, live it. It cannot be uttered; it can only be felt and acted. It is, in fact, an open secret, and each man knows it according to his quest and capacity. Like all things worth knowing, no one can know it for another and no man can know it alone."
Dr. Joseph Fort Newton
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"The real secrets of Masonry are never told, not even from mouth to ear. For the real secret of Masonry is spoken to your heart and from it to the heart of your brother. Never the language made for tongue may speak it, it is uttered only in the eye in those manifestations of that love which a man has for his friend, which passeth all other loves."
South Dakota Masonic Messenger, Feb. 1975
Extracted from the Southern California Research Lodge
'Fraternal Review', May 2004
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but really great people make you feel that you too can become great."
Mark Twain
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"When the country is in need, it has always been the soldier...
not the newspaper, which has given us freedom of the press;
not the poet, who has given us freedom of speech;
not the campus organizer, who has given us freedom to demonstrate;
who salutes the flag, who serves under the flag;
who is called upon to defend our American way of life."
General Douglas MacArthur
Extracted from the Southern California Research Lodge
'Fraternal Review', May 2005
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Freemasonry has endured not because of its antiquity, its influence, or its social standing, but because there have been so many who have lived it. The effectiveness of Masonic teachings will always be the measure by which the outside world judges Freemasonry; the proof of Freemasonry is in our deeds and it is in our deeds that Freemasonry is made known to non-Masons. The only way that the Craft can be judged is by its product. The prestige of Freemasonry lies squarely on the shoulders of each of us."
G. Wilbur Best
Extracted from the Southern California Research Lodge
'Fraternal Review', May 2004
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"The great lesson in life is to know that even fools are right sometimes."
Winston Churchill
If I might add: "Even a broken clock is correct twice each day"
The Webmaster
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
MASONRY
(Author Unknown)
Masonry is not a secret society. Everybody knows that the Masonic fraternity exists and no effort is made to hide the fact. It is only the wisdom of Masonry which is hidden, not because it is subtle, but because it is simple. Its secret is profound; not obscure.
In the quiet of the lodge, in an air of reverence and friendship, it teaches us the truth that makes us men, and upon which faith and character must rest.
What is secret in Freemasonry? The method of its teaching, the atmosphere it creates, the spirit in our hearts and the ties it weaves between men. The secret of Masonry, like the secret of life, can only be known by those who seek it. It cannot be uttered, it can only be felt and acted. For that reason no one need be alarmed about any book written to expose Masonry. It is utterly harmless.
The real secrets of Freemasonry cannot be learned by prying eyes or by curious inquiry. The secrets of Masonry can be known only by those who are ready and worthy to receive it. Only a pure heart and honest mind can know it.
If Masonry uses the illusion of secrecy, it is because it knows that it is the nature of man to seek what is hidden. We are seekers after truth and God has so made us that we cannot find the truth alone, but only in the love and service of our fellow man.
Here is the real secret and to learn it is to have the key to the meaning and joy of life.
From The Southern California Research Lodge
"MATTERS OF INTEREST"
August, 2007
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"There is not a subject so little understood by even its own members as that of Freemasonry. It is not in the strict sense an order. Its purpose is more clearly defined when it is called a fraternity, a brotherhood, or an institution. It is certainly not a club. Ritualism is not Masonry. The ritual is the vehicle which conveys the sublime truths to the heart and mind. If the forms and ceremonies through which the candidate passes fail to lift him to higher conceptions of life, duty and charity, then they are mere sounding brass and tinkling cymbal."
West Australian Craftsman
Printed in the South Dakota Masonic Messenger, Feb. 1974
Extracted from the Southern California Research Lodge
'Fraternal Review', May 2004
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"When I am getting ready to reason with a man, I spend one-third of my time thinking about myself and what I am going to say and two-thirds about him and what he is going to say."
Abraham Lincoln
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"The steps taken by the candidate -- initiation, passing and raising -- are, of course, important to the candidate, but of the elements of the degree, the explanatory lecture, is where we who are in charge of making Masons let the candidate down. The lecture is the educational part of the degree. We give it to the candidate immediately following a very emotionally draining experience when a good nap is uppermost in his mind. (This after loading him up with a Salisbury steak dinner). Shouldn't this educational process be developed into a different delivery system?
Brethren -- there is confusion in the temple. We oppose the One day class as a matter of principal. We worry about solicitation. We worry about dues. We worry, worry, worry! Why don't we worry about educating Masons in a meaningful way!"
