“Maturity is the ability to stick with a job until it’s finished; to do a job without being supervised; to carry money without spending it.” – Ann Landers “Everyone Grows Older. Some Attain Maturity. A Few Become Wise. It’s what you do with the experiences that come with growing older that makes all the difference.” – Michael Josephson “Maturity is …
Noah really needed an ‘A’ on a term paper. His friend Jason tells him that lots of kids “recycle” papers they don’t write and offers to give him a paper his older brother got an ‘A’ on three years ago. When Noah asked his for advice, his father hoped his son wouldn’t cheat but he didn’t want to be judgmental …
“People don’t always remember what you say or even what you do, but they always remember how you made them feel.” –Maya Angelou Remember this as you interact with your relatives. Many people dread family gatherings for fear that they will have to endure unfiltered and unkind comments or questions. Think before you speak and only say those things that make people feel good.
I love this concept. Nietzsche told us “what doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger” and Hemingway wrote about becoming stronger in broken places. A different way of thinking is found in the Japanese concept of kintsukuroi the art of repairing broken pottery with gold or silver lacquer in a way that makes the object more beautiful than it was before. …
The primary responsibility for instilling good values and building character is with parents. This doesn’t mean, however, that teachers and coaches don’t have a critically important role. The unfortunate fact is that far too many kids are raised in morally impoverished settings that foster lying, cheating, and violence. If we don’t give these children moral instruction, many of them will …
“Hold on to the people and things that really matter. Let most of the other stuff go.” – Michael Josephson
“Setting priorities ensures you do what is most important to you, but you also have to do what is most important to the people you love because they are important to you. Make the people you love a top priority.” – Michael Josephson
“Nothing is impossible, the word itself says, ‘I’m possible!’” – Audrey Hepburn
“A teacher affects all eternity. You never know where his influence stops.” – Henry Adams
Steve Jobs at Stanford University: John F. Kennedy at American University: J.K. Rowling at Harvard University: Ellen DeGeneres at Tulane University: Conan O’Brien at Dartmouth College: Oprah at Spellman College: Denzel Washington University of Pennsylvania:
INVOCATIONS AND ADVICE Now that you’re getting your degrees it’s a good time to set goals and devise a plan. You need a roadmap, but be prepared for unintended detours, confusing signs and closed roads. Don’t be afraid of change or unwilling to change. Enjoy the journey, wherever it takes you, because that’s your life. — Michael Josephson Put your future …
I’ve given my share of commencement addresses, and I confess it’s a head-swelling experience to tell a captive crowd how you think they ought to live their lives while wearing an academic robe and a very silly hat. After all, didn’t they come primarily to hear what you have to say? Actually, they didn’t. In fact, graduation speakers are impediments …
Not because you are one… but because I am.
Don’t settle for less. Love without trust is not really love.
When George Washington was 16, he discovered a booklet of 110 maxims describing how a well-mannered person should behave. He was so convinced that these maxims would help him become a better person that he set out to incorporate them into his daily living. Among Washington’s many virtues, his commitment to civility marked him as a gentleman and helped him become …
Character is doing the right thing even when no one is looking.
“What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
I once heard the chairman and CEO of a huge public company tell a roomful of ambitious, hardworking, dedicated executives that if he had to do it all over again, he would have spent more time with his family. That’s not news, but to Type-A personalities, it’s easier said than done. David L. Weatherford’s poem “Slow Dance” sends the message …
To realize the value of ONE YEAR ask a student who has failed his final exam. To realize the value of ONE MONTH ask a mother who gave birth to a premature baby. To realize the value of ONE WEEK ask an editor of a weekly newspaper. To realize the value of ONE DAY ask a daily wage laborer who …
“Every now and then its a good thing to stop looking for happiness and just be happy.” – Michael Josephson
“We must be willing to fail and to appreciate the truth that often ‘life is not a problem to be solved, but a mystery to be lived.’” – M. Scott Peck
“If you want to know a person’s real values…look how they spend their time and their money.” – Michael Josephson
Prioritize Your Life – What You Can Learn From a Jar Full of Rocks It seems that no one has enough time to do all the things they want to do. After all, there’s only so many hours in a day. It’s true we can’t expand our day but we can make better use of it by being more intentional …
Faith is not believing that everything will turn out the way we want it, but that there is a divine purpose in how things turn out.
Fame is vapor, popularity is an accident, riches take wing; only character endures.” – Horace Greeley
Invest time; don’t spend it. Save time; don’t waste it. Enjoy the time you have; Don’t regret the time that’s gone.
I don’t have to be lonely just because I am alone. I am in the company of thousands of good memories of people I’ve known and know, places I’ve been, things I’ve done, and the feelings of joy, gratitude and pride that are still a part of me.
INTELLECTUAL HUMILITY AND THE PURSUIT OF WISDOM. “Don’t believe everything you think.” This is a reminder of the need to be as rigorously honest, informed and objective about our own ideas as we are when we evaluate those of others. Wisdom requires courage and humility to receive and consider new facts, opinions and perspectives, even when they challenge long …
Success comes in cans. Failures come in can’ts. Never say, “I can’.” Say, “I can’t…yet.”
If ignorance is bliss, Why aren’t more people happy?
