William Henry Harrison was the ninth President of the United States; he served from March 4, 1841 to April 4, 1841. He is a great example of why your mom told you to dress warmly when it was cold and experts warn against being too long-winded. Harrison listened to neither bits of wisdom. His inaugural speech was nearly two hours long, in fact, the first sentence alone was 100 words, in spite of Daniel Webster’s editing it for length. (Can you imagine it before editing?) Wearing neither coat nor hat Harrison gave the speech on a cold, wet day, caught pneumonia and died a month later.

“I contend that the strongest of all governments is that which is most free.” The same can be said of companies.

I’m sure the 1% and 1% wannabes will argue this, “All the measures of the Government are directed to the purpose of making the rich richer and the poor poorer.” I’m also not sure if it’s intentional or unhappy coincidence.

Although I agree with Harrison’s statement, “There is nothing more corrupting, nothing more destructive of the noblest and finest feelings of our nature, than the exercise of unlimited power,” but I don’t think the power has to be unlimited. However, whatever limiting factors exist must pay attention and be willing to get involved. Join me Wednesday for a look at what happens when they aren’t engaged.

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You know the old saying ‘different strokes for different folks’? It’s the same with inspiration; the words have to resonate inside for them to have any effect. When reading the quotes I offer to inspire you keep in mind that they are the ones that work for me, which usually means they have left-brain appeal.

I find this one from Christopher Columbus to be amusing; nothing like being famous for restating the obvious, “By prevailing over all obstacles and distractions, one may unfailingly arrive at his chosen goal or destination.” I wonder if that would work for me?

However, William Adams hit the nail on the head when he said, “Most of us are just about as happy as we make up our minds to be.”

Rita Golden Gelman offers a wonderful recipe for joy and details the reasons it works, “Risk-taking, trust, and serendipity are key ingredients of joy. Without risk, nothing new ever happens. Without trust, fear creeps in. Without serendipity, there are no surprises.”

Tom Bodett does a wonderful job of explaining the difference between school and life—remember that work is part of life, “The difference between school and life? In school, you’re taught a lesson and then given a test. In life, you’re given a test that teaches you a lesson.”

Aaron Burr follows a very smart path and you could do worse than follow him, “The rule of my life is to make business a pleasure, and pleasure my business.”

Good communication is the only sustainable way to bridge the differences between you and the people you meet in all parts of your life, but it’s not always easy. Donella Meadows explains why clearly and succinctly, “Your paradigm is so intrinsic to your mental process that you are hardly aware of its existence, until you try to communicate with someone with a different paradigm.”

And Beca Lewis provides a great approach to recognizing thoes differences and overcoming them, “Yearn to understand first and to be understood second.”

These are some of the thoughts that inspire me, what thoughts inspire you?

Special thanks to Adrian for creating the image.

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Maya Angelou is well known as a poet and an activist, but I find what she says full of common sense and much of it applicable to the workplace, especially to entrepreneurs.

First and of great importance Angelou warns, “Prejudice is a burden that confuses the past, threatens the future and renders the present inaccessible.” This refers not only to the obvious prejudices, but also the more subtle ones, such as schools, age (young if you aren’t and older if you are), neighborhood, etc.

The following seems focused directly on a large portion of Millennials, “There is nothing so pitiful as a young cynic because he has gone from knowing nothing to believing nothing.”

Angelou also offers the same advice Steve Jobs did on how to be successful, “You can only become truly accomplished at something you love. Don’t make money your goal. Instead, pursue the things you love doing, and then do them so well that people can’t take their eyes off you.”
Creativity is something that every manager wants and being creative is something that every person is, whether they realize it or not, “You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.”

People talk all the time about “having it all” and “doing it all,” but, as Maya advises, “There is a very fine line between loving life and being greedy for it.”
She also share some hard won wisdom that entrepreneurs and others in the work world would do well to remember, “I’ve learned that making a “living” is not the same thing as making a “life.””

Finally, Angelou offers us the ultimate advice; definitely worth remembering, “Nothing will work unless you do.”

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Today is Lincoln’s birthday and I thought I would share some of his lesser know words.

However, I’m starting with a very well-known quote, because it’s a favorite of mine “Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt.”

Hedge funds are the ultimate expression of capitalism and the capitalist don’t seem to have changed much since Lincoln’s time, “These capitalists generally act harmoniously and in concert, to fleece the people”

There is a reason that today’s discussions of corporate culture focus on the benefits of trust and smart managers would do well to embrace Lincoln’s approach, “The people when rightly and fully trusted will return the trust.”

