from Positive Outlooks
COMMENTARY: Ask What Can You Do for Your Country
In 1961, President John F. Kennedy, invoked my generation to “Ask not what your country can do for you — ask what you can do for your country.” We are fortunate to live in a free and democratic society where millions of civilians and soldiers serve their fellow citizens. Last Friday was Veteran’s Day and the weekend provided the nation …
WORTH READING & WATCHING: A Perspective of Service from a P.O.W.
It’s hard for some folks to take off their political glasses with lenses that like or dislike, see or not see, according to political predispositions. I think it’s important to remove these glasses when thinking about the nature of the experience that men and women who serve in the armed forces may be subjected to. This story, oft told by …
Land of the Free
“This nation will remain the land of the free only so long as it is the home of the brave.” — Elmer Davis
OBSERVATION: “Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement.” — Helen Keller.
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 …
COMMENTARY: What Your Checkbook and Calendar Say About Your Values 749.1
If I wanted to check your credit worthiness, I’d look at your balance sheet – what you have and what you owe – and I’d want to know about your history of paying your debts. If I wanted to know your values, I’d look at your calendar and checkbook. How come? Well, the term “values” refers
OBSERVATION: I Changed My Mind – What do you think?
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 …
OBSERVATION: Necessity is not a fact, it’s an interpretation. – Nietzsche
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 …
COMMENTARY: “Say it Ain’t So, Joe” 748.4
“Say it ain’t so, Joe” These words, directed at Shoeless Joe Jackson as he emerged from a courthouse where he and seven other White Sox players were accused of taking bribes to manipulate games, expressed the profound sense of betrayal and disappointment suffered when an idol falls from grace. Though Jackson, one of the finest players of his era, claimed …
COMMENTARY: Favorite Quips 748.3
As a break from heavy thoughts about heavy matters, I’d like to share with you a list of some of my favorite quips collected over the years. I don’t know the original sources of these one-liners, but they definitely weren’t from me. 1) If women can have PMS, then men can have ESPN. 2) If quitters never win and
COMMENTARY: Just Keep on Knocking 748.2
In the summer of my junior year in college I took a job as a door-to-door salesman for the Fuller Brush Company. My mother had just lost a long battle with cancer, and I wanted to earn enough money to have a photo of her turned into a painted portrait to give to my dad. What I earned depended entirely …
OBSERVATION: You can’t control the winds, but you determine your direction and speed if you control the sails.
You can’t control what people say to you or do to you but you control how you feel about and react to what they say and do. You can’t control the demands and expectations of others, but you control which to live by and which to ignore. You can’t control who has opinions on how you live your life, but …
OBSERVATION: In a democracy, every citizen is a public official.
Former Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan, who was used to partisan politics and intense debates, pointed out that, “Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but not their own facts.” When we instinctively choose to believe what we want to believe or construe all evidence in favor of our predispositions, we effectively disable our ability to participate in rational discourse. If
COMMENTARY: The Cowboy Code 748.1
I grew up in much simpler times. Television was in its infancy and the idea of a hero was exemplified by a white-hatted cowboy. There was a clarity and simplicity to the moral code of these heroes that left no doubt that there is a right and wrong. As I became more sophisticated, it was easy to ridicule these simplistic …
OBSERVATION: Carpe Diem!
Two thousand years ago, the Roman poet Horace advised his readers to “think of each day as if it were to be your last,” and to seize the day (Carpe Diem!) because you cannot trust what tomorrow will bring. His purpose was not to instill pessimism and fear but to urge us to find joy in each day and to …
OBSERVATION: Enjoy the struggle
F. Scott Fitzgerald said that the most profoundly redeeming qualities of life are found not in moments of pure happiness or pleasure, but in the deeper satisfactions that come out of struggle. The Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard put it another way: “Life must be understood backward, but lived forward.” Thus, we need to regularly remind ourselves to learn from the …
OBSERVATION: There are lots of legit white lies that don’t hurt anyone and don’t damage trust, but an awful lot do.
Never, never be casual about lying. It is a risky business. Good intentions are not enough. In the end, trust is more important than truth and trust is fragile. So next time you think about telling a “little white lie” ask yourself: if the truth comes out, will the person lied to say thank you for caring or will they …
COMMENTARY: Changing Lives 747.1
Long ago when I was a law professor, I was at a conference and a man I didn’t recognize greeted me warmly. He said he wanted to thank me for changing his life. I was embarrassed as I listened to him tell me that he had met me after a speech I had given at his law school. He said …
When Bad Things Happen to Good People 746.5
Recently two dear friends were inflicted by the soul-searing, heart-rending pain of the deaths of people close to them. One lost her lifelong companion and soul mate, a gentle, good man who lived a good life of 70 years. The other had to say goodbye to her totally innocent newborn son, the victim of a neurological anomaly. I’ve tried to …
COMMENTARY: We Are What We Think 746.4
In the early 1900s, a little-known philosopher named James Allen wrote a powerful essay called “As a Man Thinketh” in which he argued that we are what we think, that a person’s character is the sum of his thoughts. He declared that the power to control our thoughts (whether we use that power or not) is the ability to mold …
COMMENTARY: Save the World, Daddy 746.3
Just before leaving for Nigeria I called my daughter Samara, a college freshman at NYU, to say good bye. After a short but pleasant conversation she closed with: “Save the world, daddy. I love you.” I suspect her remark was affectionate teasing, implying that her nearly 69 year old father is a sort of Don Quixote, jousting with wind mills …
Better Isn’t Always Good But It’s Always Better 746.2
I am recording this Lagos, Nigeria. I’m here to meet with private citizens and government officials to talk about bringing CHARACTER COUNTS! to Nigeria’s schools. If you grunted a cynical “good luck” and thought about scam e-mails, street vendors selling counterfeit designer purses and sun glasses and the country’s reputation as one of the most corrupt in the world, you’ve …