Norman Leeper, Editor
The Southern California Reserch Lodge F&AM
Fraternal Review, May 2005
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Do you know why you are requested to raise your right hand when taking an oath? In ancient times people born in slavery were branded on the palm of the right hand and were not entitled to the privilege of taking an oath. The right hand was raised to show the administering official whether or not the palm was branded. If not marked, the person was freeborn and eligible to take an oath."
South Dakota Masonic Messenger, Feb. 1975
Extracted from the Southern California Research Lodge
'Fraternal Review', May 2004
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"I have wondered at times about what the Ten Commandment's would have looked like if Moses had run them through the U.S. Congress."
Ronald Reagan
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"History does not entrust the care of freedom to the weak or timid."
Dwight D. Eisenhower
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"If a good person does you wrong, act as though you had not noticed it. They will make note of this and not remain long in your debt."
Goeth
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"A society without standards will be a society without stability and it will one day go down. Not only nations but whole civilizations have perished in the past for lack of righteousness. Hence the importance attached to the square of virtue and the reason why Masons call it the symbol of their Craft. It is the symbol of that moral law upon which life must be based if it is to continue."
(Brother Joseph Fort Newton)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"In 1861 a Pennsylvania minister wrote to Salmon P. Chase, Abraham Lincoln's Treasury Secretary, suggesting a recognition of God on our coins. 'In God We Trust' first appeared on the 1864 copper 2-cent piece when Congress authorized a new denomination with whatever legend Chase deemed appropriate. It was added to the quarter and most larger denominations in 1866 but not on the cent until 1909. In the mid-1950's Congress ordered the motto added to paper money."
The Southern California Research Lodge 'Fraternal Review', May 2004
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Freemasonry is an attempt to organize harmony, and therefore it is essential that all its arrangements for the promotion of concord should be of the most perfect character and most delicately adjusted. Whatever tends in the least degree to produce disagreement and discord, to cause a jarring and clashing among the elements composing the society, or any of its branches, must have a tendency to defeat the purposes of the Institution, must in itself be destructive of the spirit of Masonry, and must be something foreign to that spirit, something not to be cultivated, but to be avoided by Masons.
Masons are supposed by the profane to be religiously devoted to the maintenance among themselves of harmonic principles, and this supposition is based upon the professions which Masons and Masonic writers and advocates have ever made to the world. The supposition is well-grounded, and the profession does not exaggerate the intention of all true Masons."
The Masonic Monthly, February 1867
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"A May 13, 2003 notice on the New York Mason's Web site was headlined 'Gov. George Pataki to become a Mason.' The New York Post for May 19, 2003, wrote that as it would be 'a grave sin' in the eyes of the Catholic Church, Gov. Pataki cancelled his plan to join the Masons. A statement from Most Worshipful Carl J. Fitje, Grand Master of Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of the State of New York included; 'While we were disappointed to learn that Governor Pataki has reconsidered his desire to become a Mason at this time, he will always be welcome to apply for membership at a later date."
The Southern California Research Lodge 'Fraternal Review', August 2003
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Knowing others is intelligence; knowing yourself is true wisdom. Mastering others is strength; mastering yourself is true power. If you realize that you have enough, you are truly rich."
Tao Te Ching
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"The most terrifying words in the English language are: I'm from the government and I'm here to help."
Ronald Reagan
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they made a difference in the world.
But, the Marines don't have that problem."
Ronald Reagan
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"If we ever forget that we're One Nation Under God, then we will be a nation
gone under"
Ronald Reagan
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"The outer limit of your potential is determined solely by your own beliefs and our own confidence in what you think is possible."
Brian Tracy
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"If you and I exchange a dollar, each of us would still have a dollar - BUT - if you and I exchange an idea, each of us would have two ideas."
Irving Berliner
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Leaders are made rather than born. Failing organizations are usually over-managed and under-led."
Warren G. Bennis
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"There is a certain grave beauty in the practice of Masonic etiquette. The Masonic life as it is lived out in our assemblies is a conscious work of art, with each and every part coordinated to every other, and instinct with the feeling of the whole; if a man enters into that system without preparation or forethought, and trusting only his instincts, his manner will strike an awkward note, like a discord jangling across a strain of music; but if he has trained himself in his part and caught the spirit of the whole, the genius of Freemasonry will shine through his actions, will express itself through ritual, symbol, law, philosophy, fellowship and daily deed. To have one's self thus become a part of a great and living whole is a kind of satisfying pleasure nothing else can give, a participation in the very life of beauty, appreciated as much by the beholders as by the actor. This ability to confer pleasure upon one's fellows when gathered in communication or in ceremony is not the least of etiquette's rewards."
