True Freedom
"When I became convinced that the universe was natural, That all the ghosts and gods were myths, There entered into my brain, into my soul, into every drop of my blood, The sense, the feeling, the joy of freedom. The walls of my prison crumbled and fell. The dungeon was flooded with light And all the bolts and bars and manacles turned to dust. I was no longer a servant, a serf, or a slave. There was for me no master in all the wide world, not even in infinite space. I was free to think. Free to express my thoughts, Free to live in my own ideal. Free to live for myself, and those I loved. Free to use all my faculties, all my senses. Free to spread imagination’s wings, Free to investigate, to guess, and dream and hope. Free to judge and determine for myself. Free to reject all ignorant and cruel creeds, All the inspired books that savages have produced, And the barbarous legends of the past. Free from sanctified mistakes and “holy” lies. Free from the fear of eternal p...