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Friday Filosophy v.8.13.21

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Friday Filosophy v.8.13.21

Our Friday Filosophy v.8.13.21 offers thoughts from Aristotle with quotes that highlight the thinking of one of the most influential philosophers the world has ever known. He was a student of Plato and the Tutor to Alexander the great.

Aristotle was revered among medieval Muslim scholars as “The First Teacher” and among medieval Christians like Thomas Aquinas as simply “The Philosopher”, while Dante (one of the most important poets of the Middle Ages) called him “the master of those who know”. His works contain the earliest known formal study of logic, studied by medieval scholars such as Peter Abelard and John Buridan. Aristotle’s influence on logic continued well into the 19th century. In addition, his ethics, though always influential, gained renewed interest with the modern advent of virtue ethics.

Aristotle has been called “the father of logic”, “the father of biology”, “the father of political science”, “the father of zoology”, “the father of embryology”, “the father of natural law”, “the father of scientific method”, “the father of rhetoric”, “the father of psychology”, “the father of realism”, “the father of criticism”, “the father of individualism”, “the father of teleology”, and “the father of meteorology.”[8]

  • It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.
  • The educated differ from the uneducated as much as the living from the dead.
  • The roots of education are bitter, but the fruit is sweet.
  • Those who educate children well are more to be honored than they who produce them; for these only gave them life, those the art of living well.
  • It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.
  • You will never do anything in the world without courage. It is the greatest quality of the mind next to honor.
  • You will never do anything in this world without courage. It is the greatest quality of the mind next to honor.
  • The most important relationship we can all have is the one you have with yourself, the most important journey you can take is one of self-discovery. To know yourself, you must spend time with yourself, you must not be afraid to be alone. Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom.
  • What is the essence of life? To serve others and to do good.

The Time is Now.

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Who Are You?

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Who are you?

 One of the networks I follow poses questions often. The most recent question was “What’s the #1 thing you have learned this year?

 The problem I have with the question is that I am continually learning. I am a very curious man and not a big fan of the status quo. However, over my seventy plus years, I have learned a few things that I would like to highlight. 

I would like to think that I am continually learning. I am a very curious man and not a big fan of the status quo. I have learned a few things that I would like to highlight. 

First, from a book by Edith Hall called “Aristotle’s Way,” is a reminder. This is not something that is new for me, but it is an important one. Aristotle suggested that we have a personal responsibility to ourselves to be happy. I have had as a foundation stone in my life, the philosophy “Before you can be of any value to anyone else you have to be of value to yourself.” The two ideas are tied together, aren’t they?

​More recently I obtained a book by Simon Sinek called “The Infinite Game.” This picks up the theme from “Finite and Infinite Games” a book written by James P. Carse. This is also reinforcing strong beliefs that I have had for most of my life. Life is not about winning and losing. We must be focused more on our lifetimes than individual events. I grew up swimming competitively and had a tough time. I didn’t lose many races and had national records for age groups consistently. That was the result, the pathway was another thing altogether. I would be sick before I left my home to go to a swimming meet, I would be sick changing into my bathing suit, and if there was anything left, I would be sick before going out to the start of the race. Not much fun. As you might imagine, this always bothered me. What was the matter with me? Did I need to win that much or was I afraid to lose. You see I didn’t lose very often so I never really got an answer that was clear. What finally penetrated my mind was that those two outcomes – needing to win or fear of losing – are the same. You see, if you take one of your attributes to its full extent you reach the direct opposite. So, when taken to the extreme, needing to win and fear of losing are the same thing. That brought me peace. What was more important and remains another foundation stone for my life is that you are not competing with the other swimmers in the race. You are competing with yourself. That is a much more serious competitor. You are trying to improve your own individual performance constantly. I believe this is a critical element in life. You are never finished. You can continually get better. To some degree it means never being satisfied with your situation or performance.

​For the close today I will move to my life as a teacher. I come from a long line of teachers. I love to teach. I love to see the lights go on in people’s eyes when they “get it.”  That truly turns my crank: it excites me, and it motivates me.

​There have been many books written about self-improvement. I will reference you here to one called “Make It Stick: The Science of Successful Learning.” 

