Thoughts 30AUG2013

WISDOM

Three cowboys had been riding the range since early in the morning. One of them was a member of the Navajo Nation. Being busy with herding stray cattle all day, there had been no time for the three of them to eat. Toward the end of the day, two of the cowboys started about how hungry they were and about the huge meals they were going to eat when they reached town. When one of the cowboys asked the Navajo if he was also hungry, he just shrugged his shoulders and said, "No". later that evening after they had arrived in town, all three ordered large steak dinners. As the Navajo proceeded to eat everything in sight with great gusto, one of his friends reminded him that less than an hour earlier he had told them that he was not hungry. "Not wise to be hungry then", he replied. "No food".

Author Unknown - extracted from "A 2nd helping of Chicken Soup for the Soul", Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen, Health Communication, Inc., 1995

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When you are rich, you are hated; when you are poor, you are despised : Ashanti of Ghana

Thoughts 29AUG2013

THE QUESTION

Isn't it amazing how few of us ask ourselves the important question? Several years ago I was invited to hear an important speaker address the student body of a small college in South Carolina. The auditorium was filled with students excited about the opportunity to hear a person of her stature speak. After the governor gave the introduction, the speaker moved to the microphone, looked at the audience from left to right, and began : "I was born to a mother who was deaf and could not speak. I do not know who my father is or was. The first job I ever had was in a cotton field". The audience was spellbound. "Nothing has to remain the way it is if that's not the way a person wants it to be", she continued. "It isn't luck, and it isn't circumstances, and it isn't born a certain way that causes a person's future to become what it becomes". And she softly repeated, "Nothing has to remain the way it is if that's not the way a person wants it to be. All a person has to do", she added in a firm voice, "to change a situation that brings unhappiness or dissatisfaction is answer the question : 'How do I want this situation to become?' Then the person must commit totally to personal actions that carry them there". Then a beautiful smile shone forth as she said, "My name is Azie Taylor Morton, I stand before you today as Treasurer of the United States of America".

Bob Moore - extracted from "Chicken Soup Series, Jack Canfield & Mark Victor Hansen, Health Communications Inc., 1995

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When one is in trouble, one remembers God : Nigerian Proverb

Thoughts 28AUG2013

GIFT OF FANTASY

When I examine myself and my methods of thought, I come to the conclusion that the gift of fantasy has meant more to me than my talent for absorbing positive knowledge. Reading this makes me wonder how much sooner man could have walked on the moon ... had we listened to a child's fantasies. It is truly a pity that so many lose their gift of imagination to the steady hum of the status quo : Albert Einstein

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A big fish is caught with big bait : Sierra Leone

Thoughts 27AUG2013

EFFICIENT SECRETARY

Arnold Bennett, the British novelist, had a publisher who boasted about the extraordinary efficiency of his secretary. One day while visiting the publisher's office, Bennet asked her : "Your boss claims you're extremely efficient. What's your secret?" "It's not my secret", said the secretary, "It's his". Each time she did something for him, no matter how insignificant, she explained, he never failed to acknowledge and appreciate it. Because of this, she took infinite pains with her work

Found at : Aspiring to Greatness

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The horse that arrives early gets good drinking water : Zulu Proverb

Thoughts 26AUG2013

EXPONENTIAL RATE

It is said that scientific knowledge is growing at an exponential rate. To appreciate what it means, consider the story of a farmer who brought his horse to be shod and asked what it would cost. The blacksmith said he would charge a penny for the first nail, 2 cents for the second, 4 cents for the third and so on. The farmer, innocent of mathematics, agreed. For eight nails in each shoe, or 32 nails altogether, his bill came to $42,949,672.95. An exponential rate of growth is a fearsome thing.

Extracted from "Bits & Pieces", The Economic Press, Inc., Fairfield New Jersey

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The wind does not break a tree that bends : Sukuma

Thoughts 23AUG2013

ON FAILURE

I'd rather be a failure at something I'm in love with than a success at something I hate. Fortunately, I'm doing well in a business I love. I've always been in love with show business, and I still am. I love it today as much as I did for the 20 years I flopped in it.

