One of the prime characteristics of a tyrant is selfishness. A tyrant will do anything to ensure he has the power he desires, even if he must harm the lives of others. However, what I want to write about today is not selfishness, but selflessness. Too often today we hear the terms, “but I want…”, “how does that benefit me?” or, “why should I?” People are so caught up with sustaining their own desires that they forget that others needs might be more important than their wants. In Livy’s The War with Hannibal, he talks about a fearless tyrant named Hannibal who would stop at nothing to gain power, and his army, as it says, was “willing to submit to Hannibal’s orders, to supply him with guides and provisions, and to offer hostages as a guarantee of their good faith.” They followed him blindly because it benefited them, even though it greatly harmed others. Though it is difficult, we must learn to put our own wants aside so we can do more for others who need it. For example, we all have something many people do not, we know of liberty and its importance, so we need to use that. I will admit, sometimes it gets hard to take time out of my day to read or write about these things, but the things I would rather be doing will make no impact and have little to no importance. Taking a little time out of each day to read about these important truths, though maybe not your first choice, will eventually benefit the lives of you, your children, and their children. What you choose to do now will impact the lives of so many others. Much like what I said in last week’s entry, we might not obtain complete liberty within our lifetimes, but we can do so much for those who will come after us and they will be so blessed because of the sacrifices we make today, even if we can’t see it yet. Yes, it is hard, but as Tacitus explained, “the crowning proof of their valor and strength is that they keep up their superiority without harm to others.” Your true character is shown when you can be the best person you can be without harming, and might I add, with helping others in the process. As I close today, I hope you will look toward the examples of those who I mention almost every week, those who fought for liberty so many years before us, who sacrificed so much for us without thinking of themselves. As we learn to be selfless as they were, we will be blessed beyond comprehension for all the good we can accomplish when we put our unimportant desires aside.

 Yours truly,

Publius