False virtue boasts undying constancy,
entrenching  roots in soil she did not test.
She lifts her shield against the burning sun
and shoots her views like arrows from behind
the walls that stand against all diff’ring thought.

But were not minds designed to grow like trees?
To stand as strengthened by the light of truth?
To rise up higher than the walls with time?
And branch beyond to breathe a different air?
And then to choose the way that we should grow.

Be careful how you plant your mind—not fast
to shackles of assumed conviction thrust,
nor from convention taken by mere whim
for trees that choke on chains still die of thirst
when severed from the gravity of earth.

Be wise then: test the place where you would plant—
be quick to shine the trying light of truth
And brave to understand opposing views.
And if the soil be sound, then stand your ground.
But if the soil be flawed, then change your mind.