All Things Questioned

Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason, than that of blind-folded fear. - Thomas Jefferson



All things must be questioned. Remember those around you will be questioning you and your actions as well. You may have to explain why you do things often; how well you explain will determine if they follow or not.

Ideas Are Like Rabbits

Ideas are like rabbits. You get a couple and learn how to handle them, and pretty soon you have a dozen. - John Steinbeck



So if you have an idea, no matter how improbable, play with it - it will lead to more ideas.

Worldly Wisdom

Just because your voice reaches halfway around the world doesn't mean you are wiser than when it reached only to the end of the bar. - Edward R. Murrow





Just because someone speaks with authority from some far away place does not make them wise. It may be that they are only (unfortunately) more influential.

Mountain Climbing

People think that at the top there isn't much room. They tend to think of it as an Everest. My message is that there is tons of room at the top. - Margaret Thatcher



Do not fear people joining you at the top of whatever hill you are on. Just make sure you are already figuring out how you are going to scale the next highest peak.

Dream Visions

Vision without action is a daydream. Action without vision is a nightmare. - Japanese Proverb



Having a goal and a plan will more than likely make you dream come true.

Scoreless

100% of the shots you don't take don't go in. - Wayne Gretzky



You've got to make the shot to get the goal. If you don't know where the goal is then you'll be scoreless for sure.

Vicious Circle

People who run around in circles never find the finish line. – John L. Herman





If there is no goal it's a mighty long race. Is this why people get bored with their job? Flipping burgers can get boring after a while but not if your goal is to be the manager some day. Make sure your people have a goal.

Castor Oil Advice

Advice is like castor oil, easy enough to give but dreadful uneasy to take. - Josh Billings





Some folks avoid taking their Castor oil at all costs, even though they would benefit from the taking.

Instinctual Acceptance

If a man is offered a fact which goes against his instincts, he will scrutinize it closely, and unless the evidence is overwhelming, he will refuse to believe it. If, on the other hand, he is offered something which affords a reason for acting in accordance to his instincts, he will accept it even on the slightest evidence. The origin of myths is explained in this way. - Bertrand Russell



Understanding this knowledge will help you figure out how to get your people to accept change.

Inconvenient Adventure

An adventure is only an inconvenience rightly considered. An inconvenience is an adventure wrongly considered. - GK Chesterton



May your life be full of adventures (inconveniences and all).

In or Out of the Box

Thinking outside the box isn't nearly as productive as building a bigger one. – Seth Godin

Thinking outside the box is great for problem solving. Thinking inside the box makes you more successful. Apple didn't invent the MP3 player, they made the iPod a better MP3 player and it brought them back from bankruptcy.

Stupid Learning

I like to think of my behavior in the sixties as a "learning experience." Then again, I like to think of anything stupid I've done as a "learning experience." It makes me feel less stupid. - P. J. O'Rourke



The important thing is to recognize when you've done something stupid.

The Origin of Pleasure

Pleasure is a by-product of doing something that is worth doing. Therefore, do not seek pleasure as such. Pleasure comes of seeking something else, and comes by the way. - A. Lawrence Lowell



Do that which is worth doing. Create that which is worth creating. Don't call it work, call it seeking pleasure.

Being a Needle

When you are a needle, and you want to get the word out, don't start by jumping into haystacks. – Robert May (posts at businesspundit.com)



This one really got me to thinking about selling (a product or even yourself). When we wrote our book on trail riding we sold a lot more books in feed stores than we did in bookstores. In a bookstore we were a needle in a haystack. In a feed store we were a spear. We all start out as needles. You can jump into a haystack if you want but you had better work to make yourself into a pitchfork.

Dirty Mouth

If you push someone’s face in the dirt, don’t be surprised if when they talk to you (or about you) dirt comes out of their mouth. – Anon



No matter how tempting, we all need to remember to speak kindly of others or not say anything.

Chapter 9

This is Chapter 9 of my never ending short story. I post new chapters every couple of weeks.


Previously........Her answer was: “I believe my dog is not God, but I can’t prove it.”

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From time to time I would see her in the student cafeteria and she would invite me to sit and chat. Generally these were brief encounters but occasionally we would sit and talk for hours. I treasured those times. The conversations would meander from topic to topic with an easy flow; sometimes there were whitewater rapids of disagreement interspersed with whirlpools of confusion but never any negativity or reproach. We treated each other as equals though we had different perspectives and schooling. She was amazingly well read on a vast array of topics yet admitted freely about her lack of knowledge when we drifted into some obscure subject. I came to realize she was truly a “student” in the classical sense. She was here to get an education, not merely to prepare for a career.

On one of these extended conversations she unexpectedly asked “Why do you teach?” I had no immediate truthful answer. When I hesitated a bit too long she smiled and said with glee “Three to five pages, double spaced. Cover the topic completely and succinctly. The paper is due next week at this time; don’t be late – no excuses.” We both laughed and I heartily replied “OK.”

I put myself through college pounding nails. I was much fitter then, with a much better tan and sometimes I miss it. I made more money doing that than I am making now. Why did I give that up for teaching? Though it was profitable, it did not provide me with what my insides desired. I guess I wanted to be a composer, not a fiddle player.

Composing is a lot easier said than done. I soon learned how much passion it took; how much knowledge was needed; how big a role imagination played. After I graduated I knew my education was lacking. Not only book knowledge, but life’s experience knowledge. That’s why I became a bum for three months. I didn’t consider myself as “homeless” just without a house. I knew I could re-enter the “real” world any time I chose.

Writing does not pay very well, especially at first and only if you are talented and put the work into it. You have to be self-critical to an extreme which can be tough on your innards. You need to be out in the world to observe but in order to be productive you need to be a recluse. You also need to eat.

