I hope you had a wonderful Saturday; I did. In fact, it was so great that I totally forgot to find good quotes for today. So I thought I’d hit the archives and share one of my favorite sets from that great philosopher Calvin. If you are too young to have known Calvin and his sidekick, Hobbs (a stuffed tiger) you have my sympathy! Calvin and Hobbs was done by Bill Watterson (who never allowed any merchandising, etc.) and as I’ve said before of all the comics I’ve read over the years it’s my all-time favorite. I even own most of the collections in book form. I also did Watterson quotes back in ’08.
First, you have to understand how Calvin sees himself and, in doing so, you’ll understand a great truth of the modern world. “People think it must be fun to be a super genius, but they don’t realize how hard it is to put up with all the idiots in the world.” Although true, I’ve always reminded myself that for every person I think is an idiot there are at least two others who think I’m one.
It may not be original, but I have always like Calvin’s description of life, “Life is like topography, Hobbes. There are summits of happiness and success, flat stretches of boring routine, and valleys of frustration and failure.” That fits my life, except that the summits were all bunched together, with the last decade one continuous valley; I could do with a few more flats.
Calvin says, “History is the fiction we invent to persuade ourselves that events are knowable and that life has order and direction,” whereas I think that order and direction comes from within.
I’ve always thought that Calvin’s comment, “Careful. We don’t want to learn from this,” would make a great Wall Street motto.
But it is his thoughts on the possibility of other intelligent life in our universe with which I most heartily agree. In fact, I was saying something similar a couple of decades earlier.
“Sometimes I think the surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that none of it has tried to contact us.”
Here’s a sample (probably illegal) in case you really aren’t familiar.
Most of us live with one kind of fear or another, although few of us admit it. Fear often masquerades as something else—envy, arrogance, failure, success—to name just a few. Bertrand Russell provides interesting commentary on fear in it’s many guises.
“Fear makes man unwise in the three great departments of human conduct: his dealings with nature, his dealings with other men, and his dealings with himself.” This explains much of what’s going on in the world today.
Fear not only paralyzes us it builds in our minds until it’s many times its original size; as Russell points out, “Until you have admitted your own fears to yourself, and have guarded yourself by a difficult effort of will against their myth-making power, you cannot hope to think truly about many matters of great importance . . .” I would add that ‘of great importance’ doesn’t necessairly mean global in scope or world-changing—unless you mean your own little corner of the world.
These days superstition is rampant and cruelty—physical, mental and spiritual—abounds in epic proportions at every level of human intraction. It’s worse now than ever before because technology has shrunk the world, given a louder voice to these evils and muted what wisdom is available. Fear is the main source of superstition, and one of the main sources of cruelty. To conquer fear is the beginning of wisdom . . .
Envy is another form of fear; fear that someone has more, but as Russell points out there is always someone with more… “Envy consists in seeing things never in themselves, but only in their relations. If you desire glory, you may envy Napoleon, but Napoleon envied Caesar, Caesar envied Alexander, and Alexander, I daresay, envied Hercules, who never existed.”
Fear feeds off fear and can be overwhelming. Fear of technology is usually well masked, but it can be substantially diluted if you remember that technology is finite, while humans deal in the infinite. There will still be things that machines cannot do. They will not produce great art or great literature or great philosophy; they will not be able to discover the secret springs of happiness in the human heart; they will know nothing of love and friendship.”
Fear drives ideology, ideology preempts thought and not thinking kills or, as Russell said, “Many people would sooner die than think; in fact, they do so.”
Russell didn’t name it, but he had a wonderful take on ideology, “The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, but wiser people so full of doubts.”
Does the name Robert Fulghum sound familiar to you? No?
Does “All I really need to know… I learned in kindergarten” ring a bell?
Robert Fulghum wrote that book and several others.
The first quote of his I remember seeing was decades ago on a poster in my sister’s home. It said, “It will be a great day when our schools have all the money they need, and our air force has to have a bake-sale to buy a bomber.” True then and truer now.
He said something else that has been useful in keeping the downs of my life in perspective, “If you break your neck, if you have nothing to eat, if your house is on fire, then you’ve got a problem. Everything else is inconvenience.” Fortunately, I’ve had very few problems in my life.
There are a lot of people who consider Fulghum ideas simplistic, but I find that his thoughts make sense and are easily applied to the workplace.
Think how much nicer your workplace would be if your colleagues, not to mention your boss, followed this advice, “Play fair. Don’t hit people. Say you’re sorry when you hurt somebody.”
Bosses would do well to keep this bit of insight firmly in mind, since it applies equally well to your team, “Don’t worry that children never listen to you; worry that they are always watching you.”
And the next time you’re looking for a way to jump-start your team’s creativity, consider tweaking this cogent advice, “If you want an interesting party sometime, combine cocktails and a fresh box of crayons for everyone.”
Finally, and most importantly, think how much nicer the world would be if corporations, governments, organizations and just plain people lived by these five words, “Clean up your own mess.”
