You really have to love yourself to get anything done in this world.
Lucille Ball
You can’t live a perfect life without doing something for someone who will never be able to repay you.
John Wooden
To get the full value of joy, you must have someone to divide it with.
Mark Twain
He who asks is a fool for five minutes, but he who does not ask remains a fool forever.
Chinese Proverb
Keep a green tree in your heart and perhaps a singing bird will come
Chinese Proverb
You cannot avoid the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today.
Abraham Lincoln
A life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives.
Jackie Robinson
At one point in your life you either have the thing you want or the reasons why you don’t.
Andy Roddick
Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.
Helen Keller
Spring is here and although it is still early it looks like the heat is back in the desert. That makes me happy.
Last week I was in Canada for a couple of days (greeted with snow and 32 degrees) and had the opportunity to read about the new Canadian budget. They are changing a few things such as corporate tax and they have raised the age qualification for old age security to 67 but the startling thing was the goal of government spending at 12.2% of GDP form 14%. Contrast that to the Obama administration taking US spending to over 24% from 20%. One is going the right way and the other is going the wrong way. Will and Ariel Durant the noted historians observed in “The Lessons of History” (1968) that “freedom and equality are sworn enemies, and when one prevails the other dies. To check the growth of inequality, liberty must be sacrificed.” I wonder how many people realize that?
One last point there is an election in France this year and to listen to the politicians their spending is nowhere in sight. Their government takes 56% of the GDP to operate their country. I wonder how long it will take for investors to start raising the interest rates the French have to pay on Sovereign Debt. Have a great weekend. The time is now.
Women who strive to be equal to men lack ambition.
Anonymous
True knowledge exists in knowing that you know nothing.
Socrates
Advice is what we ask for when we already know the answer but wish we didn’t.
Erica Jong
Can you believe it…. spring is here. It seems as if everyone has something to say about the weather this year. It has been extremely warm in the North East US and it has been very cold and blustery in Europe. The usual suspects are all lining up to indicate this is global warming. We have had a winter this year as cold as I can remember in the past twenty five years in the desert. Someone will find a way to blame global warming for too much carbon dioxide being created by burning fossil fuels. Don’t tell me I am being cynical.
There was a terrific book published in 1997 called “The Sovereign Individual” – the subtitle is “How to survive and thrive during the collapse of the welfare state.” It is a rather prescient thesis. The point I would like to discuss is the purpose and history of government put forward by the two authors – James Dale Davidson and Lord William Rees-Moog (you can see it on our website at www.rjslee.com under the Resources tab – Reading List). They suggest that government is in place to protect us – you and I – from dangers. It started with a knight when we moved from berries and meat to grains. When someone had a surplus of grains we had to store it and if your neighbor was less successful they would come and steal yours. So we hired a Knight with a big horse and a big sword and protected ourselves – this begat our need for governments. They have been making things up to protect us from some millennia now. Esoteric things like clean air and clean water and now carbon dioxide. Oh well.
The time is now.
I always prefer to believe the best of everybody – it saves so much trouble.
Rudyard Kipling
All glory comes from daring to begin.
Alexander Graham Bell
When the world around you is changing at a rate faster than you the end is near.
Jack Welsh
Whether or not you think you can or you can’t. Either way you are right. Henry Ford
You can easily judge the character of a man by how he treats those who can do nothing for him. James D Miles
Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you’ve imagined.
Some time back I looked around a room I was in and noticed that I was no longer the youngest person in the room. Of I course I still felt like the youngest in the room. But think back to when you started your first job. What did you think of the older people around you? Were they to be respected for their age and knowledge? Did you look at them wondering why they did things that particular way? Do you remember working with your father and how he was always telling you how to do things?
I think we in North America have a perverse method of teaching people at an early age. We teach them to be obedient. Now don’t get me wrong there is nothing wrong with obedience and manners. In fact I quite like them both. I do want to take issue with the fact that we are creating robots to some degree. We don’t teach people well enough to be critical thinkers. We don’t teach them to think on their own. And when they do think on their own we label them something – rebels, trouble makers and other names.
I think we need to embrace the younger generation in a more positive manner. Every younger generation gets a bad rap including the current crop of kids (maybe I shouldn’t call them kids). Imagine. They are better educated. They have more computer skills than were dreamt of when I was entering the work force. The attribute that I like the most is that they are not as patient as we were. They won’t put up with the nonsense that some of us endured. Are you ready to listen to what they have to say? Can you imagine that they might have a better way to do something? I get excited when someone asks the question “why do you do it that way?” I want to know what they mean, what they are thinking. There is always the possibility to do things better. You have to embrace these changes as never before. The time is now.
It is Saturday and one of my favorite events is what I call a “Man Date.” This is when my grandson and I go and have our haircuts. It started when my daughter began to have trouble getting him to sit still for his haircut. So off we went for his first trip to the barbershop.
My barber is a terrific man, his name is Joe. He has run the typical old barbershop for many years. He is also a musician and entertains across the valley. He also leads the Scouts. He does a lot of things as well as providing a pretty mean haircut.
So there we are and my grandson is about four or so and he is going to have his first Barbershop haircut. He is not happy to hear the clippers or to see his mother and grandparents taking pictures of him crying. Joe you see has a grip on his head like it is bowling ball without the three holes. That is where it started. So for a number of years the two of us have gone off on a regular basis to have our “man date” at Joe’s.
This morning was our date and now it is a rather enjoyable time. The little guy sits in the chair – no booster required anymore – and has a chat with Joe. It is a fun and amusing watching the two of them talking about all kinds of weird and wonderful things. He has learned how to use the gels now – his grandfather (me) hasn’t got enough hair to use a gel and I am convinced that is Joe rubbing it in by teaching the little guy how to apply it and clean up afterwards. But it is a great haircut and I had one at the same time. So there we are – two “men” sharing time on a date getting our hair cut. You have to love it. The time is now.
