Expected Excellence

Be a yardstick of quality. Some people aren't used to an environment where excellence is expected. - Steve Jobs

If your children are to do well then make your home the place where excellence is expected.

Gospel Flaw

So much blood has been shed by the Church because of an omission from the Gospel: "Ye shall be indifferent as to what your neighbor's religion is." Not merely tolerant of it, but indifferent to it. Divinity is claimed for many religions; but no religion is great enough or divine enough to add that new law to its code. - Mark Twain

A theocracy will never foster freedom for its citizens.

Revealing Magic

The universe is full of magical things, patiently waiting for our wits to grow sharper. - Eden Phillpotts

If you want to see magic encourage the young to sharpen their wits.

Keep Humanity Clean

You must not loose faith in humanity. Humanity is an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty. - Mahatma Gandhi

Humanity, like the ocean, must continuously cleanse itself of the polluting drops.

What Kind of Change?

To change and to change for the better are two different things. - German Proverb

If only the American voters understood.

Early To Bed.........

Progress isn't made by early risers. It's made by lazy men trying to find easier ways to do something. - Robert Heinlein

But most of the work is done by the early risers. Each has their place.

The Meaning of Christmas

Aren't we forgetting the true meaning of Christmas? You know, the birth of Santa. - Matt Groening

Insure Your Principles

Learn from the earliest days to insure your principles against the perils of ridicule; you can no more exercise your reason if you live in the constant dread of laughter, than you can enjoy your life if you are in the constant terror of death. - Sydney Smith

Treat ridicule like death - ignore it.

The Fuel

It is not the horse that draws the cart, but the oats. - Russian Proverb

When you see power, look for the source.

The Easy Win

To win without risk is to triumph without glory. - Pierre Corneille

There is always the risk of losing - unless there is no competition. Is it really "winning" if you're the only one in the game?

Prepare to Win

It's not the will to win that matters...everyone has that. It's the will to prepare to win that matters. - Paul "Bear" Bryant

And the whole team must have the same will to prepare.

Simple Minded

To doubt everything, or, to believe everything, are two equally convenient solutions; both dispense with the necessity of reflection. - Henri Poincare 

Both are a cop-out.

Keep The Trust

The toughest thing about the power of trust is that it's very difficult to build and very easy to destroy. The essence of trust building is to emphasize the similarities between you and the customer. - Thomas J. Watson 

Loss of trust, whether it be customer, friend or spouse, is to be avoided at all costs.

Smallest Minority

The smallest minority on earth is the individual. Those who deny individual rights cannot claim to be defenders of minorities. - Ayn Rand 

But they do. The question is how to change peoples opinion of them.

Keep the Fire Burning

You cannot be really first-rate at your work if your work is all you are. - Anna Quindlen

A fire will not burn with a single log.

Listening In Appearance Only

A good listener is usually thinking about something else. - Kin Hubbard

Makes one wonder if there is such a thing as a good listener.

Regretable

Regret doesn't remind us that we did badly, it reminds us we can do better. - Katheryn Schulz

We all do things we regret. It is how we deal with that regret that determines our stature.

Truth Is Truth

Truth will always be truth, regardless of lack of understanding, disbelief or ignorance. - W. Clement Stone

Truth is the truth no matter what planet you are on.

Expecting Perfection

Maybe the most any of us can expect of ourselves isn't perfection but progress. - Michelle Burford


I cannot expect perfection from you but you most certainly must expect perfection from yourself. Never accept mediocrity as a goal.

All Work

You cannot be really first-rate at your work if your work is all you are. - Anna Quindlen


Tunnel vision is not an asset for the traveler.

Results Rule

However beautiful the strategy, you should occasionally look at the results. - Sir Winston Churchill


Reality is the final word.

Real People

My Father taught me how to be a man – and not by instilling in me a sense of machismo or an agenda of dominance. He taught me that a real man doesn’t take, he gives; he doesn’t use force, he uses logic; doesn't play the role of trouble-maker, but rather, trouble-shooter; and most importantly, a real man is defined by what’s in his heart, not his pants. - Kevin Smith


The same could be said about a real woman.

Explore Your Potential

The idea of perfect closes your mind to new standards. When you drive hard toward one ideal, you miss opportunities and paths, not to mention hurting your confidence. Believe in your potential and then go out and explore it; don’t limit it. - John Eliot, Ph.D.


You have potential. It is up to you to explore it, not for someone else to discover.

