If one or two people tell you you’re an ass, you can ignore them. But if three or four people tell you you’re an ass, you might think about putting on a saddle. – Yiddish saying
The inverse is true as well.
If people keep telling you that you have gifts or talents, you must own them.
Hiding your light under a bushel only deprives the world of your light, and stifles your spirit.
You might not want to do everything you imagine, but you can’t do anything you can’t imagine doing. I pondered over the above words a fair amount. I wanted them to be expansive and positive, while still defensible against critics and pessmists. I wanted them to strike a balance between what people often see as…
It is irrational to expect someone to change his or her behavior based on nonexistent feedback. – John A. Allison I’ve often heard, and sometimes said, “You can only fix the problems you know about.” While I could go into awareness and the importance of paying attention and asking good questions, I’d rather alert you…
What is the difference between an obstacle and an opportunity? Our attitude toward it. Every opportunity has a difficulty, and every difficulty has an opportunity. – J. Sidlow Baxter This week has been a bit about language and meaning so I had* to share this quote. A key question is: what is our attitude towards…
I was listening to a Fresh Air interview with Dean Norris recently when he said something that really struck a chord. He was talking about how he prepared for a shoot-out scene in the (amazingly excellent ) television show Breaking Bad (he portrays a DEA agent). Norris relates that most law enforcement officers do not fire their weapons in…
Human labor, through all its forms, from the sharpening of a stake to the construction of a city or an epic, is one immense illustration of the perfect compensation of the universe. The absolute balance of Give and Take, the doctrine that every thing has its price, — and if that price is not paid,…
Do not give your attention to what others do or fail to do; give it to what you do or fail to do. – Buddha This reminds me of one of my favorite questions. When I find myself annoyed/bothered by, or otherwise resisting, someone, I ask myself: “What is it about you that I don’t…