Character Brains are like muscles. You can rent them by the hour. The only thing that is not for sale is character. (Salvatore Eugene Scalia, late college professor) As a teacher, Scalia certainly recognized the value of using your brains. He was in the business of...
Learning The beautiful thing about learning is that no one can take that away from you. (B. B. King, late American musician) Whether it’s by rote memorization, word association, or oral transmission—the beautiful thing about learning, as King reminds us, is that if...
Learning from Mistakes Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes; art is knowing which ones to keep (Scott Adams, comic strip writer and author) No one likes to make mistakes, but we all should admit that we can learn a lot from them. It’s also true that no one...
Living in Light We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light. (Plato, classical Greek philosopher) Remember what it was like when you were little and wanted a light left on in your bedroom at...
Confidence in God Oh, how great peace and quietness would he possess who should cut off all vain anxiety and place all his confidence in God. (Thomas à Kempis, 15th century German-Dutch churchman) Many people are so concerned about their self-image that they miss a...
Expressing Gratitude Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it. (William Arthur Ward, late prolific inspirational writer) When someone treats us well or gives us a gift, we most often feel grateful and appreciative for the...
Good Planning It takes as much energy to wish as it does to plan. (Eleanor Roosevelt, former First Lady and political activist) Novelist Lev Grossman wrote, “If there’s a single lesson that life teaches us, it’s that wishing doesn’t make it so.” Roosevelt’s statement,...
Being a Manager The primary goal of a manager is to help team members discover their unique talents and then turn these talents into outstanding performance. (Marcus Buckingham, British business consultant) Many people probably think that the primary responsibility of...
Innovation Innovation is not born from the dream. Innovation is born from the struggle. (Simon Sinek, British-American author) Perhaps this is just another way of saying, “Necessity is the mother of invention.” Put more formally: “When the need for something becomes...
The First Step He who is outside his door already has the hard part of his journey behind him. (Dutch proverb) That first step is often the hardest part of any project. After you’ve made that initial move, somehow it’s easier to keep going. Mark Twain concurs; he...
Good Humor Good humor is a tonic for mind and body. . . . It is the direct route to serenity and contentment. (Grenville Kleiser, 19th-20th century North American author) Kleiser also said, “It is the best antidote for anxiety and depression.” In a day when more and...
Parents' Wisdom The best time to give advice to your children is while they are still young enough to think you know what you’re talking about. (Evan Esar, late American humorist) We might regard Esar’s comment as humorous, but there may be a good bit of truth in it....