George Burns (1896-1996), Entertainer - Cited in "BITS & PIECES"

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The longer the night lasts, the more our dreams will be : Chinese Proverb

Thoughts 22AUG2013

ON LAUGHTER

If you wish to glimpse inside a human soul and get to know a man, don't bother analyzing his ways of being silent, of talking, of weeping, or seeing how much he is moved by noble ideas; you'll get better results if you just watch him laugh. If he laughs well, he's a good man

Fyodor Dostoyyevsky - extracted from "Speaker's Sourcebook II", Glen Van Ekeren, Prentice Hall, 1994

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A book holds a house of gold : Chinese Proverb

Thoughts 21AUG2013

There is a time to speak and a time to keep quite. There are things to tell and things not to tell. But it is an excellent rule to practice frankness in all dealings and associations with others, whether in business or socially. The frank person treads a firm bridge crossing a river, while the secretive person charily steps from stone to stone : B C Forbes - extracted from "Reader's Digest", July 1995 - Points to Ponder

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When one is in love, a cliff becomes a meadow : Ethiopian Proverbs

Thoughts 20AUG2013

ON DREAMS

A dream is an ideal involving a sense of possibilities rather than probabilities, of potential rather than limits. A dream is the wellspring of passion, giving us direction and pointing us to lofty heights. It is an expression of optimism, hope and values lofty enough to capture the imagination and engage the spirit. Dreams grab us and move us. They are capable of lifting us to new heights and overcoming self-imposed limitations.

Robert Kriegel - extracted from "Speaker's Sourcebook II", Glen Ekeren, Prentice Hall, 1994

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When your neighbour is wrong you point a finger, but when you are wrong you hide : Ekonda

Thoughts 19AUG2013

THE OTHER FELLOW

When the other fellow acts that way, he's ugly. When you do it, it's nerves.

When he's set in his ways, he's obstinate. When you are, it's just firmness.

When he doesn't like your friends, he's prejudiced. When you don't like his, you are simply showing good judgement of human nature.

When he tries to be accommodating, he's polishing the apple. When you do it, you're using tact.

When he takes time to do things, he is dead slow. When you take ages, you are deliberate.

When he picks flaws, he's cranky. When you do, you're discriminating.

Anonymous - extracted from "Bits & Pieces", The Economics Press Inc., Fairfield, New Jersey, USA

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Those who are absent are always wrong : Congolese Proverb

Thoughts 16AUG2013

WHO WON?

I saw a beautiful example of kindness in 1968 during the Special Olympics track and field meet. One participant was Kim Peek, a brain-damaged, severely handicapped boy racing in the 50-yard dash.

Kim was racing against two other athletes with cerebral palsy. They were in wheelchairs; Kim was the lone runner. As the gun sounded, Kim moved quickly ahead of the other two. Twenty yards ahead and 10 yards from the finish line, he turned to see how the others were coming. The girl had turned her wheelchair around and was stuck against the wall. The other boy was pushing his wheelchair backward with his feet. Kim stopped, went back and pushed the little girl across the finish line.
The boy in the wheelchair going backward won the race. The girl took second. Kim lost.
Or did he? The crowd that gave Kim a standing ovation didn't think so.

Dan Clark - extracted from "Chicken Soup for the Woman's Soul", Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, Jennifer Read Hawthorne & Marci Shimoff, Health Communications, Inc., 1996

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Smooth seas do not make skillful sailors : Ethiopian Proverb

Thoughts 15AUG2013

LIFE IS A RISK

To learn to walk, we must risk falling over.

To make a dollar, we must risk losing it.

In loving and caring, we risk breaking our hearts.

Getting a job is a risk.

Crossing the road is a risk.

Eating in the restaurant is a risk.

Starting a family is a risk.

Life is a risk.

Winners take more risk than losers.

That is why they win so much.