Manipulation Prone

There are habits and activities that leave people open to manipulation. I'm not saying they are wrong or right, just pointing out that these behaviors make you open to being manipulated... Here are a few general categories of behaviors that manipulators seek out:

Believing something because you heard someone say it on a news show on cable TV.

Being a child (or acting like one).

Buying penny stocks.

Repeating a mantra heard from a figurehead or leader of a tribe without considering whether it's true.

Trying to find a short cut to lose weight, make money or achieve some other long-term goal.

Ignoring the scientific method and embracing unexamined traditional methods instead.

Focusing on (and believing) easily gamed bestseller lists or crowds.

Inability to tolerate fear and uncertainty.

Focus on now at the expense of the long term.

Allowing the clothes of the messenger (a uniform, a suit and tie, a hat) to influence your perception of the information he delivers (add gender, fame, age and race to this too).

Reliance on repetition and frequency to decide what's true.

Desire to stick with previously made decisions because cognitive dissonance is strong.

Inability to ignore sunk costs.

Problem saying 'no' in social situations.

- Seth Godin

Add this to the mix of ideas to understand why the Doom-and-Gloom message is so effective.

Parents

Parents often talk about the younger generation as if they didn't have anything to do with it. - Haim Ginott


Never abdicate your responsibility as parent....no matter how tough it gets.

Ready to Leave the Nest

The greatest gifts you can give your children are the roots of responsibility and the wings of independence. - Denis Waitley


Gifts they are. They will cost you, but be invaluable to your child.

Doing It Wrong

You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough. - Mae West


As long as you've done no harm, only you can say if your life was done wrong.

Fiction vs. Truth

Men would rather believe than know. - E. O. Wilson


Words are often more influential than truth.

False Concept

Sometimes a concept is baffling not because it is profound but because it is wrong. - E. O. Wilson


Just because someone said it does not make it true.

Superstition

When the mind has once begun to yield to the weakness of superstition, trifles impress it with the force of conviction. - Ann Radcliffe

Don't even start down the path of superstition.

Gossip?

You will never keep people from talking. But you can take actions to influence the content of what they say. - Seth Godin


Good or bad.

Graceful Understanding

Gracefulness is to the body what understanding is to the mind. - Francois de La Rochefoucauld


Beauty is graceful understanding.

Commander

The American President resembles the commander of a ship at sea. He must have a helm to grasp, a course to steer, a port to seek. - Henry B. Adams


Presidents of the USA or of a business must have the same platform. Ascendancy; a plan; a goal.

High Sounding Words

We have too many high-sounding words, and too few actions that correspond with them. - Abigail Adams


Talk is cheap. Remember you get what you pay for.

Freedom From Bailouts

Freedom is not worth having if it does not include the freedom to make mistakes. - Mahatma Gandhi


Who knew that Gandhi was opposed to bailouts! What a capitalist!

Living

In dwelling, live close to the ground. In thinking, keep to the simple. In conflict, be fair and generous. In governing, don't try to control. In work, do what you enjoy. In family life, be completely present. - Lao Tzu


The tools we use to live may have changed but the way to live hasn't changed in the last few thousand years.

Successful Technology

For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled. - Richard Feynman


Word of mouth is unaffected by PR. (Word of Mouse as well).

Candle Power

It is better to light a candle than to curse the darkness. - Eleanor Roosevelt


Make it a rule: He that curses the darkness has to provide the candle.

River of Tears

When someone hurts you; cry a river; build a bridge; and get over it! - Richard Middleton 


The sooner the better.

Change Needed?

The only people who can change the world are people who want to. And not everybody does - Hugh Macleod


Beware of those who want to change the world but cannot clearly define the root cause of the need.

Creative Play

If you want creative workers, give them enough time to play. - John Cleese


To have creative workers you need creative children. Give your kids time to play without input; be it audio, video or parental.

Everything From Anywhere

If you would be known, and not know, vegetate in a village; If you would know, and not be known, live in a city. - Charles Caleb Colton  (1780–1832)


The internet has changed everything.

Dealing With Anxiety

Accusing someone else of having what you consider a negative personality trait can help you feel less anxious about having that trait yourself. Life can be stressful at times, and people sometimes need to find ways to cope with anxiety. Some will turn to drugs or alcohol. Others might shop compulsively or gamble. Some, however, may turn to more subtle habits such as being critical of everyone else. - Michael J. Hurd

Find a non-destructive way of dealing with your anxiety.

