Dressing Thought

Language is the dress of thought. - Samuel Johnson 


If he's right then some of the folks we see on TV have some god-awful thoughts!


(Other posts on Thinking) 

Perverted Government

Experience hath shewn, that even under the best forms of government those entrusted with power have, in time, and by slow operations, perverted it into tyranny. - Thomas Jefferson 


This is why the Constitution of the United States was written limiting the power of the government. By slow progression the undereducated people have given over power to Washington - my fear is that it will lead to greater and greater tyranny.


(Other posts on Government) 

Watch What You Say

I've had to abandon free market principles to save the free market. - President George W. Bush 


Be sure to never say anything this stupid.


(Other posts on Principles) 

Education Is Different Than Indoctrination

Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world. - Nelson Mandela 


There is a distinct difference between education and indoctrination. Thinking is involved in education.


(Other post on Education) 

Preserving Liberty

Liberty cannot be preserved without a general knowledge among the people. - John Adams 


Face it, general knowledge will not be provided by the public schools (that includes Universities). It is up to you to do the job. Do it gently though, you will bucking the trend.


(Other posts on Education) 

Coffee Machines - Guest Blog

Each morning I get up and put the coffee pot on. I then tell it to make coffee faster - it's important. Now I've had this particular coffee maker for over a year and it still takes the same amount of time to make coffee. Now matter whether I'm nice to it, swear at it, beg it.......it still makes coffee no faster. I bought it because it suited my needs (price, size, options, etc.). I failed to add in one requirement - that it make coffee real fast. I added that desire after it came into my home so I guess I can't expect it to change. It makes coffee at the speed it does and will continue to. I can't get mad at it because that is just the way it makes coffee - because I want coffee faster should not (and cannot) change the way it makes coffee.

 

Kind of like a spouse. - Lyle Wilson

Sometimes one dwells on the one thing that isn't right and forgets about all of those things that make something pretty close to perfect.

Education vs Intelligence - Guest Blog

You're not dumb, just under-educated - Lyle Wilson

When the old man tutors kids he always believes that the road to success can only be cleared by eliminating reasons (prejudice, intelligence) why you can't succeed. You or the people around you can always give you a perfect reason to fail.

The Nature of Coin

All the perplexities, confusion and distress in America arise, not from defects in their Constitution or Confederation, not from want of honor or virtue, so much as from the downright ignorance of the nature of coin, credit and circulation. - John Adams 


This seems to hold true even over 200 years later - fantastic insight!


(Other posts on Money) 

Middle Age

One of the many things nobody ever tells you about middle age is that it's such a nice change from being young. - William Feather 


You are not told about it because they hate to admit it.


(Other posts about Time) 

Lucky Work

I find that the harder I work, the more luck I seem to have. - Thomas Jefferson 


Imagine that!


(Other posts on Work) 

Right Luck

Most of us regard good luck as our right, and bad luck as a betrayal of that right. - William Feather 


Understand what a "right" is - then you will not be so easily fooled.


(Other posts on Rights) 

Discovering What Is Teachable

For me, the first challenge for computing science is to discover how to maintain order in a finite, but very large, discrete universe that is intricately intertwined. And a second, but not less important challenge is how to mould what you have achieved in solving the first problem, into a teachable discipline: it does not suffice to hone your own intellect (that will join you in your grave), you must teach others how to hone theirs. The more you concentrate on these two challenges, the clearer you will see that they are only two sides of the same coin: teaching yourself is discovering what is teachable. - Edsger W. Dijkstra 


You don't have to be involved in computer science to learn from what he says here.


(Other posts on Learning) 

Too Much Liberty

I would rather be exposed to the inconveniences attending too much liberty than to those attending too small a degree of it. - Thomas Jefferson 


Arguments supporting an incremental loss of Liberty are generally Machiavellian .


(Other posts on Liberty) 

Snarl for Peace

That they may have a little peace, even the best dogs are compelled to snarl occasionally. - William Feather 

If they don't they are just an underdog.


(Other posts on Respect) 

Finally Succeeding

I mean, if 10 years from now, when you are doing something quick and dirty, you suddenly visualize that I am looking over your shoulders and say to yourself "Dijkstra would not have liked this", well, that would be enough immortality for me. - Edsger W. Dijkstra 


Ditto.