And if trust isn’t something you’re big on you might rethink your position in the light of these words, “No man has a good enough memory to be a successful liar.”

Lincoln said, “Character is like a tree and reputation like a shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing;” when hiring be sure not to mistake one for the other.

I’m often accused of being too blunt, although I do try and follow Lincoln’s advice, “Tact is the ability to describe others as they see themselves.”

Finally, advice that was good for the thousand years before Lincoln said it and will be good for the thousand year after—if not longer, “Things may come to those who wait…but only the things left by those who hustle.”

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Anna Freud, daughter of Sigmund, followed in her father’s footsteps only her focus was children. Her insights, however, apply to people of all ages.

She reminds us to look first to ourselves, instead of others, when the going gets tough, “I was always looking outside myself for strength and confidence but it comes from within. It is there all the time.”

She warns that while dreaming is enticing, it lacks substance and will not sustain us, “In our dreams we can have our eggs cooked exactly how we want them, but we can’t eat them.”

She teaches no matter how well we plan, we shouldn’t ignore the things outside it, “Sometimes the most beautiful thing is precisely the one that comes unexpectedly and unearned.”

She chides us for our outlandish expectations, “If some longing goes unmet, don’t be astonished. We call that Life.”

And, finally, she provides hope, “Creative minds have always been known to survive any kind of bad training.”

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It is always useful to have a pithy way to get a point across, but how many of us can think that fast? So in the interest of making my readers sound both brilliant and cool here are four “pithyisms” to use at your discretion—with attribution, one would hope.

Oscar Wilde said, “Experience is simply the name we give our mistakes.” Try that on your boss the next time you turn left when he says go right.

Have you wondered why VCs and pundits of all stripes keep telling entrepreneurs and managers that attitude is more important than skills? Ralph Marston has the answer, “Excellence is not a skill. It is an attitude.”

It is said that once the genie is out of the bottle he can not be put back; this is especially true of personal growth, or, as Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. said, “A mind that is stretched by a new experience can never go back to its old dimensions.”

Personal growth is a wonderful thing, but it does require taking risks. However, risks can be mitigated, even when following Mark Twain’s recommendation, “A man who carries a cat by the tail learns something he can learn in no other way.”

And remember, it’s always a good idea to

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These days people are told to ‘build a personal brand’ and that everything they say and do needs to be in sync with their brand. By distilling and incorporating the essence of the following quotes you’ll develop a unique brand that will differentiate you from the pack.

Let’s start with something Cecil Beaton said that offers some great basic guidance, “Be daring, be different, be impractical, be anything that will assert integrity of purpose and imaginative vision against the play-it-safers, the creatures of the commonplace, the slaves of the ordinary.”

Intelligence is something that many people believe sets them apart, but, as Rene Descartes points out, “It is not enough to have a good mind; the main thing is to use it well.”

Sandra Carey reminds us that using it well doesn’t mean only book-learning, “Never mistake knowledge for wisdom. One helps you make a living; the other helps you make a life.”

Lao Tzu took that advice several steps further several centuries before it Carey said it, “Knowing others is intelligence; knowing yourself is true wisdom. Mastering others is strength; mastering yourself is true power.”

Long before Tony Hsieh married happiness to corporate culture at Zappos, Herman Cain offered up this bit of wisdom, “Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful.”

In case you wonder if you really are happy you can use this great yardstick from Andy Rooney, “If you smile when no one else is around, you really mean it.”

And Ralph Waldo Emerson was kind enough to provide a yardstick with which to measure your success through the entire span of your life, “To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children…to leave the world a better place…to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.”

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When writing on a repeat subject, such as New Year’s resolutions, I check my archives in an effort not to repeat myself. I’ve offered advice on why it works better to set goals and another year provided a method guaranteed to keep you from ever breaking a resolution again. Turns out I posted quotes last year and I’m repeating a couple, because they are too good to ignore.

First the repeats.

Whoever came up with this one is a genius. “A New Year’s resolution is something that goes in one year and out the other.”

