August 30, 2013

WHY YOU BELIEVE, OR DON'T


"It is so hard to believe because it is so hard to obey."

Soren Kierkegaard
19th century Danish philosopher and writer

Remember this the next time you find it hard to accept a point of view other than your own.

August 29, 2013

WILL YOU BE SINGING OR WEEPING?


"When two friends have a common bank account, one sings and the other weeps."

Proverb

So, thinking of going into business with a friend?

Those who advise against it do so for good reason.

Just remember you are partners first, friends second.

August 28, 2013

ONE AND DONE?


"Finite to fail, but infinite to venture."

Emily Dickinson
19th century American poet

And yet for many of us, a couple of failures is all it takes to stop completely.

Don't! 

Keep Going!

August 27, 2013

FUN WITH DICK, JANE, AND CHANGE


"Nothing is so perfectly amusing as a total change of ideas."

Laurence Sterne
18th century British writer

Look forward to, don't fear, coming change.

August 26, 2013

"I CAN'T UNTIL . . ." NEVER HAPPENS


"Nothing will ever be attempted if all possible objections must first be overcome."

Samuel Johnson
18th century British author

And none are more egregious than objections you give yourself.

August 23, 2013

WINNING BY LOSING


"The little reed, bending to the force of the wind, soon stood upright again when the storm had passed over."

Aesop
5th century BC Greek fabulist

Part of being strong is knowing when not to be.

August 22, 2013

PREPARING TO WIN


"Diligence is the mother of good luck."

Benjamin Franklin
18th century American statesman, scientist and philosopher

You can win by being at the right place at the right time, but you won't often get there by chance.

August 21, 2013

YOU OR US?


"The more you lose yourself in something bigger than yourself, the more energy you will have."

Norman Vincent Peale
20th century Protestant preacher and author

If you could choose, would more of your accomplishments come from what you do alone or from the collective effort of you and others?

And which do you think would produce more results?

August 20, 2013

WHO WILL YOUR FRIENDS BE TOMORROW?



"Great perils have this beauty, that they bring to light the fraternity of strangers."

Victor Hugo
19th century French poet, dramatist and novelist

Strangers who often later become friends, having survived the peril that brought them together.

Consider the possibility that those you don't know today might be your ally tomorrow.

August 19, 2013

SO, WE MEET AGAIN!


"We only part to meet again."

John Gay
17th century English poet and dramatist

Even when you neither want nor expect to.

Be careful what you say when leaving one company for another.

Your parting words could come back to haunt you.

The world is a small place.

August 16, 2013

I NEED THAT


"Necessity never made a good bargain."

Benjamin Franklin
18th century American statesman/scientist/philosopher

And much need arises from not having planned for arising needs. 

You can't foresee them all but you can and should anticipate many.

August 15, 2013

IN YOU I SEE ME


"I thought how unpleasant it is to be locked out; and I thought how it is worse, perhaps, to be locked in."

Virginia Woolf
Late 19th/early 20th century British novelist, essayist

You reflect and ultimately become the attitudes and values of those with whom you associate.

Choose who that is carefully.

August 14, 2013

DO YOU CARE?


"I don't care how much you know until I know how much you care."

Unknown

A bit motherhoodish but still a valid point, particularly when you consider all that one could be expected to care about.

In the best of circumstances not a short list.

August 13, 2013

THE BEST YOU CAN BE . . . ON TIME!


"Tomorrow do thy worst, I have lived today."

John Dryden
17th century British poet, dramatist and critic

Substitute "done all I could" for "lived" and this is the essence of time management.

August 12, 2013

I'M GOING INSANE, BUT WILL BE BACK SHORTLY


"No man is sane who does not know how to be insane on proper occasions."

Henry Ward Beecher
19th century American politician

Which makes the point that there are variations of insanity, some quite useful.

Just be sure you know which you are, when.

August 09, 2013

WHAT YOU (SHOULD) DO


"The powerful play goes on -- and you may contribute a verse. What will your verse be?"

Unknown

The "play" is life, your "verse" what you do to make things better for others.

August 08, 2013

YOU ARE THEM


"The person who lives with cripples will soon learn to limp."

Italian proverb

Just as you are what you eat, you become the friends you keep.

August 07, 2013

ONE-QUARTER INNOVATION


"We forfeit three-quarters of ourselves in order to be like other people."

Arthur Schopenhauer
18th century German philosopher

The implication of that depends on how good or bad is the three-quarters.

Regardless, the point is still valid.

Most good comes from innovation and if we limit our ability to innovate to just one-quarter, we'll not likely accomplish much.

August 06, 2013

HERE COMES THE JUDGE


"If you judge, investigate."

Lucius Annaeus Seneca
4th century Roman philosopher and playwright

And who amongst us does not judge?

It's ok to be wrong but first do your best to be right.

August 05, 2013

ENOUGH SAID


"I prefer tongue-tied knowledge to ignorant loquacity."

Marcus Tulius Cicero
1st century BC writer, politician, Roman orator

Me too.

August 02, 2013

I DON'T WANT TO HEAR THAT!


"Make not your thoughts your prisons."

William Shakespeare
16th century British poet and playwright

Which is what you do when you make up your mind to the point it can't be changed.

August 01, 2013

LET ME TELL YOU SOMETHING!


"The very aim and end of our institutions is just this: that we may think what we like and say what we think."

Oliver Wendell Holmes
19th century American author and poet

But not without regard for how we say it.

Congratulations on your newly minted MBA and all you've learned in your education. 

Don't waste it by communicating in a way insulting to others.