If we can get beyond the corny red heart clichés and commercialism surrounding Valentine’s Day, there’s real value in celebrating the idea of love. Okay, love doesn’t always conquer all and it’s rarely forever, but I worry that the hearts and souls of a whole generation are being corrupted by images that mock and trivialize the beauty and sanctity of …
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.
COMMENTARY 762.1: Self-Control
A frazzled mother with a fussy child caught the eye of a grocery store manager. He overheard her say, “Lily, you can do this. We just have to get a few things.” Moments later, when the child became more upset, the mother said calmly, “It’s okay, Lily. We’re almost done.”
OBSERVATION: Start With Yourself
Notes From an Unknown Source: When I was a young man, I wanted to change the world. I found it was difficult to change the world, so I tried to change my nation. When I found I couldn’t change the nation, I began to focus on my town. I couldn’t change the town and as an older man, I tried …
COMMENTARY: Cheerfulness: A Conscious Act of Kindness 761.5
My mother died of cancer when I was 18. The disease was detected a year earlier during her pregnancy with her sixth child. On the day she delivered, both breasts were removed. During her illness, our household became increasingly gloomy. It’s hard to watch someone you love get sicker and sicker. But my mom was always a pleasure to be …
COMMENTARY: Teach Or Punish, That Is the Question 761.4
As Greg paces the floor, waiting for his 17-year-old daughter Sandy to return from a school event, he feels two conflicting emotions: fear and anger. Fear that something terrible has happened to her. Anger because he thinks his fear is probably unfounded and Sandy is not hurt, simply irresponsible. Finally, Sandy calls. She’s all right. She just lost track of …
COMMENTARY: How to Succeed by Failing Forward — Turning Stumbling Blocks to Stepping Stones 761.3
The best way to teach our children to succeed is to teach them to fail. After all, if getting everything you want on the first try is success, and everything else is failure, we all fail much more often than we succeed. People who learn how to grow from unsuccessful efforts succeed more often and at higher levels because they …
OBSERVATION: “Some people brighten a room when they enter it; others when they leave. Attitudes are contagious. Is yours worth catching?”
Attitudes are contagious. Are yours worth catching? Attitudes have a sort of gravity — cheerful people tend to bring out good thoughts and good feelings in people; they bring warmth and light with them. They light candles of enthusiasm. Sad, morose and cynical people do the opposite. They bring out the negative feelings in us; they chill and darken the …
OBSERVATION: Don’t ask if it is going to be easy. Ask if it is going to be worth it. – Michael Josephson
Sometimes the journey is easy; sometimes it requires you to overcome obstacles to follow an old path or make a new one. Either way, the question is: “Is it Worth It?” Your life is too important to consume it pursuing attractive but inconsequential goals. The pursuit of worthy goals is a worthy life.
ODDS AND ENDS: “Ask an Ethicist” — Michael Answers Audience Questions Live On Air
Michael was a guest on Southern California Public Radio’s Patt Morrison Show this afternoon! You can listen at the link in this post, or if you are a subscriber to our smartphone app it is available on your phone or you can get it at the Patt Morrison Show website. On the show, Michael answered questions from listeners about their ethical quandries. …
COMMENTARY: Are You Wiser Today Than Yesterday? Things I’ve Learned
Do you think you’re any wiser today than you were five years ago? Do you think you’ll be wiser still in another five years? I hope the answer to both
OBSERVATION: You don’t have to be sick to get better.
One of the greatest obstacles to improvement is ego. If the idea of getting better — learning new ways to do things, new strategies to deal with people, new ways to motivate ourselves — is thought of as an implicit criticism that we weren’t good enough before, we are likely to reject it. That you are a better parent, manager or person …
QUICK THOUGHTS: I thought the Super Bowl Clint Eastwood “Detroit” ad was terrific. What did you think?
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 …