Knowing the Future

The reason most people never reach their goals is that they don't define them, or ever seriously consider them as believable or achievable. Winners can tell you where they are going, what they plan to do along the way, and who will be sharing the adventure with them. - Denis Watley


Define your mission.

Sound Volume

What you do speaks so loud that I cannot hear what you say. - Ralph Waldo Emerson


Be sure your words match your actions.

Dinner Time?

A man seldom thinks with more earnestness of anything than he does of his dinner - Samuel Johnson


Do you eat to live or live to eat?

Your Mission

Plans are great. But missions are better. Missions survive when plans fail, and plans almost always fail. - Seth Godin


Perhaps you should pay more attention to Mission Statements than to Business Plans.

Light Stuck In Dark

You can't have a light without a dark to stick it in. - Arlo Guthrie


Your troubles always look better if you have something worse to compare.

Change

We cannot change our past. We can not change the fact that people act in a certain way. We can not change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude. - Charles R. Swindoll


Change "we" to "I"; change "our" to "my".

Rank

Managers want authority. Leaders take responsibility. - Seth Godin


The difference between a Drill Sargent and a General.

The Worst Loneliness

The worst loneliness is not to be comfortable with yourself. - Mark Twain


You may not want to, and it may be difficult, but you can change yourself.

No Problem

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


O.K.

Honorable

Dignity does not consist in possessing honors, but in deserving them. - Aristotle


Strive to be honorable, not honored.

Vacations

Rest is valuable only so far as it is a contrast. Pursued as an end, it becomes a most pitiable condition. - David Swing


Think of this when planning for retirement.

His Choice

I'd rather be a lightning rod than a seismograph. - Ken Kesey


A flash rather than grounded in bedrock.

Mistaking Words For Thoughts

One of the disadvantages of wine is that it makes a man mistake words for thoughts. - Samuel Johnson


Make sure you are better able to discern the difference than those you are with, no matter the intoxicant.

Multiple Truths

Say not, 'I have found the truth,' but rather, 'I have found a truth.' - Kahlil Gibran


Each subject may have multiple truths, though they are never contradictory. 

Educating Your Kids

Don't limit a child to your own learning, for he was born in another time. - Rabbinical Saying


However it is your job as parent to make sure your children are educated about what has happened  during your time.

Kindness

Kindness is in our power, even when fondness is not. - Samuel Johnson


There is seldom a reason not to be kind to people, animals and things.

Treading

When you tread water, you lift yourself up by pushing water down. Likewise, in any social hierarchy, people unsure of their own position will try to emphasize it by maltreating those they think rank below. I've read that this is why poor whites in the United States are the group most hostile to blacks. - Paul Graham


I've always felt people put others down in order to improve their status. Mr. Graham seems to think it is to maintain their position. Perhaps he is right.

Progress Profit

Progress depends on people knowing they'll be able to profit from their ideas. - Deborah Neville


That's why socialist and communist countries make no progress.

Makin' It

The man who makes no mistakes does not usually make anything. - Edward J. Phelps


Don't dwell on mistakes other than to minimize their impact.

Mediocre Gratitude

It's a sign of mediocrity when you demonstrate gratitude with moderation. - Roberto Benigni


Don't be mediocre in anything you do.

Flawed

No one can make you feel inferior without your consent. - Eleanor Roosevelt


If you consent to feel inferior only you can remedy the flaw.

Want to Enjoyment

Life is a progress from want to want, not from enjoyment to enjoyment. - Samuel Johnson 


Get enjoyment from satisfying your wants.

Educational Guidance

If someone is going down the wrong road, he doesn't need motivation to speed him up. What he needs is education to turn him around. - Jim Rohn


Beware; So much "education' is really disguised propaganda. Education should teach you to research, rationally integrate ideas, and think. (i.e. reading, writing and mathematics).

Searching for Happiness

The consuming desire of most human beings is deliberately to plant their whole life in the hands of some other person. I would describe this method of searching for happiness as immature. Development of character consists solely in moving toward self-sufficiency. - Quentin Crisp 


Immature? He was so much gentler with words than I'll ever be!

Idea's Worth

An idea isn't worth that much. It's the execution of the idea that has value. If you can't convince one other person that this is something to devote your life to, then it's not worth it. - Joel Spolsky


I agree with the second sentence but would ague with the rest.