(Other posts on Success) 

Computer Thought

The question of whether a computer can think is no more interesting than the question of whether a submarine can swim. - E. W. Dijkstra


An elegant example showing that words do mean something.


(Other posts on Words) 

Spending Wisdom

The petty economies of the rich are just as amazing as the silly extravagances of the poor. - William Feather 


 Having money or not does not make you wise.


(Other posts on Wisdom) 

Love and Friendship

The feeling of friendship is like that of being comfortably filled with roast beef; love, like being enlivened with champagne. - Samuel Johnson 


 What a wonderful toast over dinner with friends and loved ones!


(Other posts on pleasure)  

The Successful Boss

He isn't a real boss until he has trained subordinates to shoulder most of his responsibilities. - William Feather 


Bosses are not totally successful until they have nothing to do but put their feet up and think.


(Other post on Leadership) 

It Can't Be Done!

Back of ninety-nine out of one-hundred assertions that a thing cannot be done is nothing but the unwillingness to do it. - William Feather  


The secret to getting things changed is to get people to think it was their idea.


(Other posts on Change) 

Well Worded Problems

A major stimulant to creative thinking is focused questions. There is something about a well-worded question that often penetrates to the heart of the matter and triggers new ideas and insights. - Brian Tracy 


Replace the word "question" with the word "problem" above.


(Other posts on Problems) 

Problem Facts

If a problem has no solution, it may not be a problem, but a fact - not to be solved, but to be coped with over time. - Shimon Peres 


Situations may change facts into problems which are then solvable.


(Other posts on Problems)  

Poor People

You cannot spend money in luxury without doing good to the poor. Nay, you do more good to them by spending it in luxury, than by giving it; for by spending it in luxury, you make them exert industry, whereas by giving it, you keep them idle. - Samuel Johnson 


There will always be "poor" people - people who would rather be idle than industrious. Those which are industrious, though poor, deserve your respect and reward.


(Other posts on Money) 

Surrendering Dignity

One's dignity may be assaulted, vandalized and cruelly mocked, but cannot be taken away unless it is surrendered. - Michael J. Fox 


Never surrender your dignity.


(Other posts on Character) 

Achieving Excellence

If you want to achieve excellence, you can get there today. As of this second, quit doing less-than-excellent work. - Thomas J. Watson 


Everything you do is under your control.


(Other posts on Achievement) 

Optimism

Optimists and pessimists die the same way. They just live differently. I prefer to live as an optimist. - Shimon Peres 


Pessimists give up the battle before the war begins. I guess that makes them a loser.


(Other posts on Problems) 

Illustrative Anecdotes

The power of illustrative anecdotes often lies not in how well they present reality, but in how well they reflect the core beliefs of their audience. - David P. Mikkelson 


Depending on the audience, it may be more the hopes and dreams.


(Other posts on Persuasion) 

Exceptional Cases

General principles should not be based on exceptional cases. - Robert J. Sawyer 


The trap in inductive logic.

(Other posts on Logic) 

Stand up and Lead

If you stand up and be counted, from time to time you may get yourself knocked down. But remember this: A man flattened by an opponent can get up again. A man flattened by conformity stays down for good. - Thomas J. Watson  


You can't lead sitting down.


(Other posts on Leadership) 

The Eagle, Ben Franklin, and the Turkey

Franklin’s Letter to His Daughter (excerpt)

“For my own part I wish the Bald Eagle had not been chosen the Representative of our Country. He is a Bird of bad moral Character. He does not get his Living honestly. You may have seen him perched on some dead Tree near the River, where, too lazy to fish for himself, he watches the Labour of the Fishing Hawk; and when that diligent Bird has at length taken a Fish, and is bearing it to his Nest for the Support of his Mate and young Ones, the Bald Eagle pursues him and takes it from him.

“With all this Injustice, he is never in good Case but like those among Men who live by Sharping & Robbing he is generally poor and often very lousy. Besides he is a rank Coward: The little King Bird not bigger than a Sparrow attacks him boldly and drives him out of the District. He is therefore by no means a proper Emblem for the brave and honest Cincinnati of America who have driven all the King birds from our Country . . .