 There are far too many truly amazing points in this book to pick out only one. Let me do it this way. In our own “progression of learning” (my view of learning) we need to be “testing” ourselves frequently. It has been proven scientifically that assessments, both formative and summative, when taken during the learning process significantly improve the retention of the knowledge. By retaining knowledge, we will be able to apply our knowledge to the challenges we face in our lives.

Learning is a lifelong activity. It is a truly rewarding activity as well. Genetics determines our brain power. Learning is what is required if you are to reach your personal potential.

Think about these points. They are important and I believe that they will help you as a person.

The TIME IS NOW.  

Outside the Box

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Welcome 2018!

After my assessment of how far we’ve come in 2017, I wanted to have the first blog post of this new year focus on where we are going.

Thinking Outside of the Box.

It seems I have been looking for the guy who first said “thinking outside of the box” and I finally found him. His name is Edward de Bono and he is a very accomplished individual. He qualified in Medicine at the University of Malta, then he was award a Rhodes Scholarship to Oxford where he read Psychology and Physiology, followed by a PhD in Medicine, and another PhD from Cambridge. Suffice it to say this is a very well educated and intelligent individual.

He is a speaker at some of the most prestigious institutions in the world and has written more than 60 books on various subjects. He is a thinker and is very critical on our abilities to think. He goes back to the big three of teaching in Plato, Socrates and Aristotle, the men who were celebrated as “Absolute” heroes. They applied logic to discover what was deemed to be the truth. De Bono suggest that is a dangerous road. It has led us somewhat astray.

In 1967 de Bono wrote a book called “The Use of Lateral Thinking,” a phrase that struck a chord with the public. Lateral Thinking is the notion for changing perceptions.

This is the thesis of many people one of whom is Rory Sutherland.  The circumstances of our lives may matter less than how we see our lives, says Rory Sutherland, and he makes a compelling case for how reframing things is the key to happiness. From unlikely beginnings as a classics teacher to his job as Vice Chairman of Ogilvy Group, Rory Sutherland has created his own brand of the Cinderella story. He joined Ogilvy & Mather’s planning department in 1988, and became a junior copywriter, working on Microsoft’s account in its pre-Windows days. An early fan of the Internet, he was among the first in the traditional ad world to see the potential in these relatively unknown technologies. An immediate understanding of the possibilities of digital technology and the Internet powered Sutherland’s meteoric rise. He continues to provide insight into advertising in the age of the Internet and social media through his blog at Campaign’s Brand Republic site, his column “The Wiki Man” at The Spectator and his busy Twitter account.

The point of highlighting these two gentlemen is that as people we seem at times to get stuck in ruts. Joel Barker called them Paradigms. This is the social equilibrium that we experience in our jobs and at times even in our lives. Everything is just OK.

Well all of us have goals in our lives. We want to leave a mark somewhere and somehow. That is not going to happen if we are just OK.

Edward de Bono says quite bluntly that “Schools waste two-thirds of the talent in society. The Universities sterilize the rest. Does that strike a chord with you? It sure does with me.

I have been blessed in many ways in my life and career. I was raised in a family that valued school and education, my maternal grandmother got a Masters Degree in the early 1900s, rather unheard of at the time. I had a wonderful childhood which led me to teaching and leadership positions with amazing mentors who inspired me. When I finally got into a career I had incredible men take time to counsel me and encourage me and push me. I was, and still am, a very lucky guy.

I have never been a particular fan of the status quo. That made me very impatient as an employee and let me to a much better career as a consultant where I could move from one business to another and thus never get bored. It led me back to teaching when we started Quest, Learning Centers in the early 1990’s and it is now moving me to Learning Without Scars with my daughter in developing and producing dynamic internet based learning programs.

To me it is all about putting information in front of people and then helping them implement change. Learning is a voyage, it has no end destination, it has no end point. But once you see the lights go on with an individual and watch the excitement grow, well to me that is a wonderful thing.

So, in 2018 I want you to consider thinking, not outside of the box, but outside of the triangle. Look at everything you do and see if you can make everything just a little bit better. Read more, think more, laugh more and have more fun. Don’t forget that all work and no play will make all of us very dull indeed.

Happy New Year to each and every one of you.

Out with the Old and In with the New.

The Time is NOW. If not now WHEN?

Friday Filosophy #2016-3

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With our Friday Filosophy #2016-3, I want to continue to focus on education, with some of the terms we like to use to describe intellect.  Intelligence and genius are interesting words with all manner of preconceived notions as to what they mean. So here are some interesting quotes to consider on Intelligence.