Power Unbalanced

Good ideas alter the power balance in relationships, that is why good ideas are always initially resisted. Good ideas come with a heavy burden. Which is why so few people have them. So few people can handle it. - Hugh Macleod


The easiest one to convince is the one who will most benefit from the shift of power. 

Acting on Impulse

Every great mistake has a halfway moment, a split second when it can be recalled and perhaps remedied. - Pearl S. Buck


Mistakes are what happens when you act on impulse.

"Get to" Work

The best work, at least for me, is the stuff you get to do. If you are really good at that, you're lucky enough to have very little of the have to stuff left. - Seth Godin


Never give up seeking "get to" work though you may have to do "have to" work in order to get to where you want to be.

Augmented Post

Sometimes I have more to say:


This time, like all times, is a very good one, if we but know what to do with it. - Ralph Waldo Emerson


When times are tough figure out how to make lemonade.




A few years after the USA pull-out of South Vietnam I was invited to dinner at a Vietnamese family's home for dinner. The patriarch of the family told the story of the family's history and how they had made it to American soil. They were Chinese actually who had left China after the change to communist rule. They had moved to North Vietnam and lived there until it too became communist. They then moved to South Vietnam. When the United States left and the country was under communist rule he wanted to emigrate to the the USA but he said that for each family member it cost a bar of gold (a kilogram, if I remember correctly). They were not a rich family so he started looking for something he could do which would make a lot of money in as short a period of time as possible. He noticed that since the Americans had left there was a shortage of cigarettes. There was no shortage of tobacco because it was grown locally but there was no cigarette paper supply so he learned how to make it. There was a great demand for his product and he made enough money to buy their way out of the country.


Once in America they began doing well because each family member had at least one job, the children were encouraged to do well in school and they celebrated their freedom.


That is making lemonade when handed lemons.

Love What You Do

Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. - Steve Jobs 


Your first job will probably not be what you love to do but it will be a step to where you can.

Contentment With Mediocrity

Show me someone content with mediocrity and I'll show you someone destined for failure. - Johnetta Cole


Contentment means you have given up improving.

Lemonade Time

This time, like all times, is a very good one, if we but know what to do with it. - Ralph Waldo Emerson


When times are tough figure out how to make lemonade.

Full Measure of Liberty

If you want to be free, there is but one way; it is to guarantee an equally full measure of liberty to all your neighbors. There is no other. - Carl Schurz


That is why central planning has no place in a free society.

Tough Truth

Truth is tough. It will not break, like a bubble, at a touch; nay, you may kick it about all day like a football, and it will be round and full at evening. - Oliver Wendell Holmes


Tough but precious.

Delightful Progress

I think the way to "solve" the problem of procrastination is to let delight pull you instead of making a to-do list push you. - Paul Graham


Look for the "delight" in every project you undertake.

Questioned Intelligence

No man likes to have his intelligence or good faith questioned, especially if he has doubts about it himself. - Henry B. Adams


You'll never convince someone of your perspective or sell them your product if you make them think they are stupid.

Internal Struggle

There is no failure except in no longer trying. There is no defeat except from within, no really insurmountable barrier save our own inherent weakness of purpose. - Kin Hubbard 


Note all are forces from within.

Quality Jobs

When you’re a carpenter making a beautiful chest of drawers, you’re not going to use a piece of plywood on the back, even though it faces the wall and nobody will ever see it. You’ll know it’s there, so you’re going to use a beautiful piece of wood on the back. For you to sleep well at night, the aesthetic, the quality, has to be carried all the way through. - Steve Jobs

Buying Time

There is ultimately no substitute for cultural change. Checks and balances can only buy us time to achieve it. - Gus Van Horn


Whether company or country, I believe this to be true.

Small vs. Limited

Thought: Small government is not the same thing as limited government. Don't just ask for budget cuts; ask for program cuts.

Last Day

When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: “If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you’ll most certainly be right.” It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: “If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?” And whenever the answer has been “No” for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something. - Steve Jobs


Try to retain as much control as you can over being able to do each day what you have planned.

Recapturing the Past

Disconnecting from change does not recapture the past. It loses the future. - Kathleen Norris


Nostalgia is not today's reality.

Reflection

We cannot see our reflection in running water. It is only in still water that we can see - Toaist wisdom


Take time for reflection.

Actions Leading to Solutions

To solve any problem, here are three questions to ask yourself: First, what could I do? Second, what could I read? And third, who could I ask? - Jim Rohn


Be sure to fully research the subject first so you can spot misinformation.

