Here’s the bad news: Virtue isn’t a golden ticket to a pain-free life. Bad things happen to good people as often as they happen to bad people. It seems unfair, but in the natural order of the world, suffering is random. To expect otherwise is to sentence oneself to despondency, disillusionment, bitterness, and anger. Here’s the good news: The magic …
OBSERVATION: “Don’t confuse fun with fulfillment, or pleasure with happiness.” — Michael Josephson
One of the gifts of maturity is to realize that happiness is bigger, broader and more enduring than pleasure, and that fulfillment is more meaningful and rewarding than fun and that sometimes, the pursuit of pleasure and fun obstruct the achievement of happiness and fulfillment. — Michael Josephson www.whatwillmatter.com.
OBSERVATION: When bad things happen to you don’t make things worse.
In the natural order of the world, bad things happen randomly. They happen to good people and bad people. When bad things happen to you don’t make things worse by starting to see yourself as a victim, or someone who doesn’t deserve better, or a bad person who deserves what you got. None of these things are true! What happens …
HELP WANTED: The Downey, CA, school district has asked me to record daily commentaries for teens based on my radio commentary series so that they can be played daily on the school-wide P.A. systems in their middle and high schools.
If successful, we will offer the commentaries and scripts (with follow-up discussion questions for optional use). The opportunity to talk directly to thousands of teens every day on school announcements is exciting and daunting. I want to talk about choices and character in a way that’s valuable. If you know of a school that might be interested in playing the new …
QUOTES: All About Courage — 64 Great Quotes on the Nature of Courage
The Josephson institute is a nonprofit organization that depends on contributions from people like you. Please help us make a more ethical society or simply show your gratitude for whatever value you find in our work by making a tax-deductible donation at http://goo.gl/uUAix See Images of and Words of Courage here. QUOTES ON COURAGE Courage is rightly esteemed the first of human …
OBSERVATION: Courage and Integrity in Politics — Understanding that “politics is the art of the possible” is not an invitation to subordinate principles to expediency, but a reflection of the moral wisdom that the highest principle in government is to make things better.” -Michael Josephson
President Kennedy, in Profiles in Courage, said, “A man does what he must — in spite of personal consequences, in spite of obstacles and dangers and pressures — and that is the basis of all human morality.” For a leader, doing what must be done is more than risking or sacrificing one’s life. The harder and rarer form of courage is …
WORTH READING: Political Courage and Integrity – Profiles in Courage
In 1956, Profiles in Courage, written by John F. Kennedy, the junior senator from Massachusetts. was published. The book won the Pulitzer prize for biography. There is substantial controversy as to whether Senator Kennedy, who was elected President in 1960, was the true and sole author of the book and the circumstances surrounding the winning of the Pulitzer Prize. I address …
COMMENTARY 763.2 The Presidents Day Un-Celebration — Honoring Not Just the Great, But All U.S. Presidents
If you’re not going to school or work today, it’s because it’s a national holiday. The country used to celebrate the birthdays of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln separately, but in 1971 Richard Nixon and Congress, in order to create a perpetual three-day weekend, merged the two holidays into a brand new one called “Presidents’ Day,” to honor all U.S. …
WORTH WATCHING: To cheat or not to cheat – that is the question
See this powerful video from values.com.
WORTH READING: Rampant cheating in schools
According to the 2010 Josephson Institute Report Card of American Youth, a survey of more than 40,000 high school students, a majority of students (59 percent) admitted cheating on a test during the last year, with 34 percent doing it more than two times. One in three admitted they used the Internet to plagiarize an assignment. On lying, more than two …
WORTH WATCHING: Positive peer pressure is powerful.
See this video produced by Foundation for a Better Life with a surprise twist.
COMMENTARY: Undying Love – Coach John Wooden’s Most Profound Legacy
On Valentine’s Day millions of men pay special tribute to a woman they love by buying her flowers, a balloon, a cute stuffed toy, or candy. Many
When Harry met Sally
Here’s one of the great love scenes from one of our favorite movies: When Harry Met Sally
WORTH WATCHING: The tender and beautiful naivete of young love
“A bell is no bell ’til you ring it, A song is no song ’til you sing it, And love in your heart Wasn’t put there to stay Love isn’t love ‘Til you give it away.” — “I am 16 going on 17” from The Sound of Music, one of the great songs about young love, by Rodgers and Hammerstein
OBSERVATION: The Perfect Boyfriend
The perfect boyfriend. Someone whose heart beats faster when he sees you, thinks of you as beautiful instead of hot, calls you back when you hang up on him, will lie under the stars and listen to your heartbeat or will stay awake just to watch you sleep. Wait for a young man who will kiss away your tears, and …
OBSERVATION: What Love Is and Is Not
Love is a temporary madness. It erupts like an earthquake and then subsides. And when it subsides you have to make a decision. You have to work out whether your roots have become so entwined together that it is inconceivable that you should ever part. Because this is what love is. Love is not
QUOTES: Lincoln was profound, but he was also witty: 8 great Lincoln quotes
If I were two-faced, would I be wearing this one? How many legs does a dog have if you call the tail a leg? Four. Calling a tail a leg doesn’t make it a leg. Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt. Whenever I hear anyone arguing for slavery, …
QUOTES: 25 of the Most Profound Things Abraham Lincoln Ever Said.
Most folks are as happy as they make up their minds to be. Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power. Do I not destroy my enemies when I make them my friends? I am not bound to win, but I am bound to be true. I am not bound …
WORTH WATCHING: How would you tell the person you love how much he or she means to you if you knew you were dying?
This video was made by Kristian Anderson, a young man in New Zealand, as a birthday wish for his wife.