Below you'll find a list of all posts that have been categorized as “Commentaries”
(Revised 9/5/15) DEFLATING ETHICAL EXPECTATIONS By Michael Josephson* “At its best, athletic competition can hold intrinsic value for our society. It is a symbol of a great ideal: pursuing victory with honor. The love of sports is deeply embedded in our national consciousness. The values of millions of participants and spectators are directly and dramatically influenced by the values conveyed by …
“Your children will become what you are; so be what you want them to be.” – David Bly. Role modeling is a 27/7 job. Often its what you do when you don’t think your children are watching that has the most impact.
RISK To laugh is to risk being a fool. To weep is to risk appearing sentimental. To reach out to another is to risk involvement. To express feelings is to risk exposing your true self. To place your ideas, your dreams, before the crowd is to risk their loss. To love is to risk not being loved in return. To …
Five Things to Teach our Children. 1. Be a good friend 2. Be kind even to those who don’t deserve it. 3. Learn from every experience. 4. Do your share even when others don’t do there’s. 5. Start and finish a job even when you don’t feel like it. Michael Josephson Do you have any others to add?
A father’s need to be right. A son’s need to be independent. A father’s acceptance of his son as a man can be as difficult as a son’s acceptance that his father is just a man.
If you can talk it out, you can work it out. Fight for the relationships that are important to you. The best relationships are never easy, at least not all the time.
Long ago Edmund Burke observed that “All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good people to do nothing.” Passive acceptance of evil is a serious social disease but there is an antidote called “doing something” and a glimmer of hope that this anti-toxin is spreading, leading to a new aphorism: “All that is necessary to defeat evil …
The solid instincts and courage of the three Americans who disarmed the gunman on the train from Amsterdam to Paris a few days ago is worthy of admiration and appreciation but the way they handled the interviews, their true humility, honesty, generosity and candor was a truly magnificent ac act of diplomacy. They showed what is best about the American …
Few questions have been asked more often by more people. The concept of success and the concept often thought to be its opposite, failure are central to the human quest for meaning and for happiness. Most of us very much want to be successful in our professions, successful in our various family roles and, of course, we would like to …
Everyone I talk to agrees: this country (company, agency or school) needs more people with good old-fashioned character. You know, the kind of people who place ethics above expediency and integrity over personal advantage, people you can count on to do the right thing even if it may cost them more than they want to pay. The problem is it’s …
Lately I’ve been spending a lot of time consulting with large companies concerned with strengthening their ethical culture. Although I’m sure the leaders I work with care about ethics and virtue for their own sake, I know the driving force to seek outside assistance is self-interest. The risk of reputation-damaging and resource-draining charges resulting from improper conduct is so high …
Personal Note: I just learned that a very dear friend, Ron Kinnamon, one of the original board members of the Josephson Institute and a founding father of CHARACTER COUNTS! passed away on July 30. Ron was not only a tremendous personal friend and friend of the Institute he was also one of the finest men I’ve had the fortune to …
SUCCESS AND FAILURE MADE SIMPLE What is Success? Few questions have been asked more often by more people. The concept of success and the concept often thought to be its opposite, failure are central to the human quest for meaning and for happiness. Most of us very much want to be successful in our professions, successful in our …
Compiled by Michael Josephson. — The Nature of Success — Failure is an event, never a person. – William D. Brown The only real failure in life is not to be true
How often do we hear someone defend against an action of wrongdoing by the claim that what they did was within the law? This defense may work n court but not at the gates of heaven. One has a right to do what is legal, that does not mean it is right to do it. The domain of ethics is …
SELF-DISCIPLINE. Self Discipline is the Power to say No to yourself, to give up Something now so you will get Something you want even more later. Self discipline can also be called will power referring to the emotional muscles to delay gratification – like this dog and his biscuit – and resist temptations for a larger benefit in the future, …
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’re always in the same place. – Nora Roberts This is a variation of the Wayne Gretzky comment: “I miss 100% of the shots I don’t take.” Whether it is fear of failure, procrastination, …
Teachers affect all eternity. You never know where their influence stops.” – Henry Adams. The day to day tribulations of teaching, especially in often overcrowded and under-resourced public schools, can be so consuming that both the teachers and students forget the monumentally important impact they have on children. Often the impact goes unnoticed but it occurs. A great teacher teaches …
Small Pleasures. Watching an old episode of Blue Bloods and Tom Selleck as Commissioner Reagan pronounced very solemnly:He was quoting me! Tom is a friend and was a JI Board member for 15 years and we had many joint appearances. I just wish he added: “There’s a big difference between what you have a right to do and what is …
Bad things happen to good people just about as often as they happen to bad people. We have not been given a shield protecting us from misfortune, but there is within all of us, waiting to be discovered, the strength to deal with adversity, to overcome it, and learn from it so we can still find love, laughter and joy …
Ideas without action are like cars without engines. ” We judge ourselves by what we feel capable of doing, while others judge us by what we have already done.” -Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. A different version I use a lot is: “We judge ourselves by our best attributes and most noble acts but we are judged by our last worst act. …
WHEN THINGS GET TOUGH.YOU HAVE TO HAVE H.O.P.E.. Hang On, Pain Ends. Remember, pain is unavoidable but it’s not permanent. The sun will come out tomorrow; it comes out every single day even when we can’t see it. You have the strength you need to get through this. The light at the end of the tunnel is your life; it’s …
I don’t usually state political opinions on this blog but I have and will when i think an issue is particularly important and there seems to be an interest in my opinion. Thus, I am “coming out” on my view of the current Iran agreement proposal knowing it will anger or disappoint some of you. I hope that doesn’t destroy …
— compiled by Michael Josephson You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated. In fact, it may be necessary to encounter the defeats, so you can know who you are, what you can rise from, how you can still come out of it. ~ Maya Angelou It’s always too soon to quit. Norman Vincent Peale If at first …
No one has yet realized the wealth of sympathy, the kindness and generosity hidden in the soul of a child. The effort of every true education should be to unlock that treasure. Emma Goldman
Don’t worry that children never listen to you; worry that they are always watching you.
Over the years, my views on the issue of gay rights and the legalization of same-sex marriage have evolved considerably. I’ve moved from benign tolerance and acceptance to
