I am an Abraham Lincoln groupie. He is my biggest hero. I have a huge collection of books and Lincoln memorabilia, my daughter, Abrielle, was named after him as was one of our family dogs.
COMMENTARY: Making a Difference – Being Nice & Talking to People
What can be more meaningful and fulfilling than making a positive difference in this world by making a difference in the lives we touch? It is the essence of living a life that matter. As the following story illustrates it is so much easier than it we might think and its something we all can do every day of the …
COMMENTARY 971.4: A Parable About Integrity and Rationalizations – How Much Do You Want It to Be?
The founder of a company needed to choose his successor. He studied resumes and talked to references, but he decided to ask only one question during the final interview: “How much is 2 + 2?” Ann, the first candidate, worried that there was a trick but she answered straightforwardly. “There’s only one correct answer: it’s four.” Terry, who had an …
COMMENTARY 971.3: FINDING A HEALTHY BALANCE: To live and enjoy a good life, find a healthy balance between wanting more and appreciating enough. Realize that what you have is worthy of gratitude and appreciation, even as you strive for more.
It’s both a strength and weakness of human nature that we’re never satisfied for long. Whatever we have, wherever we are, most of us want more and better. When focused on money or power, our insatiability can turn into happiness-crushing greed, avarice, and obsessive ambition. But in many other areas of our life, our desire for more and better can …
COMMENTARY 971.2: Rules to Survive and Thrive the Teen Years
One of the toughest jobs in the world is being a teenager. Everything is in transition. Everything is intense — even apathy. Kids on the brink of adulthood have to cope with inconsistencies and conflicts. The desire to be special and different clashes with the need to belong and fit in. The desire for independence collides with an aversion to …
COMMENTARY 971.1: HOW AND WHEN TO CONVEY HARD TRUTHS — Motive, Tact, Tone, and Timing
Trustworthiness is essential to good relationships, and honesty is essential to trustworthiness. Being honest isn’t simply telling the truth, though. It’s also being sincere and forthright. Thus, it’s just as dishonest to deceive someone by half-truths or silence as it is to lie. But what if honesty requires us to volunteer information that could be damaging or hurtful? For example, …
Character may determine our fate, but character is not determined by fate, it’s determined by our choices. We must never forget how powerful character is in shaping our destiny, but we must also remember how powerful we are in shaping our character.
Strive to be the person you hope your children think you are. There’s no doubt that our character has a profound effect on our future. What we must remember, however, is not merely how powerful character is in influencing our destiny, but how powerful we are in shaping our own character and, therefore, our own destiny. Character may determine our fate, but character …
NEVER UNDERESTIMATE YOUR POWER TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE.
What we have done for ourselves dies with us; what we have done for others and the world remains and is immortal. Albert Pike. We can’t live forever, but what we do can change lives forever. In each role we play – in the workplace, in our families and in our communities – what we choose to do, who we …
COMMENTARY: Happiness Is a Choice
In a Peanuts cartoon, Lucy asks Charlie Brown, “Why do you think we were put on earth?” Charlie answers, “To make others happy.” Lucy replies, “I don’t think I’m making anyone happy,” and then adds, “but nobody’s making me very happy either. Somebody’s not doing his job!”
COMMENTARY: Good Relationships Make a Good Life
If we interviewed 100 happy people, I think the most prominent common denominator would be good relationships.
Who is visiting the whatwillmatter.com site? In the past 30 days folks from more than 250 countries.
We decided to look to see where the visitors to this site come from and we were amazed. Of course the largest number is from the U.S. but we found the site is popular among folks from India, Canada, United Kingdom and the Philippines but we had no idea that so many from all over the world had 2 or more sessions within the …
COMMENTARY 970.3: Loopholes and Slippery Slopes
As a former law professor, I know all about loopholes. I trained students to find omissions and ambiguities in wording — a perfectly legal way to evade the clear intent of laws and agreements. After all, that’s what lawyers are paid to do. And, despite commonly expressed disdain when lawyers do this, that’s precisely what most clients want and expect when …
COMMENTARY 970.2: A Government Program That Is Working
I was pleasantly surprised that my visit to detention camps for juvenile girls run by the Los Angeles Probation Department turned out to be encouraging and uplifting. Instead of finding a cadre of angry and hostile girls in a punitive prison setting, I saw clean classrooms attended by very
A Message from Michael January 28, 2016
Warmest Greetings, I hope it’s viewed as a good thing that I expect to communicating directly and personally more often this coming year including a more detailed report on what I’ve been up to (see my activities the past month below). First, I want to thank all of you who made donations to the Institute at the end of the …
“There is no success without action. If you don’t go after what you want, you’ll never have it. If you don’t ask, the answer is always no. If you don’t step forward, you’ll always be in the same place.” – Nora Roberts
“There is no success without action. If you don’t go after what you want, you’ll never have it. If you don’t ask, the answer is always no. If you don’t step forward, you’ll always be in the same place.” – Nora Roberts
“First, say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do.” – Epictetus
“First, say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do.” – Epictetus
Practice. Practice. Practice.
There’s only one way to learn to leap like this. Practice. Practice. Practice. Everything worth doing takes effort.There’s only one way to learn to leap like this. Practice. Practice. Practice. Everything worth doing takes effort.
Some people worry until the storm is over; others enjoy the rain. What do you do?
Some people worry until the storm is over; others enjoy the rain. What do you do?
The brighter your outlook, the brighter your future. Your life will improve with a positive attitude.
The brighter your outlook, the brighter your future. Your life will improve with a positive attitude.
Dream Big. Live Big. Life is too short to be little. You can be whatever you want to be if you do whatever you need to do.
Dream Big. Live Big. Life is too short to be little. You can be whatever you want to be if you do whatever you need to do.
It’s easy to dodge our responsibilities, but we can’t dodge the consequences of dodging our responsibilities.” – Sir Josiah Stamp
It’s easy to dodge our responsibilities, but we can’t dodge the consequences of dodging our responsibilities.” – Sir Josiah Stamp
Making Resolutions of Principle
The tradition of making New Year’s Resolutions reflects one the very best qualities of human nature – the ability to reflect on and assess our lives in terms of the goals we set for ourselves and the principles we believe in. It’s still not too late to formulate a self-improvement plan to make our outer lives and inner selves better …
The Price of Integrity
Sometimes the dues we pay to maintain integrity are pretty high, but the ultimate cost of moral compromise is much higher. – Michael Josephson
CHRISTMAS & CHRISTMAS SPIRIT: Greatest Quotations on Christmas and the Christmas Spirit – compiled by Michael Josephson
We are glad you visited us to find this selection quotes on mothers and motherhood. The Josephson Institute is a nonprofit organization devoted to increasing the ethical quality of individual and personal decision making. CHRISTMAS GIFT SUGGESTIONS: To your children: patience and a good example. To your parents: respect and gratitude. To your spouse: understanding and a commitment to have more fun. To …