The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits.

Albert Einstein.

 

Thinking is the hardest work there is, which is probably the reason why so few engage in it.

Henry Ford

 

Intelligence without ambition is a bird without wings.

Salvador Dali

 

There is no great genius without some touch of madness.

Aristotle.

 

Intelligence is the ability to adapt to change.

Stephen Hawking.

 

Common sense is not so common.

Voltaire.

 

The mind is not a vessel to be filled but a fire to be kindled.

Plutarch.

 

There are no limits to growth because there are no limits of human intelligence, imagination and wonder.

Ronald Reagan.

 

The time is now.

Friday Filosophy #2016-1

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Today, in our Friday Filosophy #2016-1 I want to focus first on learning. We are undergoing a complete makeover, a radical one, in our learning business. We are converting everything to internet based learning.

We are creating programs we call Learning: On Demand which will cover 60 plus internet based self-study programs on specific subjects. These programs will replace our live webinars.

We are also in the process of developing the Virtual Classroom programs. These programs will replace the actual classroom seminars we have been conducting for the past twenty years. 2016 will be the last year we offer the live classroom as a learning format. The Virtual Classroom will offer 14 plus specific learning products. They will all have CEU available.

Let me start then with some quotes on Education and Learning.

Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.

Nelson Mandela

 

The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character – that is the goal of true education.

Martin Luther King

 

Education is wasted on the young.

Albert Schweitzer

 

The tools of education are bitter but the fruit is sweet.

Aristotle.

 

Education is the movement from darkness to light.

Allan Bloom

 

Education is learning what you didn’t even know you didn’t know.

David J Boorstin

 

Develop a passion for learning. If you do, you will never cease to grow.

Anthony J D’Angelo

 

And now for our Friday Filosophy.

Change your opinions, keep to your principles; change your leaves keep intact your roots.

Victor Hugo

 

The leader has to be practical and a realist, yet must talk the language of the visionary and the idealist.

Eric Hoffer

 

It is not enough to take steps which may someday lead to a goal; each step must be itself a goal and a step likewise.

Johan Wolfgang von Goethe

 

Forgiveness is a virtue of the brave.

Indira Gandhi.

 

The time is now

Friday Filosophy #2015-34

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Since I believe in the power of education, professionally and developmentally, Friday Filosophy #2015-34 focuses on the topic of education.  The quotes at the close are my own: what I like to call “Sleeisms.”

 

Education is the most powerful weapon you can use to change the world.

Nelson Mandela

 

Education is not preparation for life; education is life itself.

John Dewey

 

The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character – that is the goal of true education.

Martin Luther King Jr.

 

Education is the key to unlock the golden door of freedom.

George Washington Carver

 

The roots of education are bitter, but the fruit is sweet.

Aristotle

 

The only person who is educated is the one who has learning how to learn and change.

Carl Rogers

 

It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.

Aristotle

 

Man is what he reads.

Joseph Brodsky

 

Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for lifetime.

Maimonides

 

Education is wasted on the young.

Albert Schweitzer

 

Too many people think that their learning has ended when they leave school. That is in fact when their learning begins.

RJS

 

It is rather strange that education has become like the rest of society. The more money you have, the better the schools to which you can send your children.

RJS

 

Why do we constantly settle in life? We settle in our living conditions, we settle in our jobs, we settle in almost every aspect of our lives. Why don’t we take a different approach? Let’s strive more and settle less.

RJS

 

One of the many observations I have made over my years is that the more people know about a particular subject, the more open they are to learning even more. On the opposite side, the less people know about a particular subject the more stubborn they become that their opinions are right.

RJS

 

The time is now.

Friday Filosophy #2015-29

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With our webinar series beginning next week for the fall session, Friday Filosophy #2015-29 is about something we strive for, always: excellence.

Satisfaction in life is knowing that you got the best out of your attributes. Don’t settle for less than you are capable of in your life. There is much more satisfaction in overcoming challenges and problems than sailing through life without being challenged. Many famous people have said something like this in different ways with the same meaning. Never lie to your reflection in the mirror even though it is the easiest person in the world to lie to. You will never achieve what you were meant to achieve.

Today I would like to explore some differing views of excellence.