Achievement

Fortune may find a pot, but your own industry must make it boil. – John Gay


You'll have to light your own fire.

Prepaid Interest

Worry is interest paid on trouble before it comes due. - William Ralph Inge


There is a difference between worrying and preparing.

Bouncing

I don't measure a man's success by how high he climbs but how high he bounces when he hits bottom. - George S. Patton


Success takes risk; Risk means possible failure; Failure means you must learn to bounce.

No. 2

Being number two sucks. - Andre Agassi


Brevity.

Expect Excellence

The company's most urgent task is to learn to welcome, beg for, demand - innovation from everyone - Tom Peters


Innovation and excellence.

Experience Value

Nothing is a waste of time if you use the experience wisely. - Auguste Rodin 


Its kind of like taking aspirin for a headache. You never know how bad it would have been without it.




p.s. If you are unfamiliar with Rodin then follow the link above. He is well worth learning about. The book "Naked Came I" is a good read; a biographical novel of his life.

The Time is Now

We are now faced with the fact, my friends, that tomorrow is today. We are confronted with the fierce urgency of now. In this unfolding conundrum of life and history, there is such a thing as being too late. Procrastination is still the thief of time. Life often leaves us standing bare, naked, and dejected with a lost opportunity. The tide in the affairs of men does not remain at flood -- it ebbs. We may cry out desperately for time to pause in her passage, but time is adamant to every plea and rushes on. Over the bleached bones and jumbled residues of numerous civilizations are written the pathetic words, "Too late." - Martin Luther King


Don't be too late to live righteously.

Poetic Life

Poetry is not the assertion of truth, but the making of that truth more fully real to us. - T.S. Eliot


As one can instantly tell the difference between oil on canvas and art; pottery and sculpture; words on paper and poetry: One can tell the difference between life lived and living life.

Inward Significance

The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance. - Aristotle


Remember, life is an art.

Life is Art

Life is not an exact science, it is an art. - Samuel Butler


Though one may be born with talent, you must practice before you become an artist.

Full Tilt Crazy

We are all agreed that your theory is crazy. The question which divides us is whether it is crazy enough to have a chance of being correct. My own feeling is that it is not crazy enough. - Niels Bohr


You might find this quote useful when people think your idea is crazy!

Art Business; Business Art

If there's a more tragic fool than the businessman that does not realize he's an extension of man's highest creative spirit—it's the artist who thinks that the businessman is his enemy. - Ayn Rand


These days there is very little distinction between the businessman and the artist.

Enemy of Humanity

Terrorists are enemies of humanity, not just of a particular culture.

Clarity

He that has one eye is a prince among those that have none. - Thomas Fuller 


Share your solutions with someone else with one eye to see it more clearly.

Out of the Quagmire

Clean out a corner of your mind and creativity will instantly fill it. - Dee Hock


The box is cluttered; outside has room for creativity.

Solving Problems

The way we see the problem is the problem. - Stephen Covey


Always think outside the box and embrace opportunities that appear, wherever they might be.
Lakshmi Mittal


The solution to every problem is that there is no problem. - Lao Tzu


All say the same thing.

Intangible Rewards

Being the richest man in the cemetery doesn’t matter to me … Going to bed at night saying we’ve done something wonderful… that’s what matters to me. - Steve Jobs


If you do something wonderful repeatedly you may very well end up being the richest man in the cemetery.

Changing People

Consider how hard it is to change yourself and you’ll understand what little chance you have in trying to change others. - Jacob M. Braude


Unless you catch them at an early age.

But, But .........

Invoking the limits of the possible may be a sympathetic excuse for failure -- but it does not transform failure into success. - David Frum


I did everything possible to make this post interesting, but.......

Seeing Future Potential

The most compelling reason for most people to buy a computer for the home will be to link it to a nationwide communications network. We’re just in the beginning stages of what will be a truly remarkable breakthrough for most people––as remarkable as the telephone.” [Playboy, Feb. 1, 1985] - Steve Jobs


1985! That is being insightful and connecting the dots. Most of us were sitting around asking each other "What are they going to do with this Internet thing?"

Learning by Candlelight

Another practice of tyrants is to multiply taxes, after the manner of Dionysius at Syracuse, who contrived that within five years his subjects should bring into the treasury their whole property. The tyrant is also fond of making war in order that his subjects may have something to do and be always in want of a leader. - Aristotle


Perhaps Jefferson and Madison read Aristotle instead of watching TV or playing video games.