Benevolent Quotations

"The point is that any change greater than the minimal is chaotic." from: Dors the Robot,     Issac Azimov,    Forward the Foundation   Disruptors.  Change Agents.  Change Makers.  Those are some of the (dated) buzz words of business right now to describe things that profoundly affect society.  They can be people, organizations, companies, or ideas that make a difference. We think, many people think, that a big difference has to come from a big change.  This is not the case.  There is the reference to the 'butterfly effect' which is explained as a single wing beat of a single butterfly in China can cause catastrophic weather conditions on the other side of the world. Not only is only small change necessary to make a big difference, there needs to be " luck ."  From the Scientific American article " The Role of Luck in Success is Far Greater Than We Realized ": "People with  easy to pronounce names  are judged more positively than tho

Seldon shugged.  "Why does one usually feel frustration? I'm tackling something in which I am making no progress." from:    Issac Azimov,    Prelude to Foundation   I have been following Stephen King's admonition about writers should read.  However, I may be cheating?  I am listening to books on tape (has that become an anachronistic term?) while I exercise and do various and sundry distractions from achieving overall goals.  Previously I would listen to political podcasts, but the quality of speech and the repetition of ideas has become boring. Currently, I am listening to the first Foundation book, Prelude to Foundation explains the origins of Hari Seldon, the birther of Psychohistory which predicts overall future trends.  I haven't read Azimov's books in a long time and I have become struck in the similarity of the royal play that occurs in Game of Thrones and Dune.   I am struck that since I want to write stories, perhaps I am cheating by listenin

When you have a great and difficult task, something perhaps almost impossible, if you only work a little at a time, every day a little, suddenly the work will finish itself.  from:   Isak Dinesen, pen name for  Baroness Karen Christenze von Blixen-Finecke , author of Out of Africa et al. There is always a "great reason" to put off moving on difficult goals.  Difficult because of a low skill level.  Difficult due to a lack of skills.  Difficult as a result of surrounding yourself with naysayers.  Difficult from you being a naysayer.  Difficult because life can just be hard. I also know that success breeds success.  Even if it is just one area of your life, you can move forward with persistence.  A small achievement can position you in a mind set that difficult tasks are attainable. A long time ago, I studied and studied and studied for my law school entrance exam.  Five years previously I took the exam and achieved a less-than-stellar score.  I set up a plan to retake

An ounce of practice is worth more than tons of preaching. from:  Mahatma Ghandi Today I'll be participating in a difficult conversation.  My business partner is being distracted by other activities and, in my opinion, he is not fully participating in either our activities nor his side ventures with any sort of diligence.  He is being tempted by the brass ring of dubious quick returns. Again, I have look at my own actions.  Am I working smart or conscientiously enough? As a teacher, it is natural to just tell people what to do.  Lately, the education profession is about guiding through shiny objects and entertainment.  But underneath all of it is guiding students to a goal.  However, it is much easier, quicker, and more direct to just tell them what to do. This can backfire fabulously when confronted by a stubborn, obstinate person.  And as I have told a friend, my business partner is more stubborn than any four people combined. So, to get the business back on track, I ha

If a thing is worth doing, it is worth doing badly . attributed to:  G.K. Chesterton , From  What’s Wrong with the World , which was written in 1910. Part Four of the book is entitled, “Education: Or the Mistake about the Child.” The famous, and much abused, line comes up at the end of Chapter 14 of that section. I first heard this quote from the brilliant spy novel " The Company " by Robert Littell.  But like the quote, I could be wrong but the isn't going to stop me from mentioning it. This quote seemed appropriate today because I have to pound out the blog entry.  I have been thinking about all the passive entertainment I have been doing (movies, tv, and HORRORS of a video game)  Waste, Waste, Waste.  Also, I don't have time to fully think about the blog today.  I was wonderfully surprised to find that Littell isn't credited with the quote, and today I'll work on digging into the author. So, I did a little research on does TV make up happy, which I

Reaching beyond where you are is really important. attributed to: Martin Seligman Dr. Seligman is the Professor of Happiness.  And I need a dose of that right now. I tell my students: "If it was easy for you to do, you'd have already done it."  I do a lot of work with under-performing students.  Each of them has a personal reason for underperforming, but normally it comes down to fear.   However, while they have been living in the fear, certain behaviors have become habitualized.  Watching Netflix, Facebooking, getting sucked into click-bait.   Unfortunately, the students behavior also trains those around them.  Yes, parents should not bend to the ineffectual and, perhaps, harmful actions and desires.  But they often do.  Parents look at is a 'picking battles,' which only cements the behaviors on both sides. I am in that position myself right now.  My partner and I were complacent with our careers.  It would have been joyous if we both woke up one mornin

[It] requires a minimum of about 21 days for an old mental image to dissolve and a new one to jell. Maxwell Maltz , author of Psycho-Cybernetics I have started exercising.  The first two or three days were easy; I put on the sneakers and walked.  The fourth day I learned to connect the bluetooth headphones a friend loaned me and that gave me the incentive to get moving while listening to "Stranger in a Strange Land."  The story kept me getting out for the last two weeks. I was proud enough of the two weeks of consistent exercise that I screenshot my Mapmywalk app calendar and lined my friend.  "2/3's of the way to a habit!"  (and then sent him a pic of a Frida Kahlo-themed bar on my walk with the message "She missed you!"). Thinking about the quote to use for today, I decided on a quote about how it tales three weeks to establish a habit.   Yikes!  So Wrong. The Huffington Post article  How Long Does It Actually Take to Form a New Habit? (Bac