“I am on this account not displeased that the Figure is not known as a Bald Eagle, but looks more like a Turkey. For the Truth the Turkey is in Comparison a much more respectable Bird, and withal a true original Native of America . . . He is besides, though a little vain & silly, a Bird of Courage, and would not hesitate to attack a Grenadier of the British Guards who should presume to invade his Farm Yard with a red Coat on.”

The Future

People ask me to predict the future, when all I want to do is prevent it. Better yet, build it. Predicting the future is much too easy, anyway. You look at the people around you, the street you stand on, the visible air you breathe, and predict more of the same. To hell with more. I want better. - Ray Bradbury 


To change the future people have to change their thinking; that is the problem.


(Other posts on Thinking) 

The Way to Succeed

The way to succeed is to double your error rate. - Thomas J. Watson 


One learns by doing not fretting.


(Other posts on Success) 

Programmers

Computer programmers tend to write programs for programmers. They should first get a job managing people where they can learn to deal with people who are dyslexic, or color blind, or dogmatic, or contrary, or resistant to change, or any of the other variations of the human personality. People use computers; not the other way around. - Lyle


(Other posts on Computers)

Knowledge Value

Knowledge is the only instrument of production that is not subject to diminishing returns. - John Maurice Clark 


Maintain your worth - educate yourself.


(Other posts on Learning) 

Real Security

If money is your hope for independence you will never have it. The only real security that a man will have in this world is a reserve of knowledge, experience, and ability. - Henry Ford 


Having those things will probably make you as well.


(Other posts on Money) 

Content as Enemy

Books have the same enemies as people: fire, humidity, animals, weather, and their own content. - Paul Valery 


The same could be said for blogs, e-books, You Tube videos and movies - just the content part though.


(Other posts on Achievement) 

Stolen Liberty

They that approve a private opinion, call it opinion; but they that dislike it, heresy; and yet heresy signifies no more than private opinion. - Thomas Hobbes 


If those in authority find some opinions dangerous they have already stolen your Liberty.


(Other posts on Liberty) 

Animal Rights and Wrongs

Nobody ever saw a dog make a fair and deliberate exchange of one bone for another with another dog. Nobody ever saw one animal by its gestures and natural cries signify to another, this is mine, that yours; I am willing to give this for that. - Adam Smith 


The next time someone assumes that animals should have the same rights as a human - think of this.


(Other posts on Rights) 

Planning for Posterity

When we are planning for posterity, we ought to remember that virtue is not hereditary. - Thomas Paine 


Our Constitution was written with this perspective though our current bureaucracy assumes the opposite.


(Other posts on the Constitution) 

Thunderous Applause

So this is how liberty dies. With thunderous applause. - George Lucas 


Beware of thunderous applause because it is surely based on emotion rather than sound judgment. But, by then it is too late.


(Other posts on Liberty) 

When to Teach

Mediocre minds usually dismiss anything which reaches beyond their own understanding. - Francois de La Rochefoucauld 


Mediocre minds may need education prior to presentation - excellent minds probably will have questions.


(Other posts on Learning) 

Lovely Balance

If you believe too much you'll never notice the flaws; if you doubt too much you won't get started. It requires a lovely balance.- Richard Hamming 


He may have been talking about a scientific investigation but the same applies for a business plan or a relationship.

Rejecting Acceptance

Acceptance is not submission; it is acknowledgment of the facts of a situation. Then deciding what you're going to do about it. - Kathleen Casey Theisen


There are those who do not understand this - they reject in order to maintain their perceived self esteem.


(More posts on Superiority) 

Imaginary Evils

Imaginary evils are incurable. - Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach 


And people who see 'em are incorrigible.


(Other posts on Fear) 

Grave Wisdom

You must not think me necessarily foolish because I am facetious, nor will I consider you necessarily wise because you are grave. - Sydney Smith 


Life should be fun.


(Other posts on Life) 

What is Wisdom?

In youth we learn; in age we understand. - Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach 

Wisdom is understanding what has been learned.

(Other posts on Wisdom) 

Daily Learning

We learn something every day, and lots of times it's that what we learned the day before was wrong. - Bill Vaughan 


Oh oh, the old farts' secret is out.