With his usual wisdom, Mark Twain reminds us that resolutions are necessary to keep the Department of Transportation running smoothly (and in this economy that’s very important). “New Year’s Day – Now is the accepted time to make your regular annual good resolutions. Next week you can begin paving hell with them as usual.”–

I’ve never understood why people would even consider starting their resolutions January first. That’s definitely setting yourself up to fail and Helen Fielding agrees with me, “I do think New Year’s resolutions can’t technically be expected to begin on New Year’s Day, don’t you? Since, because it’s an extension of New Year’s Eve, smokers are already on a smoking roll and cannot be expected to stop abruptly on the stroke of midnight with so much nicotine in the system. Also dieting on New Year’s Day isn’t a good idea as you can’t eat rationally but really need to be free to consume whatever is necessary, moment by moment, in order to ease your hangover. I think it would be much more sensible if resolutions began generally on January the second” Note, the second only works if it’s not a holiday as it was this year.

Food, or more likely food abstinence, plays a role in probably 90% of resolutions, but is it really necessary? Perhaps Jay Leno has a point—or at least a great rationalization—“Now there are more overweight people in America than average-weight people. So overweight people are now average. Which means you’ve met your New Year’s resolution.”

But if you really want to lose weight here’s some popular wisdom with which you can’t go wrong, “People are so worried about what they eat between Christmas and the New Year, but they really should be worried about what they eat between the New Year and Christmas”

I’d like to offer you my New Year’s wishes in the words of Joey Adams, “May all your troubles last as long as your New Year’s resolutions.”

Finally, do read the links in the first paragraph; they’ll help make 2012 a banner year for you!

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As I promised last week, today is a “tour of Mencken’s irreverent view of politics and democracy that will provide great zingers for holiday get-togethers and leave you chuckling.”

Let’s start with democracy, since everyone seems to agree that it’s a good thing. Of course, definitions vary and Mencken offers some great choices in case you haven’t settled on one.

I’ll start with a basic definition and get more sarcastic from there, Democracy is the art and science of running the circus from the monkey cage.

Mencken didn’t think much of “the people” and my guess is no county was excepted from this scathing comment, Democracy is a pathetic belief in the collective wisdom of individual ignorance.

Hand-in-glove with that thought is this one, Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want, and deserve to get it good and hard.

He also said, Democracy is also a form of worship. It is the worship of Jackals by Jackasses. Not only worship, but elect; we jackasses keep electing jackals—party be damned.

Of course, you can’t expect a lot more when Democracy is only a dream: it should be put in the same category as Arcadia, Santa Claus, and Heaven.

Finally, Mencken sums up his attitude towards democracy thusly, I confess I enjoy democracy immensely. It is incomparably idiotic, and hence incomparably amusing.

Now on to the politics and politicians.

Again, we’ll start with a definition, A politician is an animal which can sit on a fence and yet keep both ears to the ground.

He also said, A good politician is quite as unthinkable as an honest burglar. It’s hard to disagree with that comment, too.

I’m sure you’ve noticed that politicians of all stripes say anything to get elected; it’s nothing new, Mencken noticed it, too, If a politician found he had cannibals among his constituents, he would promise them missionaries for dinner.

2012 is a presidential election year and the show has already begun, A national political campaign is better than the best circus ever heard of, with a mass baptism and a couple of hangings thrown in.

Let’s end with one final definition along with the reason for it. Every election is a sort of advance auction sale of stolen goods.

And the reason? Each party steals so many articles of faith from the other, and the candidates spend so much time making each other’s speeches, that by the time election day is past there is nothing much to do save turn the sitting rascals out and let a new gang in.

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I love words; I love putting them together to express my thoughts and I love how others do the same; especially when they do it with the skill and flair of H. L. Mencken. I like Mencken because he is the best type of cynic and also has a wonderful flair for irreverence.

Let’s start with his definition of a cynic, “A cynic is a man who, when he smells flowers, looks around for a coffin.” That’s Mencken, pithy and to the point.

He also offers a wonderful explanation of criticism, one that bosses and parents would do well to consider, “Criticism is prejudice made plausible.”

Mencken said “A society made up of individuals who were all capable of original thought would probably be unendurable.” It makes you wonder what he would think of Twitter and its ilk.

His commentary on business success is certainly proven daily, “Nobody ever went broke underestimating the taste of the American public.”

The next time you hear someone say they’ll “fix it, no problem” you would do well to remember this immutable Menckenism, “There is always an easy solution to every problem – neat, plausible, and wrong.”

Finally, in a salute to himself, Mencken declares, “All men are frauds. The only difference between them is that some admit it. I myself deny it.”

Join me next week for a tour of Mencken’s irreverent view of politics and democracy that will  provide great zingers for holiday get-togethers and leave you chuckling.

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