In a mad world, remember Denmark’s Piet Hein. Theoretical physicist, poet, wartime resistance activist, mathematician and simply a human being in all its warmest glory. His short poems (Grooks) have a haiku-like quality, reflecting on the simple complexities of life, and as a consequence of real politics as it hits real people. I have cherished these gems for a long time, and wonder if other Liberal Democrats might find them helpful.
His first ever Grook was published in the newspaper Politiken under the Nazi occupation of Denmark. It was
Losing one glove
is certainly painful,
but nothing
compared to the pain,
of losing one,
throwing away the other,
and finding
the first one again
Subscribe
-
Follow @libdemvoice.org on Bluesky
-
Like us on Facebook
-
Subscribe to our feed
-
Sign-up for our daily email digest
Most Read
Search
Op-eds
-
Being a Councillor – 35 years on (Chris Nicholson)
-
Roz Savage MP writes: Liberalism is having a Moment. But does it have a future? (Roz Savage MP)
-
Reinvigorating the Royal Navy (Ben Edginton-Thomas)
-
Global Power or Euro-Atlantic leader? (Peter Chambers)
-
Lib Dems at the Edinburgh Festival (Caron Lindsay)
Recent Comments
Jason Connor
Well done for putting in the effort in an inner London constituency, and showing how it can be done. There have been similar issues in Greenwich where the rulin...
Jason Connor
I so agree with David Raw. Middle England is not the only constituency worth targeting likewise for Scotland and Wales. Left behind areas and those with und...
Jason Connor
"Treating people as individuals" - these traits can and are seen by people on the left. Social liberalism is not a classic centre right liberal philosophy. It i...
Tim
So glad you are a councillor again. Still miss you here....
Chris Webb
Excellent piece. I really like the "I'm a Liberal because..." idea, and will prod my local association along just those lines....



