WHAT AS MUCH AS HOW IT IS SAID

"There is no greater mistake than the hasty conclusion that opinions are worthless because they are badly argued."

Thomas H. Huxley (1825-1895) English biologist

Not clear? Maybe this will help.

The opinion of a man pointing a gun at you, stuttering "Haaaaaaaannnnndsss  Upppp!", should be every bit as important to you as the same scenario minus the stutter.

Well presented ideas deserve to be thoughtfully considered, but don't be too quick to dismiss those that are not.

ISN'T THAT GREAT?

"No truly great person ever thought themselves so."

William Hazlitt (1778-1830) British essayist

Taken literally, few, if any, could ever be great.

It's human nature for our egos to occasionally to frequently stop to admire what a great person it thinks we are.

But once more the problem is not with the basic idea but rather the all inclusiveness of it.

You can recognize your greatness, just not to the point that you expect/assume others will as well.

NOT ALL THINGS, JUST YOUR THINGS

"Things without remedy should be without regard; what is done is done."

William Shakespeare (1564-1616) British poet/playwright

You know this. This is what you advise others to do.

What about when it's you?

FEAR THE ACCIDENTAL CAREER

"The great art of life is sensation, to feel that we exist, even in pain."

Lord Byron (1788-1824) British poet

Obviously about life in general but think about this relative to your career.

You don't want to only "exist" in whatever job you do, which you will if you don't consciously, with much thought, determine your life's work.

IF ONLY HOPES WERE RESULTS

"We promise according to our hopes and perform according to our fears."

François de La Rochefoucauld (1613-1680) French writer

Which often isn't good enough.

While fear may motive us to perform, our lack of preparedness often results in subpar performance.

MAKE DO

"Arrange whatever pieces come your way."

Virginia Woolf (1882-1941) British novelist/essayist

She's talking about opportunity and the need to do the best with what you have.

BE OVER IT

"To mourn a mischief that is past and gone is the next way to draw new mischief on."

William Shakespeare (1564-1616) British poet/playwright

Particularly if the "mischief" you suffered was done purposely.

Don't give whomever harmed you the added satisfaction of knowing you continue to dwell on their act.

Move on.

UNCONSCIOUSLY BUSY?

"If work and leisure are soon to be subordinated to this one utopian principle -- absolute busyness -- then utopia and melancholy will come to coincide: an age without conflict will dawn, perpetually busy -- and without consciousness."

Günter Grass (1927-?) German author

Absolute busyness . . . can you relate?

Think about what you are busy doing.

If too much has become automated, things you do without questioning why you do them, you are unconsciously busy.

THE UNIMAGINABLE IMAGINED

"Moralities, ethics, laws, customs, beliefs, doctrines --these are of trifling import. All that matters is that the miraculous become the norm."

Henry Miller (1891-1980) American author

That last sentence would make a pretty good mission statement wouldn't it?

But how?

Left only to a mission statement hanging on the wall, useless.

Could (would) you even attempt to create a work culture where miraculous results was the expected norm?

YOUR LIFE'S CLOCK IS TICKING

"To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all."

Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) Irish poet/dramatist

We all need to just "exist" some to much of the time; we can't always be "living" in the way implied by Mr. Wilde.

But for most "living" too much is not the problem.

I generally know when I'm doing one versus the other and I do my best to swing the pendulum toward purposely living.

What about you?

THERE IS A DEADLINE, DON'T MISS IT

"By the time a person has achieved years adequate for choosing a direction, the die is cast and the moment has long since passed which determined the future."

Unknown

Most of us over 40 know this.

If you're not, ideally you'll either spend enough time finding what's best for you, or will be fortunate enough to simply luck into it.

I'd recommend you work for the former rather than expect the latter.

THE MORE YOU KNOW THE MORE YOU KNOW YOU DON'T KNOW

"Who knows most believes least."

Proverb

You know (or should know) this if you've invested in start-ups for which you did not do sufficient due diligence prior to making your investment. 

But this applies to every aspect of business.

THE NEED TO BE NEW AND THE DANGER OF "TOTALLY"

"To copy others is necessary, but to copy oneself is pathetic."

Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) Spanish painter

The trouble with this quote is it is absolute, implying that copying others is always necessary and acceptable whereas copying ourselves is not.

I don't like absolutes and this is an example of why.

Excluding very few things, very little I know of is "always" or "never" "everything" or "nothing".

All that said there is value in the concept although I would not draw distinction between copying myself or someone else.

Sooner or later we all have to change so best to make that part of your life from day 1.

I KNOW I MAYBE DON'T KNOW, BUT NOT MUCH ELSE

"Most ignorance is invincible ignorance. We don't know because we don't want to know."

Aldous Huxley (1894-1963) British author

Interesting.

I wonder if we ever know we don't want to know?

Hmmm, I don't know.

FOR BETTER OR FOR WORSE

"Habit is a cable; we weave a thread of it each day, and at last we cannot break it."

Horace Mann (1796-1859) U.S. educator

As true for the bad habits as it is the good ones.

Be careful what you weave.

WHAT DO YOU THINK?

"He never chooses an opinion, he just wears whatever happens to be in style."

Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910) Russian writer

"Never", which means "he" is always following the flavor of the day opinions of others.

We should all be influenced by a multitude of opinions, including our own, always changing.

WHO'S IN CHARGE HERE? WE ARE!

"That government is the strongest of which every man feels himself a part."

Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) third president of the United States

Just as true in business where it's called "employee engagement."

Your employees may acknowledge you as being in charge but it would be much better if all felt as though they were.

WHAT IS AND WILL BE, NOT WHAT DIDN'T

"We do not know what is really good or bad fortune."

Jean Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778) Swiss political philosopher/essayist

We all have things in life we believe we cannot live without.

But how many "must haves" you didn't get have you managed to carry on without, regardless?

The less we focus on what didn't, the more we concentrate on what is and will be, the better.

WAITING FOR . . . ?

"How much of human life is lost in waiting."

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) U.S. poet/essayist/lecturer

Waiting, itself, is not a bad thing, in fact it often turns bad into good.

It's doing so not thinking about why you are waiting that often leads you where you'd not like to be.

THE SCOURGE OF SELF-DECEPTION

"Who had deceived thee so often as thyself?"

Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) American statesman/scientist/philosopher

Makes sense for a couple of reasons.

One, how often do we encounter people who have motive to deceive us?

And two, who thinks about us more than we do ourselves?

A FRIENDLY REMINDER

"We forget that every good that is worth possessing must be paid for in strokes of daily effort. We postpone and postpone, until those smiling possibilities are dead."

William James (1842-1910) American philosopher/psychologist

We know this, we just don't always act as though we do.

HR ADVICE CIRCA 50 BC

"Study carefully, the character of the one you recommend, lest their misconduct bring you shame."

Marcus Tulius Cicero (106-43 BC) writer/politician/roman orator

To a degree we become the people we recommend to others.

Recommend carefully.

AND ANOTHER THING!

"I find the pain of a little censure, even when it is unfounded, is more acute than the pleasure of much praise."

Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) Third president of the United States

It's like that for most of us.

Note to management: You do need to criticize employees who are not performing as expected, but do so carefully with much consideration.

The effects on them and their work may be exactly the opposite of what you hope for and expect.