Necessarily then, winners lose more than losers, but they are playing so often that their wins add up.

We have a choice between living and merely existing.

Extracted from "Being Happy" by Abdrew Matthews

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He who learns, teaches : Ethiopian Proverb

Thoughts 14AUG2013

INTELLIGENCE

Most people think intelligence is wisdom, but this is not so.

Intelligence does not necessarily include wisdom, yet wisdom contains intelligence.

Intelligence is just an ability to measure advantages and disadvantages, gains and losses.

Greed and deceit are signs of intelligence.

Source Unknown

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When the heart overflows, it comes out through the mouth : Ethiopian Proverb

Thoughts 13AUG2013

VICTORY OR DEFEAT

It is not the critic who counts, not the man that points out how the strong man stumbled, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly, who errs and comes short again and again; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause, who at best, knows in the end the triumph of high achievement; and who, at the worst, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat : Theodore Roosevelt

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Thought breaks the heart : Cameroon Proverb

Thoughts 12AUG2013

GOLFERS' DILEMMA

"Mary, why don't you play golf with Jane any more?" asked a friend.

"Would you play golf with someone who kicked the ball with her foot when you weren't watching?" Mary asked.

"I guess not," admitted the friend.

"Would you want to play with someone who lied about their score?" Mary continued.

"No, I sure wouldn't", the friend agreed.

"Neither did Jane", replied Mary

Extracted from "Speakers Sourcebook II, Glen Van Ekeren, Prentice Hall, 1994

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Rage is not without reason : Chinese Proverb

Thoughts 07AUG2013

WISE & WHEREFORES

~ Believe in miracles but don't depend on them.

~ When you hear a kind word spoken about a friend, tell him so.

~ Spoil your spouse, not your children.

~ Remember, it's not your job to get people to like you, it's your job to like people.

~ To help your children turn out well, spend twice as much time with them and half as much money.

~ Remember that the only dumb question is the one you wanted to ask but didn't.

H Jackson Brown Jr - Life's Little Instruction Book Volume III

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One falsehood spoils a thousand truths : Ashanti Proverb from Ghana

Thoughts 06AUG2013

REKINDLE : In everyone's life, at some time, our inner fire goes out. It is then burst into flame by an encounter with another human being. We should all be thankful for those people who rekindle the inner spirit : Albert Schweitzer

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It is the calm and silent water that drowns a man : Ashanti Proverb from Ghana

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EXPLORE - DREAM - DISCOVER : Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbour. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover : Mark Twain

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Money is sharper than a sword : Ashanti Proverb from Ghana

Thoughts 05AUG2013

DO WHAT YOU LOVE : THE MONEY WILL FOLLOW

In Srully Blotnick's Research reflected in Getting Rich You Own Way (Playboy Paperbacks, 1982), 1,500 people were divided into 2 groups are followed for 20 years. Group A made up 83% of the sample. These people are embarking on a career chosen for the reason of making money now in order to do what they wanted later. Group B, the other 17% chose their career based on what they wanted to do now and would worry about the money later.

The data revealed some startling discoveries : At the end of the 20 years, 101 of the 1,500 had become millionaires. Of the millionaires, all but one - 100 out of  101 - were from Group B, the group that had chosen to pursue what they loved!

Extracted from "Heart at Work", Jack Canfield & Jacqueline Miller, McGraw-Hill, 1996

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No one test the depth of a river with both feet : Ashanti Proverb from Ghana

Thoughts 02AUG2013

THREE DAYS

During World War II General MacArthur called in one of his Army Engineers and asked : "How long will it take to throw a bridge across the river?" "Three days", the engineer told him. "Good", snapped the General. "Have your draftsman make drawings right away". Three days later the General sent for the engineer and asked how the bridge was coming along. "It's all ready", reported the engineer. "You can send your troops across right now if you don't have to wait for the plans. They ain't done yet".

Extracted from "Bits & Pieces", The Economic Press, Inc., Fairfield, New Jersey

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A joy that's shared is a joy made double : American Proverb