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Thomson Motto

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Michael Thompson:

--- Quote from: Mary on June 16, 2011, 06:37:47 AM ---Well - Michael has put up a voting offer for selecting a clan motto TWICE and the winner was the traditional "Honestie is the best Policie." Records support this motto as the most often used. Is it my favorite? No, but we are RESURRECTING a clan, not building a new one so our feeling was that we should use IT'S motto.

What think you?

--- End quote ---

I have to agree Mary. I guess it must be pointed out that we are resurrecting a clan, but we are recreating much of it from nothing, since we don't have the unbroken history we'd like. For instance, we don't have a chiefly line, so we make do with a President and a society. We don't have any official history of a clan motto from the old days, so we have to make do with something. I think you're right in saying that it should reflect Thom(p)son history as much as possible, and Honestie is the Best Policie seems to be attested among more ancient Thoms than the others, but not by a wide margin. It's hard to say that it's authoritative in that sense, but it does seem to carry the most weight.

I also like the idea of having a motto in Latin and fairly short. That's why I proposed Unitas et Probitas (Unity and Honesty). It's not directly attested in any previous motto I've seen, but it carries the ideas of Unity (which is one of our core values, and something that sets us apart from THOSE people), and Honestie (which seems to be the value most prominently featured among extant mottos of Thom(p)son armigers. So I combined them into one short motto in Latin. It seemed to me that this was the best representation of our history and values. Of course, not a lot of other people agreed. :-)

I posted a clan motto opinion poll twice, based in the idea that a motto ought to have popular support among the members. Neither of them really got much input. the first had 15 votes, with the aforementioned "Honestie is the Best Policie" beating out the others, but only one vote better than the three other mottoes tied for second place.

The second was slightly better, with 21 votes and a clear difference between "Honestie" at 8 votes, compared to 5 and 4 for the next most popular.

So "Honestie is the Best Policie" is certainly the top vote-getter. The trouble is, it still represents only a tiny fraction of our membership, and probably a micro-miniscule fraction of Thom(p)sons worldwide. There are 223 registered members of the forum as of today, so the biggest vote we got was less than one percent of the members here, which I imagine must only be a fraction of actual clan members.

So Mary, I agree with you in principle, but I'm not sure we need to be bound too tightly by a couple of polls which may or may not reflect the actual opinions of our members. "Honestie" seems to have the most historical attestation, but even then, only somewhat more. There are dozens of others that are NEARLY as popular. So I'm also inclined to think we should go with history, but I'm not entirely convinced history speaks with a clear message on this topic.

Perhaps someone could make an authoritative review of the literature on Thom(p)son mottos. That would help. And before we actually select one, maybe it could be put to an actual vote of the membership. At least, such a two-pronged approach would be my recommendation. I don't think we really have sufficient information yet to make the best decision. Unless of course our revered President wants to make an executive decision.;)

Parker Thomson:
Well stated, Michael- as usual.  Thanks, 'bro! :D

Michael Thompson:
Got an interesting e-mail with some quotes regarding honesty, which I thought might shed some interesting light on this topic.


--- Quote ---Regardless of policy, honesty is easier on the nerves.

The whole art of government consists in the art of being
honest. - Thomas Jefferson

The badge of honesty is simplicity.

It matters not what you do&#8212;
Make a nation or a shoe;
For he who does an honest thing
In God's pure sight is ranked a king. - John Parnell

Even a little lie is dangerous; it deteriorates the
conscience. And the importance of conscience is eternal,
like love. - Pablo Casals

Not keeping an appointment is an act of clear dishonesty.
You may as well borrow a person's money as his time.

It takes an honest person to admit if he's tired or just
lazy.

He who loses honesty has nothing else to lose.

There's one way to find out if a man is honest--ask him. If
he says yes, you know he is a crook. - Groucho Marx

An honest man is the noblest work of God. - Alexander Pope

--- End quote ---

Mary:
How about   "DENY US NOT"...........check out the home page.  ;D

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