This is the second set of political quotes (the first is here). I don’t know where you live, but I just received our 2012 Primary Voters’ pamphlet and it’s enough to make you weep. Granted, for years I’ve used my vote against someone I can’t stand as opposed to voting for someone I like, but there are some races that I can’t stand any of the candidates.
Before considering the candidates let’s give some thought to politics and politicians—conceptually, that is.
Oscar Ameringer provides a good basic definition to set the mood, “Politics is the gentle art of getting votes from the poor and campaign funds from the rich, by promising to protect each from the other.”Wow; 25 words that say it all.
So how would you describe a politician?
According to Texas Guinan, “A politician is a fellow who will lay down your life for his country.”
Nikita Khrushchev reminds us that people aren’t that different no matter where they are,“Politicians are the same all over. They promise to build a bridge even where there is no river.” (Anybody else thinking Alaska?)
I find John Quinton’s description very apt, especially these days, “Politicians are people who, when they see light at the end of the tunnel, go out and buy some more tunnel.”
But it is Henry Cate, VII who has the final word on politicians, “The problem with political jokes is they get elected.”
This is the second set of political quotes (the first is here). I don’t know where you live, but I just received our 2012 Primary Voters’ pamphlet and it’s enough to make you weep. Granted, for years I’ve used my vote against someone I can’t stand as opposed to voting for someone I like, but there are some races that I can’t stand any of the candidates.
Before considering the candidates let’s give some thought to politics and politicians—conceptually, that is.
Oscar Ameringer provides a good basic definition to set the mood, “Politics is the gentle art of getting votes from the poor and campaign funds from the rich, by promising to protect each from the other.”Wow; 25 words that say it all.
So how would you describe a politician?
According to Texas Guinan, “A politician is a fellow who will lay down your life for his country.”
Nikita Khrushchev reminds us that people aren’t that different no matter where they are,“Politicians are the same all over. They promise to build a bridge even where there is no river.” (Anybody else thinking Alaska?)
I find John Quinton’s description very apt, especially these days, “Politicians are people who, when they see light at the end of the tunnel, go out and buy some more tunnel.”
But it is Henry Cate, VII who has the final word on politicians, “The problem with political jokes is they get elected.”
I love words. They are one of my very favorite things, so I thought it would be interesting so see what others thought of them.
Edward Thorndike believes words are for the long term, “Colors fade, temples crumble, empires fall, but wise words endure.” Sadly, it’s not just the wise ones that last through time.
Rudyard Kipling thinks they are addictive, “Words are, of course, the most powerful drug used by mankind.” (I agree.)
Long before I wrote this, Oliver Wendell Holmes said, “A word is not a crystal, transparent and unchanged; it is the skin of a living thought, and may vary greatly in color and content according to the circumstances and the time in which it is used.”
Americans point proudly to the words contained in the Declaration of Independence and Bill of Rights, but as Ralph Ellison reminds us, “If the word has the potency to revive and make us free, it has also the power to bind, imprison and destroy.”
Philip K. Dick explains that further, “The basic tool for the manipulation of reality is the manipulation of words. If you can control the meaning of words, you can control the people who must use the words.” (Manipulation was our focus Friday.)
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe hit the nail on the head when he said, “When ideas fail, words come in very handy.” Just ask any politician, parent or, for that matter entrepreneur.
Common wisdom, AKA anonymous, offers critical advice that is too often ignored, “Don’t use a big word where a diminutive one will suffice.”
Finally, smart people, as well as the wise, keep Adlai Stevenson’s words firmly in mind every time they open their mouths to speak, “Man does not live by words alone, despite the fact that sometimes he has to eat them.” Obviously politicians are neither smart nor wise.
The trouble with finding quotes on the Internet is that they are frequently missing attribution. If you know who said any of those missing an author please share your knowledge.
Mark Twain provided a great explanation to all those who don’t understand why failure is often more important than being right, “Good judgment comes from experience. Experience comes from bad judgment. “
It used to be a standing joke that guys don’t ask for directions (or help) and it seems to be an attitude that more and more women are adopting and proud of it, but they may want to rethink it based on this bit of common wisdom, “If you’re too afraid to ask for help, you will drown proudly.”
The following is dedicated to all those who never let facts influence their opinion, “Artificial Intelligence is no match for Natural Stupidity”
Have you ever wondered why some are doers and others are slackers? Here’s part of the answer, “Hard work pays off in the future, laziness pays off now.” And we are a country of short-term thinkers.
The following should be writ large at all events, especially those relating to business, “The real test of a person is how s/he treats people who can be of no personal benefit now or in the future.”
Those who pass that test will have no trouble living by this advice, “The real art of conversation is not only to say the right thing at the right time, but also to leave unsaid the wrong thing at the tempting moment.”
Finally I’ll share one that I keep taped to my monitor. “The world is full of cactus, but you don’t have to sit on them!”
Obviously I’m running a bit later than my normal posting time, but that’s the way it goes on summer weekends.
I looked at many Father’s Day quotes and chose these by Martin Sheen. Any entertainer, who stays married to the same one for more than 50 years, beats alcoholism and raises four sons, Charlie Sheen, and Emilio, Ramon and Renee Estevez, also in entertainment, probably has something worth hearing.
