Email me: lylewisdom@gmail.com

Saturday, May 31, 2008

Socialism Defined

Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery. - Winston Churchill

Advocates of socialism in its varied forms should remember that a healthy horse can only pull so much weight.

Friday, May 30, 2008

Not Nearly Enough

Some people regard private enterprise as a predatory tiger to be shot. Others look on it as a cow they can milk. Not enough people see it as a healthy horse, pulling a sturdy wagon. - Winston Churchill

Not nearly enough.

Thursday, May 29, 2008

Starting a New Day

There are pauses amidst study, and even pauses of seeming idleness, in which a process goes on which may be likened to the digestion of food. In those seasons of repose, the powers are gathering their strength for new efforts; as land which lies fallow recovers itself for tillage. -James W. Alexander



This quote has caused me to start thinking of sleep as the beginning of a new day not the end of this one.

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Mankind's Curse

I believe that the worst curse on mankind is the ability to consider ideals as something quite abstract and detached from one's everyday life. - Ayn Rand

Like dirt bikes and atom bombs, there are some things people can do, but shouldn't do.

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Wasted Years

The man who views the world at 50 the same as he did at 20 has wasted 30 years of his life. - Muhammad Ali

I agree, but I'm not sure wasting or not wasting the next 30 might not lead to the same end, being wasted.

Monday, May 26, 2008

Cruel World

The human race is faced with a cruel choice: work or daytime television. - Unknown

Makes you reconsider retirement, doesn't it?

Sunday, May 25, 2008

The Future

The best thing about the future is that it comes only one day at a time. - Dean Acheson

So, enjoy each day.

Saturday, May 24, 2008

Planning for Retirement

Look at a day when you are supremely satisfied at the end. It's not a day when you lounge around doing nothing; it's when you've had everything to do, and you've done it. - Lord Acton

Put that in your retirement plan.

Friday, May 23, 2008

Enduring Spirit

Millions of men have lived to fight, build palaces and boundaries, shape destinies and societies; but the compelling force of all times has been the force of originality and creation profoundly affecting the roots of human spirit. - Ansel Adams

Those which truly reach the roots of the human spirit endure. Think about the "classics" of any field and I think you will agree.

Thursday, May 22, 2008

Thought Flashes

The brightest flashes in the world of thought are incomplete until they have been proven to have their counterparts in the world of fact. - John Tyndall

...whether the flash came while dreaming, playing or thinking.

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Creative Dreaming

Dreaming is an act of pure imagination, attesting in all men a creative power, which if it were available in waking, would make every man a Dante or Shakespeare. - Frederick Henry Hedge

Creative - maybe; productive - doubtful.

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Creative Play

The creation of something new is not accomplished by the intellect but by the play instinct acting from inner necessity. The creative mind plays with the objects it loves. - Carl Jung

Poor old Carl always was confused. It takes a fair amount of intellect to play chess.

Monday, May 19, 2008

Looking For Trouble

Nobody ever grew despondent looking for trouble. - Kin Hubbard

Do you suppose that is why folks who can only offer up criticism are so consistent? Perhaps it is their solution to misery.

Sunday, May 18, 2008

Foundation of Morals

The balance of private good and general welfare is at the bottom of civilized morals; but the morals of the Heroic Age are founded on individuality, and on nothing else. - Lascelles Abercrombie

Oh! for the good ol' days!

Saturday, May 17, 2008

Obscurity

Be wary of passing the judgment: obscure. To find something obscure poses no difficulty, elephants and poodles find many things obscure. - Georg C. Lichtenberg

If you find an idea obscure then you have a hole in your values.

Friday, May 16, 2008

War is Ugly

War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse. The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature, and has no chance of being free unless made or kept so by the exertions of better men than himself. - John Stuart Mill

People who oppose all war probably only read books with pretty covers.

Thursday, May 15, 2008

Fuzzy Concept

There is nothing worse than a brilliant image of a fuzzy concept. - Ansel Adams

PowerPoint presentation, anyone?

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Having an Open Mind

By all means let's be open-minded, but not so open-minded that our brains drop out. - Richard Dawkins

Open-mindedness is a process not an end.

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Culturally Urgent

If you work in an urgent-only culture, the only solution is to make the right things urgent. - Seth Godin

Both for you and your co-workers.

Monday, May 12, 2008

The Value of Ideas

Acting on a good idea is better than just having a good idea. - Robert Half



Ideas are what makes life interesting. Good ideas put to work make life valuable.

Sunday, May 11, 2008

Toast to the Bride and Groom

In the search for truth- the separation of fact from fiction - one can have doubts, but there is one truth for which there can be no doubt; there never has been, nor will there ever be, a father prouder than I am. - Lyle

Saturday, May 10, 2008

The Three Parts

Love is of all passions the strongest, for it attacks simultaneously the head, the heart and the senses. - Lao Tzu

All three are a requirement for a good marriage.

Friday, May 9, 2008

Mindful Marriage

Nothing in life is as good as the marriage of true minds between man and woman. As good? It is life itself. - Pearl S. Buck

Be sure your mind is in your marriage.

Thursday, May 8, 2008

Toothpaste Revisited

When you make a sacrifice in marriage, you're sacrificing not to each other but to unity in a relationship. - Joseph Campbell

In the end, it really doesn't matter which end of the toothpaste tube is squeezed.

Wednesday, May 7, 2008

Reciprocal Mutual Equality

Marriage is that relation between man and woman in which the independence is equal, the dependence mutual, and the obligation reciprocal. - Louis K. Anspacher

Equal: Because you are still individuals.
Mutual: Because you are more together than you are separate.
Reciprocal: Because you are equal.

Tuesday, May 6, 2008

Every Day

Marriage is not a noun; it's a verb. It isn't something you get. It's something you do. It's the way you love your partner every day. - Barbara de Angelis

I agree. A noun is the name of something. A verb is an action. Marriage requires action every day. Every day. If you miss a day you will regret it.

Monday, May 5, 2008

Married Hearts

The real act of marriage takes place in the heart, not in the ballroom or church or synagogue. It's a choice you make - not just on your wedding day, but over and over again - and that choice is reflected in the way you treat your husband or wife. - Barbara de Angelis

Troubles at work or with friends should be left at the front door so they don't impact your marriage.

Sunday, May 4, 2008

Augmented Post

Sometimes I have more to say. Here is a previous post - expanded.

The Marriage Casserole
A good marriage is like a casserole, only those responsible for it really know what goes in it. – Anonymous

Remember this the next time someone tells you what makes a good marriage. You may want to add their advice as an ingredient to your casserole but it won't make the whole dish.

The recipe will need to change with time. Times change; people change; time of one's life causes change. Fiddle with the recipe rather than throw out the dish. Renouncing the change won't undo it.

Saturday, May 3, 2008

Unknown Destination

Marriage is a journey towards an unknown destination - the discovery that people must share not only what they don’t know about each other, but what they don’t know about themselves - Michael Ventura

That's why marriage is such an important ingredient in life.

Friday, May 2, 2008

Intimacy

The married are those who have taken the terrible risk of intimacy and, having taken it, know life without intimacy to be impossible. - Carolyn Heilbrun

Intimacy only works both ways. Don't expect to receive without giving.

Thursday, May 1, 2008

Home Remedies

Of all the home remedies, a good wife is best. - Kin Hubbard

Or husband.