Musical Morals and Themes
Peter and the Wolf
In this story the boy does not heed his grandfather's warnings and has a dangerous encounter with a wolf.
Moral:
While you may have clever ideas and be lucky, it is safer to listen to and learn from your elders.
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Bible Verses:
Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. "Honor your father and mother”— which is the first commandment with a promise -- that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth.” Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.
Ephesians 6:1-4'
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The glory of young men is their strength, but the splendor of old men is their gray hair.
Proverbs 20:29'
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Famous Quotations:
It is not possible for civilization to flow backwards while there is youth in the world. Youth may be headstrong, but it will advance it allotted length.
- Helen Keller
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Youth cannot know how age thinks and feels. But old men are guilty if they forget what it was to be young.
- J. K. Rowling
The Story of Swan Lake
This is the tale of a prince who falls in love with a princess who has been changed into a swan. Only true love can change her back.
Moral:
Love conquers all.
Bible Verses:
Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away.
1 Corinthians 13:4-8
Famous Quotations:
Nothing takes the taste out of peanut butter quite like unrequited love.
- Charles M. Schulz (1922 - 2000), Charlie Brown in "Peanuts"
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When love is in excess it brings a man no honor nor worthiness.
- Euripides (484 BC - 406​ BC), Medea, 431 B.C.
There is always some madness in love. But there is also always some reason in madness.
- Friedrich Nietzsche (1844 - 1900), "On Reading and Writing"
Perhaps the feelings that we experience when we are in love represent a normal state.
Being in love shows a person who he should be.
- Anton Chekhov (1860 - 1904)
My Name is Handel
The story of George Frideric Handel, one of England’s most famous composers. Famous as the composer of “Messiah,” one of Christianity’s most famous works of music.
Moral:
Celebrate the Lord with music.
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Bible Verses:
​​"David and all the Israelites were celebrating with all their might before God, with songs and with harps, lyres, timbrels, cymbals and trumpets."
1 Chronicles 13:8
"Give praise to the LORD, proclaim his name; make known among the nations what he has done. Sing to him, sing praise to him; tell of all his wonderful acts. Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice. Look to the LORD and his strength; seek his face always."
1 Chronicles 16:8-11
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"By day the LORD directs his love, at night his song is with me— a prayer to the God of my life."
Psalm 42:8
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Famous Quotations:
After silence, that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music.
- AldousHuxley (1894 – 1963)
Music is a discipline, and a mistress of order and good manners, she makes the people milder and gentler, more moral and more reasonable.
- Martin Luther (1483 - 1546)
Take a music bath once or twice a week for a few seasons, and you will find that it is to the soul what the water bath is to the body.
- Oliver Wendell Holmes (1809 - 1894)
Music has charms to soothe the savage breast To soften rocks, or bend a knotted oak.
- William Congreve (1670 - 1729
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If music be the food of love, play on;
- William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), "Twelfth Night", Act 1 scene 1
Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel
This story emphasizes determination, dedication, loyalty, friendship, and creative thinking. In this story, Mike accomplishes something that even he was not sure was possible.
Moral:
Believe in yourself and your ideals and you will accomplish great things.
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Bible Verses:
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.
1 Corinthians 13:4
All hard work brings a profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty.
​Proverbs 14:23
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Famous Quotations:
Few things are impossible to diligence and skill.
- Samuel Johnson quotes (English Poet, Critic and Writer. 1709-1784)
Diligence is the mother of good luck.
- Benjamin Franklin quotes (American Statesman, Scientist, Philosopher, Printer, Writer and Inventor. 1706-1790)
The Tortoise and the Hare
In this story the hare challenges the tortoise to a race. The tortoise perseveres against
impossible odds and wins the race against the speedy hare.
Moral:
Slow and steady wins the race.
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Bible Verses:
"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. "Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. ...
Matthew 5:3-5
And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.
​Galatians 6:9
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Famous Quotations:
God knows our situation; He will not judge us as if we had no difficulties to overcome. What matters is the sincerity and perseverance of our will to overcome them. We all want progress, but if you're on the wrong road, progress means doing an about-turn and walking back to the right road; in that case, the man who turns back soonest is the most progressive. What saves a man is to take a step. Then another step.
​- C.S. Lewis Quotes
About Perseverance "You can chase a butterfly all over the field and never catch it. But if you sit quietly in the
grass it will come and sit on your shoulder."
- (Anonymous)
By perseverance the snail reached the ark.
- Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834 - 1892)
Courage and perseverance have a magical talisman, before which difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish into air.
- John Quincy Adams (1767 - 1848)
Few things are impossible to diligence and skill. Great works are performed not by strength, but perseverance.
​- Samuel Johnson (1709 - 1784)
The Sorcerer's Apprentice
This ancient tale points out the importance of honest work and the danger of trying to take shortcuts.
Moral:
A little knowledge can be a dangerous thing.
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Bible Verse:
No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide an escape, so that you can stand up under it.
1 Corinthians 10:13
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Famous Quotations:
A little knowledge is a dangerous thing, but a little want of knowledge is also a dangerous thing.
- Samuel Butler
Ignorance of all things is an evil neither terrible nor excessive, nor yet the greatest of all; but great cleverness and much learning, if they be accompanied by a bad training, are a much greater misfortune.
- Plato
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Every conquering temptation represents a new fund of moral energy. Every trial endured and weathered in the right spirit makes a soul nobler and stronger than it was before.
- William Butler Yeats
Casey at the Bat
America’s greatest baseball poem tells the story of the haughty Mighty Casey, star of the team, in the end strikes out.
Moral:
​Excessive pride and confidence do not always win in the end. This classic American poem emphasizes the power of hope, but also the dangers of excessive pride.
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Bible Verses:
Before his downfall a man's heart is proud, but humility comes before honor.
Proverbs 18:12
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Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.
​Proverbs 16:18
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Famous Quotations:
A proud man is always looking down on things and people; and, of course, as long as you're looking down, you can't see something that's above you.
- C.S. Lewis
Idleness and pride tax with a heavier hand than kings and governments.
​- Benjamin Franklin
If I had only one sermon to preach it would be a sermon against pride.
- Gilbert Keith Chesterton
The Soldier's Tale
A young soldier, on his way home on leave from the army, meets an old man who offers to trade a book that tells the future and can make him rich for the soldier’s old violin. The soldier makes the trade, not realizing that he has made a pact with the devil.
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Moral:
Never make deals with the devil.
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Bible Verses:
Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.
1 Peter 5:8
It is also written: 'Do not put the Lord your God to the test.'[d]" Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. 9 "All this I will give you," he said, "if you will bow down and worship me." Jesus said to him, Away from me, Satan! For it is written: 'Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.
Matthew 4: 1-10
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Famous Quotations:
“At sometime in our lives a devil dwells within us, causes heartbreaks, confusion and troubles, then dies.”
- Theodore Roosevelt quotes (American 26th US President (1901-09), 1858-1919)
"The devil has the power to assume a pleasing shape."
- William Shakespeare
"The devil tempts all men, but idle men tempt the devil."
- Arabian Proverb
Juanita the Spanish Lobster
​This story emphasizes the benefits of appreciating what one has rather than always looking elsewhere.
Moral:
The grass is not always greener on the other side of the fence.
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Bible Verse:
You shall not covet your neighbor's house.
Exodus 20:17
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Famous Quotation:
Jealousy contains more of self-love than of love.
- Francois de La Rochefoucauld
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