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        | In the name of the daybreak and the eyelids of morning
 and the wayfaring moon
 and the night when it departs,
 
 I swear I will not dishonor
 my soul with hatred,
 but offer myself humbly
 as a guardian of nature,
 as a healer of misery,
 as a messenger of wonder,
 as an architect of peace.
 
 In the name of the sun and its mirrors
 and the day that embraces it
 and the cloud veils drawn over it
 and the uttermost night
 and the male and the female
 and the plants bursting with seed
 and the crowning seasons
 of the firefly and the apple,
 
 I will honor all life
 —wherever and in whatever form
 it may dwell—on Earth my home,
 and in the mansions of the stars.
 
 (Diane Ackerman)
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