It takes as much energy to wish as it does to plan. attributed to:  Eleanor Roosevelt   but there are references to William Feather Once again, I went down the internet rabbit hole to verify that Mrs. Roosevelt actually is the originator of this quote.  It has been used in so many self-help books that it might qualify as a cliche.  I discovered the many writings of  Mr. Feather and a Jacob Morton Braude were (and may still be) used by management types and Toast Masters for reference.  Because Google could not provide a glimpse at the page in Mr. Braude's book where the quote is actually used , I am not sure if he attributes it to ER or WF. But once again, does the source of the quote really matter?  Is a truism less valuable because it came from a self-help writer than a former first lady? Sigh.  I don't know the answer to that one.   The reason for this quote is in today's writing class , the topic was to plan the perfect day for writing.  The plan was to be detai

If you don't have the time to read, you don't have the time (or the tools) to write.  It is as simple as that. from:   On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King ( See the quote in the book )  ( Amazon Link ) Teaching is a confronting profession.  All day long, a teacher is exhorting the students to 'learn' and to 'grow.'  At the end of the day or the week, a teacher looks into the mirror and thinks: "Do I do what I preach?"  For me and many of my friends, the mirror speaks back "Not enough." As I start a writing career ( or skilled avocation ), do I read enough?  I read some, but not like when I was younger.  I have been seduced by the passive illuminations of Netflix. So, like many of my students, I have a stable of practiced excuses.  I am tired.  I taught ten hours today.  I am starting an exercise habit.  There is ironing.  I ran out of garlic butter and had to make more. I, like many of us, move to the activity of least

You can teach an old dog new tricks, and this old dog wants to learn. from: Tip O'Neill    Speaker of the American House of Representatives 1977-1987 Gramma Moses didn't start painting until her 70's.  Colonel Sanders sold his first Kentucky Fried Chicken franchise in his 60's.  Ray Croc started McDonalds in his 50's.  Duncan Hines was 55 when he started writing cook books.  Sam Walton opened his first "Walmart" when he was in his 40's.  Laura Ingalls Wilder published her first Little House on the Prairie  when she was 65. Yesterday, some 30-something told me that one of the teachers we used to work with couldn't adapt because "she was too old."  I knew this teacher and I doubt if she could have adapted 20 years ago.  Age had nothing to do with her lack of evolution; her stubbornness and protection of ego had everything to do with it.   What really surprised me is that the 30-something is a teacher.  A TEACHER.  And almost everyday

The secret of genius is to carry the spirit of the child into old age, which means never losing your enthusiasm. attributed to:  Aldous Huxley First, I am a little uncomfortable with using this quote.  Normally, I research the origin of a quote for assurances of correctness.  However, after ten minutes of weeding through google results of pinterest, twitter, and the huge quotation cites, I could not find the context of this quote nor conformation that it was Huxley.  Sigh.   If any of my gentle readers have the citation and context of this quote, it would be greatly appreciated.   Second, I decided just to get on with the blog.  What is important?  Spending time verifying a quote (which is not the main purpose of the blog) or crystallizing my idea in writing.  And then to get on living life.   Enthusiasm.  This is what attracted me to this quote.  When things were dark for me, I didn't even have the enthusiasm some days to do anything more than grab some snacks and sit in fro

Just as a snake sheds its skin, we must shed our past over and over again. from:   Buddha’s Little Instruction Book I got this one from Good Reads website: And again I doubled search the source and found out that even though it is attributed to Gautama Buddha, it is really from Jack Kornfield.  Hats off to  Fake Buddha Quotes  “I Can't Believe It's Not Buddha!" website. I was pulled to this quote because what I am trying to do is start a new phase in my life.  I have done this before, as we all have.  Sometimes with more success than others.  But when I am getting discouraged, I think "How many rabbits can I pull out of my hat." The past for me, at this point, is to get rid of bad habits and substitute in better ones.  Unlike the snake, which has only one skin to shed, we have many "skins."  Laziness, Ennui, Memories, Weight, Sedentary days and nights, Wasting time, TV, Facebook, Instagram, Video games, Youtube, "What if's"

If you have a good idea, get it out there. For every idea I’ve realized, I have ten I sat on for a decade till someone else did it first. Write it. Shoot it. Publish it. Crochet it, sauté it, whatever. MAKE. from:   http://blog.hulu.com/2009/03/06/joss-whedon/  Today I decided to follow Josh's advice and start publishing.  For so long I've kept my musings to myself and to those of you (un)fortunate enough to be in my immediate vicinity.   This is an experiment based on the hypothesis that if one writes about an idea, it becomes more definable and actionable.  There is a second hypothesis (yes, I know that this violates the basic science process, but then so did Priestly in his investigations using carbon dioxide from a nearby brewery) that having an idea, looking for a quote on that idea, and writing about it will bring peace of mind. So, I am starting out on the Google blogging platform.  Living with the idea "a penny saved is a penny earned," trying this pa