(Other posts on Learning) 

Don't Put Garbage In

Beware of the "Black Swan" fallacy. Deductive logic is tautological; there is no way to get a new truth out of it, and it manipulates false statements as readily as true ones. If you fail to remember this, it can trip you - with perfect logic. The designers of the earliest computers called this the "Gigo Law." i.e., "Garbage in, garbage out." Inductive logic is much more difficult - but can produce new truths. - Robert Heinlein 


For everyday living this is like picking the nits off a gnats nuts but for life you aught to know what he is talking about. (By the way - he's got it wrong.)


(Other posts on Logic) 

Reject Objections

An objection is not a rejection; it is simply a request for more information. - Bo Bennet



At least it should be taken that way.


(Other posts on Persuasion) 

Unusual Risk

If you are not willing to risk the unusual, you will have to settle for the ordinary. - Jim Rohn 


No pain, no gain.


(Other posts on Achievement) 

Redistribution of Honesty

Every man is dishonest who lives upon the labor of others, no matter if he occupies a throne. - Robert Green Ingersoll 


Consider the implications of this in the redistributing of wealth by the government.


(Other posts on Government) 

Voting Results

 We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office. - Aesop

 Very often the majority are those who hope to be the recipient of the spoils.


(Other posts on Politicians)

Trying On Faces

Don't laugh at a youth for his affectations; he is only trying on one face after another to find his own. - Logan Pearsall Smith 


(This does not apply if they are running for office.)


(Other posts on Politicians) 

No Statues

Pay no attention to what the critics say... Remember, a statue has never been set up in honor of a critic! - Jean Sibelius 


Why has putting up statues of great people gone out of style?


(Other posts on Art) 

Taken Money

Remember that government doesn't earn one single dollar it spends. In order for you to get money from the government, that money must first be taken from somebody else. - Jesse Ventura 


Remember, especially when you vote. Remember as well that the dollar may be coming from you some day.


(Other posts on Government) 

Incremental Loss

What light is to the eyes - what air is to the lungs - what love is to the heart, liberty is to the soul of man. - Robert Green Ingersoll 

My greatest fear is that through the incremental loss of liberty mankind will end up living in a blurred, gasping, depressed state without fulfillment or joy. Individuals need to know the "thrill of victory and the agony of defeat."

(Other posts on Liberty) 

Universal Symmetry

The universe is built on a plan the profound symmetry of which is somehow present in the inner structure of our intellect. - Paul Valery 


Why not Paul? We are part of the universe - not separate from it.


(Other posts on Life) 

Insolence Is Not Logic

Insolence is not logic; epithets are the arguments of malice. - Robert Green Ingersoll 


Don't even attempt a reasoned conversation when this tactic is encountered. Walk away.


(Other posts on Persuasion) 

The Forever-after

The average man, who does not know what to do with his life, wants another one which will last forever.  - Anatole France 


It would be better if this statement were posed as a question.


(Other posts on Life) 

Important Ideas

Capital isn't that important in business. Experience isn't that important. You can get both of these things. What is important is ideas. - Harvey S. Firestone 


Ideas with a dash of enthusiasm and a dollop of dedication can make up for lack of resources in all walks of life.


(More posts on Ideas) 

Lost Poets

I think that one possible definition of our modern culture is that it is one in which nine-tenths of our intellectuals can't read any poetry. - Randall Jarrell 


Though we have gained much from our fast-paced world, we have sadly lost some things as well.


(Other posts on Art) 

Suicide

Wanting to be someone else is a waste of the person you are. - Kurt Cobain 


That's right Kurt. Wanting to be dead is a waste of a person who could be alive.


(Other posts on Life) 

Leaders' Initiative

Without initiative, leaders are simply workers in leadership positions. - Bo Bennett 


Initiative: The ability to begin or follow through with a plan or task.


(More posts on Leadership) 

Going There

Don't spend time beating on a wall, hoping to transform it into a door. - Dr. Laura Schlessinger 


Sometimes you can't go there, or shouldn't go there, or aught not try to go there.


(More posts on Emotions) 

Mystery Revealed

The dance can reveal everything mysterious that is hidden in music, and it has the additional merit of being human and palpable. Dancing is poetry with arms and legs. - Charles Baudelaire   


Interesting concept: One human activity revealing the mystery in another human activity.


