Lincoln on Convincing

When the conduct of men is designed to be influenced, persuasion, kind unassuming persuasion, should ever be adopted. It is an old and true maxim that 'a drop of honey catches more flies than a gallon of gall.' So with men. If you would win a man to your cause, first convince him that you are his sincere friend. Therein is a drop of honey that catches his heart, which, say what he will, is the great highroad to his reason, and which, once gained, you will find but little trouble in convincing him of the justice of your cause, if indeed that cause is really a good one. - Abraham Lincoln



Mr. [Abraham] Lincoln is not in the habit of saying “This is my opinion” or “my theory” but “This is the conclusion to which, in my judgment, the time has come, and to which accordingly, the sooner we come the better for us.” He has always addressed the intelligence of men, never their prejudice, their passion, or their ignorance. – James Russell Lowell



These two quotes, taken together, pretty well map out a plan for convincing others. Remember you will never change your enemy's mind.

Job Future

There is no future in any job. The future lies in the man who holds the job. - George Crane



I held a job for many years which wasn't the greatest job in the world but it best allowed me to do what I needed and wanted to do.

Business Competition

There is one rule for industrialists and that is: Make the best quality of goods possible at the lowest cost possible, paying the highest wages possible. - Henry Ford



I have always believed that any company would succeed by providing a quality product, at a reasonable price, with good service. Paying well may enable all three (quality, price, service). If the industry you are in has many players who provide all three of these qualities perhaps paying better wages is the competitive advantage you've been looking for.

Price Isn't Everything

Maybe the reason it seems that price is all your customers care about is...... that you haven't given them anything else to care about. – Seth Godin

This thought can be applied to a lot more than customers. The next time you find yourself thinking "All they care about is my.......", remember this line.

Roses

You can complain because roses have thorns, or you can rejoice because thorns have roses. - Ziggy, character in comic strip by Tom Wilson



Think roses, always roses. Figure out how to handle the rose without being damaged by the thorns.

Vegitarians

I'm not a vegetarian because I love animals. I'm a vegetarian because I hate plants. - A. Whitney Brown





The lesson to be learned here is to be careful about making assumptions based on incomplete evidence.

Cleanliness

Cleanliness is undoubtedly next to godliness, but there are times when I’m too ungodly tired to care about either godliness or cleanliness. - Margaret Duncan Brown, rancher and bronc buster



I bet this lady gets a lot done in a day. Admire those who are more interested in being productive than they are concerned about what others think.

Chapter 1

This is the first chapter of my never ending short story "Index Out Front". I'll post additional chapters every couple of weeks. - Lyle



I noticed her the first day of class but it wasn’t so much because of her beauty as it was the way she walked. I’m used to young ladies and the way they present themselves; some barge down the hallways like the town sheriff, as if to convince you they are the toughest, meanest, most beautiful, delightful object on the planet while others crawl their way along in an effort to remain unseen. Most of them just flitter along with a fake joyous presence which, as far as I’m concerned, makes them the most invisible because it’s so “normal”.

She was different. She walked down the hall and into the classroom with the grace of a ballroom dancer. There was no pretense in her stride but when she sat down in the first row and glanced at me I felt like the conductor of her symphony had just poked me in the eye with his baton.

The boys bumbled in – you might as well have sent the orchestra home (except for the percussion section) but a boom here and a clang there got the whole mess seated.

English Composition is a required class for good reason – if it wasn’t people like me wouldn’t have a job. I love my job. I love teaching writing. I love writing. I would rather spend a day searching for the “correct phrase” than a week on a sun-drenched beach. My mission here is to teach writing - nobody said it would be easy. I’ve always given out my toughest assignment on the first day of class. “Catch ‘em off guard and see what they can do.” has been my adage. The best one I’ve come up with is the ol’ “Three to five pages on a minority. Explain why they are wronged, why they should be righted and if you choose and ethnic or racial group you will get an “F” on the paper. End of class, see you next time, papers are due at the beginning of the class – no exceptions, no excuses – period.”

I’m accustomed to a classroom of blank faces at this point and this semester didn’t fail me, except for her. She managed a silent fit of laughter and a face which expressed pure joy. I couldn’t wait to read what she wrote.

A few years of teaching will convince you there are only about so many kinds of people out there - only so many moulds from which they are cast. You get the same papers back every year – pathetic things really. You might think that they are plagiarisms except they are so bad that to admit it would be more devastating. Her paper was different - I knew it would be. She chose the minority of people who go barefoot and suffer the injustice of “No Shoes, No Shirt, No Service.” Her words didn’t flow across the page like water – it was more like gravel under a spinning tire with an occasional slash of a razor blade in the direction of the reader. She had a point – how many times have you washed the bottoms of your shoes? I loved it.
She missed the next class. I was disappointed and I’m afraid I took it out on the other students. By the time I was done they probably thought I was a lunatic because of the way I berated them about being such an incorrigible lot.

How many legs does a horse have?

Theorem: All horses have an infinite number of legs.


Proof: Everyone would agree that all horses have an even number of legs. It is also well-known that horses have forelegs in front and two legs in back. 4 + 2 = 6 legs, which is certainly an odd number of legs for a horse to have! Now the only number that is both even and odd is infinity; therefore all horses have an infinite number of legs. - Unknown


Theorem: Words mean something.


Proof: See above.

Tail or Leg

How many legs does a dog have if you call the tail a leg? Four. Calling a tail a leg doesn't make it a leg.” - Abraham Lincoln



Beware of this tool when others are presenting their argument - make sure they aren't calling a tail a leg. Words do mean something.

Imagining the best

Cowardice…is almost always simply a lack of ability to suspend the functioning of the imagination. – Ernest Hemingway

People always imagine the worst. When you meet the person who imagines the best, take
them on as a friend, or hire them, or both.

Leadership

When two men ride of a horse, one must ride behind. - Shakespeare

The rider in front steers. The one behind is along for the ride. Choose your place.

I would rather sit on a pumpkin and have it all to myself, than to be crowded on a velvet cushion. – Henry David Thoreau
This may be the refrain of the sole proprietor

The substance of the eminent Socialist gentleman’s speech is that making a profit is a sin, but it is my belief that the real sin is taking a loss. – Winston Churchill

It would have been nice if he had included something like “unless the loss was caused by your adherence to honesty.” Dishonest profit is worse than a sin.