Below you'll find a list of all posts that have been categorized as “Quick Thoughts”
Quality Healthcare is PEOPLECARE. It’s the caring employment of medical knowledge, skill and technology, to not only treat illness and injuries but also to alleviate physical and emotional pain of patients and those that love them. Medicine is a science, but its also an ministry. – Michael Josephs
I am a veritable Thanksgiving symphony, don’t you think? Taking JI staff to Friendsgiving lunch to express my thanks for their incredible hard work and devotion. Preparing also for Big Thanksgiving feast at my house. Will host about 40 family and friends. I will make the turkeys and my onion-laced mashed potatoes. ALL my kids will be there. Looking forward …
I just can’t understand the ethics of hunting for sport. How can one get joy out of killing one of these animals for thrill or fun? I know there are a lot of good people who do hunt but I can’t understand any rationale for why it is okay. Can someone please explain this?
A timeless observation that seems particularly timely today. If it matters who said this more than what is said, you may be part of the problem. “Let us not seek the Republican answer or the Democratic answer, but the right answer. Let us not seen to fix the blame for the past. Let us accept our own responsibility for the …
If you are having a bad day . . . or week . . . or month . . . have a serious talk with yourself and decide what it will take to move on. Preoccupation with your problems, no matter how serious, compounds them and imprisons you in a dark dungeon. There is no lock on the dungeon you …
Some people will always see us as we were rather than who we are and more importantly who we are becoming. Some people see themselves as they were, not who they are, and more importantly, who they are becoming and who they can become. Some people live in their past, others are content to learn from it. Aging is inevitable; …
ROBBIN WILLIAMS. Whatever it takes to have a true sense of inner peace is obviously illusive. If it were talent, fame, money or the adoration of the masses, Robbin Williams would have been happy. Lincoln said, “folks are generally about as happy as they are willing to be.” Why is it so hard to be willing to be happy? The key to …
As I embark on a pilgrimage with my 65-year-old little brother to see the Baseball Hall of Fame, I am also frantically trying to complete a book on “The Exemplary Policing Organization.” As my two worlds collided, I got to thinking about what it means to be exemplary, to be one of the best ever at something — to be worthy of …
I hope you will watch this. What I love about this is the musicians are dressed so informally and are so diverse they seem like a random group of people. The concept of all these “ordinary people” coming together to make music is a beautiful metaphor. Or maybe I’m just a sap for this sort of thing.
It may require a Constitutional amendment since there is no way this Congress will pass any law that truly holds their feet to the fire regarding their budgetary responsibilities, but I think two reforms could be worth it. 1) Let’s adopt the rule that Israel has. If the legislature does not agree on a budget at the designated date automatically …
Agree or disagree? “In today’s society, one has to lie or cheat at least occasionally in order to succeed.” This is a fundamental and revealing question on our surveys about personal ethics and integrity. Most interesting is that the level of cynicism is closely related to age. In an online survey on integrity (with 16,000 responses) we found that 43 …
Be careful that you are not giving up today something valuable that you can never get again.
It’s been an interesting and challenging couple of weeks with three major events taking place in my life: 1) I just returned from a 4-day trip to Hawaii. I was there to address the 4-H Western Regional Leadership Forum – about 300 staff, volunteer and student leaders of one of the oldest youth programs in the nation. 4-H has been …
I just returned from a nearly 3-week journey to Southeast Asia with my daughter Samara (a 19 year-old sophomore at NYU). It was an exceptional trip. We visited parts of the world I’d never been before – Singapore, Thailand, Cambodia, Viet Nam and China (Hong Kong) and the exposure to the vast array of cultures and languages in this part …
Happiness is not getting what you want, it’s appreciating what you have. Gratitude is the key to happiness. -Michael Josephson
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 …
The message, sponsored by Chrysler, of working together to solve our problems is what we need. Sadly, the rhetoric of the presidential campaign leaves us little hope that the election will be a referendum of ideas untainted by personal attacks and invective. The differences between the beliefs and solutions of Republicans and Democrats is between highly conservative and more moderate Republicans and …
I hope you will take a few minutes to view them as your tribute to the men and women we owe so much. Watching them all will take less than 20 minutes.
Here’s to the heroes Those few who dare, Heading for glory,’ Living a prayer. Here’s to the heroes Who change our lives. Thanks to the heroes, Freedom survives. Here’s to the heroes Who never rest. They are the chosen, We are the blessed. Here’s to the heroes Who aim so high. Here’s to the heroes Who do or die. Here’s …
Pessimism and optimism are not just ways we predict the future; these attitudes profoundly affect the future. Pessimism makes our disposition dark and gloomy. Optimism is a source of light and energy for everyone in range of its power. Both are contagious. It’s true that some people are more naturally optimistic, cheerful, and hopeful than others but even people with …
In this week’s newsletter you will read a commentary, “Say It Ain’t So, Joe,” where I argued that we should give the benefit of the doubt to legendary coach Joe Paterno, who should have done more to assure that the accusation that former coach Jerry Sandusky raped a young boy in a Penn State shower room was brought to the …
Earlier this fall, Michael Josephson announced a special contest. To mark the end of his 14 years of daily commentaries on KNX-AM1070 radio in Los Angeles, he invited listeners to write short essays on how his radio commentaries had make a positive impact on their lives. The five winners will enjoy a private luncheon with Michael. We received more than …
When good people do bad things they usually have convinced themselves it’s not bad. One of the most common justifications is that “I had to do it.” That the stakes were so high it was necessary. This rationalization is a form of the idea that “the end justifies the means” and is at the root of every cover-up from Watergate …