W. Henry G. Meacham, Grand Lecturer, Grand Lodge of New York
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"There are five different approaches to Masonry and only five. The Historical approach; the Philosophical approach; the Psychological approach; the Ethical approach; and the Ritualistic approach. There are no other approaches to Freemasonry. Now, we have stressed the historical approach; we have spent thousands and thousands of dollars; that is very important. We ... have spent thousands and thousands stressing ritualistic approach. But, my brethren, the most important approach - and I venture the assertion here we haven't spent one cent on it - is the ethical approach to Freemasonry. Why? Because Freemasonry is a way of life. I hope to live long enough, my brethren, to see as much emphasis placed on it as there is upon the historical approach and the ritualistic approach, important as they are."
Harold Reader, Grand Secretary of Missouri, 1949
Extracted from the So. Dakota Lodge of Masonic Research
Sep. 1952 "Bulletin"
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Let us separate the Square from the Compasses and study it alone, the better to understand its meaning and use. There is no need to say that the Square we have in mind is not a Cube, which has six equal faces and 12 perfect angles, deemed by the Greeks "a figure of perfection". Nor is it the square of the carpenter, one leg of which is longer than the other, with indices marked thereon for measuring. It is a small, plain Square, unmarked and with legs of equal length, a simple tri-square used for testing the accuracy of angles, and the precision with which stones are cut.
.
From 'The Furniture-of the Lodge' by Bro W. F. Eltham in the August 2001
Proceedings of The Waikato Lodge of Research No. 445
AF&AM of New Zealand]
Extracted from the Southern California Research Lodge|
'Fraternal Review', August 2003
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
IMMORTALITY
["A belief in immortality did not begin with Freemasonry... Below are examples of how other men have felt about immortality.
Parmenides of Elea, 515-440 B.C.: 'Being is without beginning and indestructible. It is universal and without end. It is altogether, one, and continuous. '
Plato, 427-347 B.C.: .'Every soul is immortal, for whatever is in perpetual motion is immortal.'
Apollonius of Tyana - Greek philosopher of 1st century A.D.: 'There is no death of anything save in appearance.'
St. Augustine, 354-439 A.D.: 'Neither the soul nor the human body suffers complete annihilation. '
St. Thomas Aquinas, 1225-1274 A.D.: 'The soul exists independent of the body, and continues after the body dies, taking on a new spiritual body. '
Goethe, 1749-1832 AD. - German poet, philosopher and scientist: 'I am convinced that the soul is indestructible and that its activity will continue through eternity. It is like the sun, which to our eyes seems to set at night, but has in reality only gone to diffuse its light elsewhere. '
Einstein's Relativity Theory: 'Matter can never be destroyed ... but it can be changed into other forms of energy'
The Talmud: 'No atom of matter in the whole vastness of the universe is lost. How then can man's soul, which comprises the whole world in one idea, be lost?' .
Socrates speaking in Plato's Phaedo: 'If the soul is really immortal, what care should be taken of her, not only in respect of the portion of time which is called life, but of eternity?'
Wayne Burk, 32° KCCH in the February 2003 Fresno (CA) Scottish Rite Bulletin"]
Extracted from the Southern California Research Lodge|
'Fraternal Review', August 2003
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Masons do not worship in Lodge meetings. Each Mason freely prays as his faith dictates, regardless of who is leading the group prayer, because prayer is ultimately a personal conversation between a man and his Creator."
Gary Leazer, from the Center for Interfaith Studies bulletin.
Extracted from the October 1999 "Short Talk Bulletin"
of the Masonic Service Association of North America
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"The genius of Freemasonry is not our Masonic buildings and temples or the trappings of our organizations. It is not our great charities or community activities. It is not our beautiful rituals or their teachings! It is the 'practice of Freemasonry' by the Freemasons. Yet we cannot practice that which we do not know or understand. Thus Masonic education is the foundation for our Fraternity.
Brother Carl H. Claudy in The Master's Book says, '.. one thing and only one thing a Masonic Lodge can give its members which they can get nowhere else in the world. That one thing is Masonry."
from the Occasional Bulletin of the Texas Lodge of Research
by Michael L. Wiggins, P.M.,
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Toleration, holding that every other man has the same right to his opinion and faith that we have to ours; and liberality, holding that as no human being can with certainty say, in the clash and conflict of hostile faiths and creeds, what is truth, or that he is surely in possession of it, so every one should feel that it is quite possible that another equally honest and sincere with himself, and yet holding the contrary opinion, may himself be in possession of the truth."
Brother Albert Pike, Morals and Dogma
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------