(Other posts on Art) 

Wanting to Follow

People want to connect. They want you to do the connecting. - Seth Godin 


It's called leadership.


(More posts on Leadership) 

Get Education

Formal education will make you a living; self-education will make you a fortune. - Jim Rohn 


Do both.


(More posts on Achievement) 

Infinite Thought

Surely there is grandeur in knowing that in the realm of thought, at least, you are without a chain; that you have the right to explore all heights and depth; that there are no walls nor fences, nor prohibited places, nor sacred corners in all the vast expanse of thought. - Robert Green Ingersoll 


Sometime while you are exploring the vast expanses of thought, think about how, when and why individual morality should put up fences in this great field.

(More posts on Thinking) 

The Value of Urgency

Without a sense of urgency, desire loses its value. - Jim Rohn 


Remember this when assigning a task.


(Other posts on Work) 

Consequences

In nature there are neither rewards nor punishments - there are consequences. - Robert G. Ingersoll 


Raise your kids naturally.


(Other posts on Learning) 

Great Contributions

Great contributions are rarely done by adding another decimal place. It comes down to an emotional commitment. Most great scientists are completely committed to their problem. Those who don't become committed seldom produce outstanding, first-class work. - Richard Hamming 


Likewise, give people a break who are committed to their work - they just may make a giant contribution.


(Other posts on Work) 

Stupid Miracles

Ignorance is the soil in which belief in miracles grows. - Robert Green Ingersoll 


If you find yourself faced with what seems to be a miracle - educate yourself.

(Other posts on Education) 

Strategic Tactic

When in doubt, challenge the strategy, not the tactics - Seth Godin 


Strategy: A plan of action. Tactic: An expedient for achieving a goal.


(Other posts on Achievement) 

Difficult Ideas

A man is a poet if difficulties inherent in his art provide him with ideas; he is not a poet if they deprive him of ideas. - Paul Valery 


True of most every vocation.

(Other posts on Work) 

Poison Medicine

A crisis doesn't transform poison into medicine. - Yaron Brook 


When government regulation screws up the market more regulation will not fix the problem.


(More posts on Money) 

Angry Wind

Anger is a wind which blows out the lamp of the mind. - Robert Green Ingersoll 


It's hard to be creative when your lamp is out.


(Other posts on Negativity) 

A Serious Idea

Serious-minded people have few ideas. People with ideas are never serious. - Paul Valery 


Creative people have fun.


(Other post on Ideas) 

Easy Evil

Evil is committed without effort, naturally, fatally; goodness is always the product of some art. - Charles Baudelaire 


Is that why people are inclined to believe things are a conspiracy?


(Other posts on Conspiracy) 

It's Only Money

A billion here, a billion there, pretty soon, you're talking real money. - Everett Dirkson 


Now-a-days it's a few hundred billion here and there.


(Other posts on Money) 

Inborn In Us

The folly of mistaking a paradox for a discovery, a metaphor for a proof, a torrent of verbiage for a spring of capital truths, and oneself for an oracle, is inborn in us. - Paul Valery 


Perhaps this is what the huckster knows (consciously or unconsciously).


(Other posts on People) 

Debt Addicts

People are buying and debt addicts. Someone will find a way to squeeze more buying power out there, no matter what it costs the rest of us trying to live within our means. - John L. Herman 


This was written well before the events of the last month. How prophetic.


(Other posts on Money) 

Buying and Selling

When buying and selling are controlled by legislation, the first things to be bought and sold are legislators. - P. J. O'Rourke 


That's why we should have separation of economy and State.


(More posts on Government) 

Remember?

Everyone complains of his memory, and nobody complains of his judgment. - Francois de La Rochefoucauld 


When you get to the point you can't remember if you have a bad memory - have someone verify your judgments.


(Other posts on Thinking) 

Ask and Ye Shall Receive

From each according to their ability, to each according to their ability to ask for something. That is becoming the new American way , isn't it ? - Mark Cuban 


Who-ever would have envisioned an "Asking" industry when the country was founded?


(Other posts on Government) 

Setting Your Sails

It is the set of the sails, not the direction of the wind that determines which way we will go. - Jim Rohn 


But when the wind changes direction you may need to alter the set of the sail.


(Other posts on Change)