“Obviously, be aware that your actions will speak louder and last longer than your words. A child absorbs through osmosis what the parents are feeling and what they do, far more than what they say.”
“If you have an honest relationship with a child, that is the greatest gift. Lead an honest life and be free.”
“Give them time. Time is really all we have.”
With adult children, “you have to be there for them. You have to support them and make sure they know that they are still loved and cherished and you’re still in their lives and you’re there for them.”
“We never get over our fathers, and we’re not required to. For good or ill, we’re stuck with these guys.”
“The most important thing is that regret is useless and faith is necessary and love is everything.”
Three or so decades ago friends called me a “health food nut” because I took supplements (still do). These days they call me a “privacy freak” because although I’m on LinkedIn I refuse to join Facebook, Twitter, Google+ or whatever comes next; I don’t carry a cell, find many GPS apps creepy and love my solitude.
As Aristotle said, “He is his own best friend, and takes delight in privacy whereas the man of no virtue or ability is his own worst enemy and is afraid of solitude.”
Ayn Rand said, “Civilization is the progress toward a society of privacy. The savage’s whole existence is public, ruled by the laws of his tribe. Civilization is the process of setting man free from men.” If that’s true, the world is headed straight back to barbarism.
Edward P. Morgan’s words ring truer today than at any time in history, “A book is the only place in which you can examine a fragile thought without breaking it, or explore an explosive idea without fear it will go off in your face. It is one of the few havens remaining where a man’s mind can get both provocation and privacy.”
I wonder if David Brin was channeling Mark Zukerberg when he said, “When it comes to privacy and accountability, people always demand the former for themselves and the latter for everyone else.”
As stated, I’m not a Facebook fan for many reasons and Jaron Lanier states a major one, “Facebook says, ‘Privacy is theft,’ because they’re selling your lack of privacy to the advertisers who might show up one day.” Maybe that’s why Zukerberg doesn’t have a Facebook presence—ya think?
Danah Boyd, a senior researcher at Microsoft Research, “Defaults around how we interact have changed. A conversation in the hallway is private by default, public by effort. Online, our interactions become public by default, private by effort.”
But it is John Perry Barlow who sounds a warning that US citizens would do well to heed, “Relying on the government to protect your privacy is like asking a peeping tom to install your window blinds.”
Tuesday’s post involves lawyers, so I thought I’d check out what’s been said about them and it seems they’ve been unappreciated and unloved for centuries.
Clarence Darrow neatly summed up the problem with the law (no surprise there), “The trouble with law is lawyers.”
While Oliver Wendell Holmes offers a wonderful description of what they bill for, “Lawyers spend a great deal of their time shoveling smoke.”
Charles Lamb doesn’t sound too sure of lawyers’ antecedents, “Lawyers, I suppose, were children once.”
Will Rogers offers a typically witty explanation of when ‘ethical’ and ‘legal’ parted ways, “People are getting smarter nowadays; they are letting lawyers, instead of their conscience, be their guide.”
Lucille Ball explains the great contribution lawyers made to one of the most famous shows ever aired on television, “How I Love Lucy was born? We decided that instead of divorce lawyers profiting from our mistakes, we’d profit from them.”
Danny DeVito provides a cogent explanation of why people hire lawyers, “Of course I’ve got lawyers. They are like nuclear weapons, I’ve got em ’cause everyone else has. But as soon as you use them they screw everything up.”
Tammy Bruce reminds us that legal leopards don’t change their spots, “Unfortunately, what many people forget is that judges are just lawyers in robes.”
But it’s Thomas Jefferson who gets the last word today when he drives that point home, “If the present Congress errs in too much talking, how can it be otherwise in a body to which the people send one hundred and fifty lawyers, whose trade it is to question everything, yield nothing, and talk by the hour?”
Entrepreneurs face difficulties that are hard for most people to imagine, let alone understand. You can find anonymous help and connections that do understand at 7 cups of tea.
Crises never end.
$10 really does make a difference and you’ll never miss it,
Most of us live with one kind of fear or another, although few of us admit it. Fear often masquerades as something else—envy, arrogance, failure, success—to name just a few. Bertrand Russell provides interesting commentary on fear in it’s many guises.
Does the name Robert Fulghum sound familiar to you? No?
This is the second set of political quotes (the first is 
I love words. They are one of my very favorite things, so I thought it would be interesting so see what others thought of them.
The trouble with finding quotes on the Internet is that they are frequently missing attribution. If you know who said any of those missing an author please share your knowledge.
Obviously I’m running a bit later than my normal posting time, but that’s the way it goes on summer weekends.
Three or so decades ago friends called me a “health food nut” because I took supplements (still do). These days they call me a “privacy freak” because although I’m on LinkedIn I refuse to join Facebook, Twitter, Google+ or whatever comes next; I don’t carry a cell, find many GPS apps creepy and love my solitude.
Tuesday’s post involves lawyers, so I thought I’d check out what’s been said about them and it seems they’ve been unappreciated and unloved for centuries.
