Your Choice

Man can acquire accomplishments or he can become an animal, whichever he wants. God makes the animals, man makes himself. - Georg Christoph Lichtenberg


Your choice.

Decisions

There's always a difference! This is between 'bad' and 'worse'--which is much sharper than between 'good' and 'better.' - Robert Heinlein

Choose Soon

A man who procrastinates in his choosing will inevitably have his choice made for him by circumstance. - Hunter S. Thompson


And it will probably be the wrong choice.

Compromise

Compromise used to mean that a half a loaf was better than no bread. Among modern statesmen it really seems to mean that half a loaf is better than a whole loaf. - G. K. Chesterton


If you have no choice but to compromise, be honest with yourself about what you are giving up.

Multiple Choices

It's not so important what you work on, so long as you're not wasting your time. Work on things that interest you and increase your options, and worry later about which you'll take. - Paul Graham


The more options you have the better. Heinlein said (correctly) that specialization is for insects.

Concise, Precise, Decisive

Concision in style, precision in thought, decision in life. - Victor Hugo


I love it when someone practices what they preach. Concise, precise, decisive.

Honor

Honor is self-esteem made visible in action. - Ayn Rand


I ran across this quote the other day and it started me thinking. First to define Honor in dictionary terms:

Dignity. Reputation. Dignified respect of character springing from probity (integrity, honesty),  principle, or moral rectitude (moral uprightness). 

It seems to me we don't use the concept or the word much these days. When was the last time you heard a politician use the word about themselves or a colleague? If they did I think they would be judged as "impractical" or "naive." I myself have been told many times "Oh, come on be practical" when trying to argue a point on moral grounds. The implication is we cannot know what is moral or not so we judge whether to do something on its practicability. So let's see where that takes us if we assume Miss Rand is correct.

If honor is self-esteem in action would you not assume that not acting honorably would damage your self-esteem? Note that I am using the word "self-esteem" in the "self-respect" sense not in the sense it is sometimes used where it refers to an unwarranted or undeserved self image. Isn't any damage done to your self-respect a slippery slope to personal disaster? Think about this the next time you decide to do something because it is the "practical" thing to do. Perhaps you should consider if it is the honorable thing to do.

Benefit From Procrastination

All human situations have their inconveniences. We feel those of the present but neither see nor feel those of the future; and hence we often make troublesome changes without amendment, and frequently for the worse. - Benjamin Franklin 

Sometimes you need to wait until tomorrow to fix things; they may not look so bad then.

(Other posts on Decisions) 

Illumination

I notice increasing reluctance on the part of marketing executives to use judgment; they are coming to rely too much on research, and they use it as a drunkard uses a lamp post for support, rather than for illumination. - David Ogilvy 


Judgment is the melding of thought, education and philosophy - each of which can provide illumination. Don't use just one and ignore the other two lest you use the lamp post only for support.


(Other posts on Decisions) 

Patience Has Its Limits

Patience has its limits. Take it too far, and it's cowardice. - George Jackson

Or procrastination.

Drive Safely

Any man who can drive safely while kissing a pretty girl is simply not giving the kiss the attention it deserves. - Albert Einstein

Now there is a conundrum. Do you wait until you have time to give full attention or do you make do with the attention you can spare. Consider parking; It is better to be late than to let more important matters left undone.

Impossible Problem Solved

Again and again, the impossible problem is solved when we see that the problem is only a tough decision waiting to be made. - Robert H. Schuller



Some decisions are tough. Some are really tough but the act of deciding which way to go is more important than the path chosen.

Deciding Who You Are

Every decision you make - every decision - is not a decision about what to do. It's a decision about Who You Are. When you see this, when you understand it, everything changes. You begin to see life in a new way. All events, occurrences, and situations turn into opportunities to do what you came here to do. - Neale Donald Walsch



Be sure that Who You Are is the same as Who You Would Like To Be.

Future Puck

I skate where the puck is going to be, not where it has been. - Wayne Gretzky



It's easy to keep track of what is going on; It's tougher, but more rewarding, to tell what will be going on.

Weathering the Storm

No one would have crossed the ocean if he could have gotten off the ship in the storm. - Charles Kettering



Sometime you've got to just hang in there. Before you decide to abandon ship make sure the boat you are going to is seaworthy. There is little sense in avoiding riding out the storm only to find your new boat is sinking.