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What is a Freemason?
Freemasonry has been described as a system of morality,
veiled in allegory and illustrated by symbols. This, of course,
creates more questions than it supplies answers. Freemasonry has
also been described as a group of men who have dedicated their lives
to becoming better men and making their community a better place.
If you see a man who quietly and modestly moves
in the sphere of his life; who, without blemish, fulfils his duty
as a man, a subject, a husband and a father; who is pious without
hypocrisy, benevolent without ostentation, and aids his fellowman
without self-interest; whose heart beats warm for friendship, whose
serene mind is open for licensed pleasures, who in vicissitudes
does not despair, nor in fortune will be presumptuous, and who will
be resolute in the hour of danger; The man who is free from superstition
and free from infidelity; who in nature sees the finger of the Eternal
Master; who feels and adores the higher destination of man; to whom
faith, hope and charity are not mere words without any meaning;
to whom property, nay even life, is not too dear for the protection
of innocence and virtue, and for the defense of truth; The man who
towards himself is a severe judge, but who is tolerant with the
debilities of his neighbour; who endeavours to oppose errors without
arrogance, and to promote intelligence without impatience; who properly
understands how to estimate and employ his means; who honours virtue
though it may be in the most humble garment, and who does not favour
vice though it be clad in purple; and who administers justice to
merit whether dwelling in palaces or cottages.
The man who, without courting applause, is loved
by all noble-minded men, respected by his superiors and revered
by his subordinates; the man who never proclaims what he has done,
can do, or will do, but where need is will lay hold with dispassionate
courage, circumspect resolution, indefatigable exertion and a rare
power of mind, and who will not cease until he has accomplished
his work, and then, without pretension, will retire into the multitude
because he did the good act, not for himself, but for the cause
of good! If you, my Brethren meet such a man, you will see the personification
of brotherly love, relief and truth; and you will have found the
ideal of a Freemason.
— "The History of Freemasonry" by Otto Klotz, March
15, 1868.
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