Finding a teaching position was a stroke of luck. It came the closest to providing me what I needed – time and interaction with the real world. I didn’t set out to be a teacher but it provided me with what I needed at the time. I grew to like my new career over the years but I really could not express why. This “assignment” she gave me made me face my confusion head on. I knew I would have to solve it. I went for a drive in order to have time to sort it all out. Sometimes solutions fall out of the sky. A Procol Harem song came on the radio and one verse gave me the clear concise summary I sought:

“For the lesson lies in learning
And by teaching I will be taught.”

She gave me an A on the paper.
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(Autors note: If you would like to read all of the lyrics of the Procal Harem song visit http://lyricstrue.net/bandsongtext/Harum_Procol/In_Held_Twas_In_I.html)

Talent or Genius

Talent hits a target no one else can hit; Genius hits a target no one else can see. - Arthur Schopenhauer



Think of this definition before ascribing talent or genius to someone.

Savage Existence

Civilization is the progress toward a society of privacy. The savage's whole existence is public, ruled by the laws of his tribe. Civilization is the process of setting man free from men. - Ayn Rand



I've always been bothered by the gay pride movement. Now I understand why; it makes that which should be private, public. It is a step backwards for civilization.

Weird Dogs

I wonder if other dogs think poodles are members of a weird religious cult. - Rita Rudner



I doubt it. Dogs are smart enough to know it is people who make them look weird; its not the dogs fault. Now when people make themselves look weird, that is another question.

Executive Ability

Executive ability is deciding quickly and getting someone else to do the work. - John G. Pollard



Deciding what needs to be done and getting it done. That's what business is all about.

Silent Gratitude

Silent gratitude isn't very much use to anyone. - Gertrude Stein



Thank you for reading this blog.

Malfunctioning Functions

For every function, there is an equal and opposite malfunction. - Anon



Put that in your business plan and prepare to deal with it.

Airport Prisons

Think of airports as temporary prisons for the wealthy. - Tyler Cowen



Define wealthy; define temporary; define prison. I think you will agree.

Finding Opportunity

A wise man will make more opportunities than he finds. - Sir Francis Bacon



Rarely do you find opportunities; generally you have to make your own.

Avoid Success

I dread success. To have succeeded is to have finished one's business on earth, like the male spider, who is killed by the female the moment he has succeeded in his courtship. I like a state of continual becoming, with a goal in front and not behind. - George Bernard Shaw



As you progress move the target farther away.

Handicap Hurdles

Each handicap is like a hurdle in a steeplechase, and when you ride up to it, if you throw your heart over, the horse will go along, too. - Lawrence Bixby



If you do not "throw your heart over" you risk falling off and causing a wreck of those in the race with you. If you can't muster the will to give it your all then don't join the race.

Embracing Change

People are very open-minded about new things - as long as they're exactly like the old ones. - Charles Kettering



People are always resistant to change. If you have the talent to get your people to embrace change you are worthy of envy.

Working Hard on Labor Day

Seeing as how this is Labor Day I am breaking with the normal format to refer you to Seth Godin's Blog today where he writes about hard work and working hard.

Power of Patience

Patience serves as a protection against wrongs as clothes do against cold. For if you put on more clothes as the cold increases, it will have no power to hurt you. So in like manner you must grow in patience when you meet with great wrongs, and they will then be powerless to vex your mind. - Leonardo da Vinci



Patience is a virtue.

Chapter 8

This is Chapter 8 of my never ending short story. Previous chapters can be found through the links to the right. I post new installment every couple of weeks.



Previously:



..................“Now, if you still have doubts about my ‘Truths’ (Men are goal oriented; Women are process oriented), then think about sex.”





I tried not to.

One of the signs of a good writer is their ability to focus. The other sign is brevity – communicate as fully as possible with as few words as possible. These two traits go hand in hand and to accomplish them simultaneously is the “work” involved in writing. When I was in school my writing teachers chastised me regularly for being too brief, “Not long enough.” they said. I struggled with this until I took a class from Dr. Long, who taught me the value of “communicating” rather than just “writing”. The other teachers had failed to express themselves clearly. I had been brief, but my words failed to impart my point to the reader. He said I failed to “communicate fully” to the reader – that I had assumed too much – that the average reader would fail to get my point; feel my emotion; get my drift if you will, because my choice of words had not been pungent. “If you don’t spend as much time in the dictionary and thesaurus as you do composing, your piece will fail.” he said. “Really good writers get quoted not because what they say is right or correct, but because they communicate a very defined thought in a very few words. The person who uses the quote does so because the author’s few words convey what they themselves cannot express. You will know when you are a great author when you are quoted.”

I want my students to become great authors even though I have not gained that status myself. The chances of them fulfilling my dream are slim, but it is a noble goal. She has the ability; she has the spark which could ignite the readers mind. I turned my attention to teaching her what I could and let the other students go along for the ride. I needed to challenge her. I needed to present tasks which were difficult so she could develop her ability to focus. She had quit giving me writing topics; instead she gave me a blank sneering stare. I assumed she had taken the position it was time for me to become the teacher. I took it as a compliment.

At least that’s the theory I tell everyone. To be more truthful, I gave writing assignments to find out what her response would be.

Every year a group asks a question and seeks responses from notable “Thinkers”. Their responses are sometimes noteworthy so I assigned one of the questions as a writing topic: What do you believe is true but cannot prove?

Her response was exceedingly brief but before I berated her for failing to communicate fully I looked at the topic again. It was only a question. She answered the question. She did not assume I needed an explanation. She had been brief; she had communicated well (by answering the question); her answer gave lots to think about.

Her answer was: “I believe my dog is not God, but I can’t prove it.”