 

Every job is a self-portrait of the person who does it. Autograph your work with excellence.

Author Unknown

 

The secret of joy in work is contained in one word – excellence. To know how to do something well is to enjoy it.

Pearl S. Buck

 

Excellence is never an accident: it is the result of high intention, sincere effort, intelligent direction, skillful execution and the vision to see obstacles as opportunities.

Anonymous

 

Mediocre men work at their best; men seeking excellence strive to do better.

Edwin Louis Cole

 

Excellence is not a skill. It is an attitude.

Ralph Marston

 

Excellence is doing ordinary things extraordinarily well.

John W Gardner

 

If you want to achieve excellence, you can get there today. As of this second, quit doing less-than-excellent work.

Thomas J. Watson

 

We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then, is not an act, but a habit.

Aristotle

 

ABILITY is what you are capable of doing.

MOTIVATION determines what you do.

ATTTITUDE determines how well you do it.

Lou Holtz

 

Perfection is not attainable. But if we chase perfection, we can catch excellence.

Vince Lombardi

 

No work is insignificant. All labor that uplifts humanity has dignity and importance and should be undertaken with painstaking excellence.

Martin Luther King

 

Once you have experienced excellence you will never again be content with mediocrity.

Thomas S. Watson

 

The quality of a person’s life is in direct proportion to their commitment to excellence, regardless of their chosen field of endeavor.

Vince Lombardi

 

If you are going to achieve excellence in big things, you develop the habit in little matters. Excellence is not an exception, it is a prevailing attitude.

Colin Powell

 

Excellence in any department can be attained only by the labor of a lifetime; it is not to be purchased at a lesser price.

Samuel Johnson

 

Be a yardstick of quality. Some people aren’t used to an environment where excellence is expected.

Steve Jobs

 

Life’s like a play: it’s not the length but the excellence of the acting that matters.

Seneca

 

How you view your work or your life is your own. How others view you is not.

 

The time is now.

Friday Filosophy #2015-26

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Although we are running a week behind, we are beginning to catch up.  Our Friday Filosophy #2015-26 focuses upon education.

 

Education is the key to unlock the golden door of freedom.

George Washington Carver

 

Education is the most powerful tool you can use to change the world.

Nelson Mandela

 

The roots of education are bitter, but the fruit is sweet.

Aristotle

 

It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.

Aristotle

 

The only person who is educated is the one who has learning how to learn and change.

Carl Rogers

 

My mother said I must always be intolerant of ignorance but understanding of illiteracy. That some people, unable to go to school, were more educated and more intelligent than college professors.

Maya Angelou

 

The purpose of education is replace an empty mind with an open one.

Malcolm Forbes.

 

An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.

Benjamin Franklin

 

Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.

William Butler Yeats.

 

The time is now.

Friday Filosophy #2015-1

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You will never do anything in this world without courage. It is the greatest quality of the mind next to honor.

Aristotle

 

When a man feels throbbing in him the power to do what he undertakes as well as it can possibly be done, this is happiness, this is success.
Orison Swett Marden

 

All the art of living lies in a fine mingling of letting go and holding on.

Henry Ellis

 

The time is now…

 

This month I want to highlight Orison Marden

 

  1. Happiness is not a matter of intensity but of balance, order, rhythm and harmony.

 

  1. Believe with all your heart that you will do what you were made to do.

 

  1. Most of our obstacles would melt away if, instead of cowering before them, we should make up our minds to walk boldly through them.

 

  1. All men who have achieved great things have been great dreamers.

 

  1. We cannot rise higher than our thought of ourselves.

 

  1. If you do not feel yourself growing in your work and your life broadening and deepening, if your task is not a perpetual tonic to you, you have not found your place.

 

  1. There is no medicine like hope, no incentive so great and no tonic so powerful as expectation of something tomorrow.

 

  1. Don’t wait for extraordinary opportunities. Seize common occasions and make them great. Weak men wait for opportunities; strong men make them.

 

  1. The golden opportunity you are seeking is in yourself. It is not in your environment, it is not in luck or chance, or the help of others, it is in yourself alone.

 

  1. What keeps so many people back is simply the unwillingness to pay the price, to make the exertion, the effort to sacrifice their ease and comfort.

 

 

May 2015 be everything that each of you desires and deserves.

Happy New Year…