Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom, must, like men, undergo the fatigues of supporting it.
Thomas Paine
The American Crisis, No. 4, September 11, 1777
Source: revolutionary-war-and-beyond.com
It's all in the journey and it's an imperfect world. Do your best to make sense. Think critically. Decide if it's fact or belief. Respond don't react. And, whether it's the road less traveled or the main drag, chances are good someone along the way has made an observation that might help you. Why reinvent the wheel when you can learn from the stumbling, imperfect experiences of those who have traveled before - or are traveling with - us?
Monday, July 4, 2011
Harry S. Truman on America
America was not built on fear. America was built on courage, on imagination and an unbeatable determination to do the job at hand.
Harry S. Truman
Source: scrapbook.com
Harry S. Truman
Source: scrapbook.com
Sunday, July 3, 2011
Reality TV Wisdom: TMZ
Zookeeper Suzi Rapp took a cute...yet potentially vicious freakin' SNOW LEOPARD out of its cage at LAX! Guess TSA is now cool with wild cats of prey... but a tube o' toothpaste will get ya frisked.
Regarding Columbus Zoo and Aquarium Promotions Director Suzi Rapp, getting a snow leopard cub out of its crate for a supervised stretch at Los Angeles County Airport.
TMZ.com
June 30, 2011
Click here to view.
Regarding Columbus Zoo and Aquarium Promotions Director Suzi Rapp, getting a snow leopard cub out of its crate for a supervised stretch at Los Angeles County Airport.
TMZ.com
June 30, 2011
Click here to view.
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Abigail Turin on Embracing Change
I've got two resolutions for my house in 2004:
1) To put it on a diet - no excess furniture, no excess anything!
2) To get it drunk more often: more parties, more dancing. It's been taking itself a little too seriously lately.
Abigail Turin
Designer, San Francisco
From Metrolpolitan Home magazine, January/February 2004, Volume 36, No. 1, p. 62, Leaping Forward.
1) To put it on a diet - no excess furniture, no excess anything!
2) To get it drunk more often: more parties, more dancing. It's been taking itself a little too seriously lately.
Abigail Turin
Designer, San Francisco
From Metrolpolitan Home magazine, January/February 2004, Volume 36, No. 1, p. 62, Leaping Forward.
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Bruce Springsteen on Ultimate Cool
You wish you could be like him, but you can't.
Bruce Springsteen introducing Clarence Clemons
Concert Footage via The Daily Show, Moment of Zen
June 20, 2011
Comedy Central
Bruce Springsteen introducing Clarence Clemons
Concert Footage via The Daily Show, Moment of Zen
June 20, 2011
Comedy Central
Saturday, June 18, 2011
Clarence Clemons on Living Large
My mom used to say to me that the older you get, the more friends you lose. That’s the way life is. You keep doing it until your time comes. I’m trying to enjoy my life, and keep doing what I love to do until my time comes. Hopefully I will inspire somebody along the way to keep it going.
Clarence Clemons
To Ken Shane for The Popdose Interview
October 26, 2009
Source: popdose.com
Thank you, Big Man. Farewell.
Clarence Clemons
To Ken Shane for The Popdose Interview
October 26, 2009
Source: popdose.com
Thank you, Big Man. Farewell.
Anna Quindlen on Critical Thought
But it’s not simply the obligation to live an examined life, to embrace each moment as though it might be last. It’s also to live each moment as though it might be the first. To throw your arms wide to the new, the unexplored, even to that of which you may be afraid. Don’t cave to the status quo. Don’t trade happiness for deferred gratification. Don’t give up adventure for safety and security. The safe is the enemy of the satisfying. Deferred gratification has a way of being deferred forever. And the status quo, “business-as-usual,” “the-way-things-have-always-been-done” has completely failed us. The last few years have made that eminently clear. How will your audacious and authentic new world work?
Anna Quindlen
Commencement Address, Grinnell College
May 23, 2011
Good advice: Got 5 minutes? Read this address!
Source: grinnell.edu
Anna Quindlen
Commencement Address, Grinnell College
May 23, 2011
Good advice: Got 5 minutes? Read this address!
Source: grinnell.edu
Conan O'Brien on Resilience
No specific job or career goal defines me and it should not define you. In 2000, I told graduates to not be afraid to fail, and I still believe that. But today I tell you that whether you fear it or not, disappointment will come. The beauty is that through disappointment you can gain clarity, and with clarity comes conviction and true originality.
Conan O'Brien
Commencement Speech, Dartmouth College
June 12, 2011
Source: teamcoco.com
Conan O'Brien
Commencement Speech, Dartmouth College
June 12, 2011
Source: teamcoco.com
Conan O'Brien on Redefinition
Way back in the 1940’s there was a very funny man named Jack Benny. He was a giant star and easily one of the greatest comedians of his generation. And a much younger man named Johnny Carson wanted very much to be Jack Benny. In some ways he was, but in many ways he wasn’t. He emulated Jack Benny, but his own quirks and mannerisms, along with a changing medium, pulled him in a different direction. And yet his failure to completely become his hero made him the funniest person of his generation. David Letterman wanted to be Johnny Carson, and was not, and as a result my generation of comedians wanted to be David Letterman. And none of us are --- my peers and I have all missed that mark in a thousand different ways. But the point is this: It is our failure to become our perceived ideal that ultimately defines us and makes us unique. It’s not easy, but if you accept your misfortune and handle it right, your perceived failure can be a catalyst for profound re-invention.
Conan O'Brien
Commencement Address, Dartmouth College
June 12, 2011
Source: teamcoco.com
Conan O'Brien
Commencement Address, Dartmouth College
June 12, 2011
Source: teamcoco.com
Conan O'Brien on Embracing Life
Your path at 22 will not necessarily be your path at 32 or 42. One’s dream is constantly evolving, rising and falling, changing course.
Conan O'Brien
Commencement Address, Dartmouth College
June 12, 2011
Source: teamcoco.com
Conan O'Brien
Commencement Address, Dartmouth College
June 12, 2011
Source: teamcoco.com
Conan O'Brien on Facing Fear
It’s simple: there are few things more liberating in this life than having your worst fear realized.
Conan O'Brien
Commencement Address to Dartmouth College
June 12, 2011
Source: teamcoco.com
Conan O'Brien
Commencement Address to Dartmouth College
June 12, 2011
Source: teamcoco.com
Monday, June 13, 2011
Conan O'Brien on Disclosure
Nietzsche famously said “Whatever doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.” But what he failed to stress is that IT ALMOST KILLS YOU. Disappointment stings and, for driven, successful people like yourselves it is disorienting. What Nietzsche should have said is “Whatever doesn’t kill you, makes you watch a lot of Cartoon Network and drink mid-price Chardonnay at 11 in the morning.“
Conan O'Brien
Commencement Address to Dartmouth College
June 12, 2011
Source: teamcoco.com
Conan O'Brien
Commencement Address to Dartmouth College
June 12, 2011
Source: teamcoco.com
Saturday, May 28, 2011
Rabbi Sherwin Wine on Patriotism
There are two visions of America. One precedes our founding fathers and finds its roots in the harshness of our puritan past. It is very suspicious of freedom, uncomfortable with diversity, hostile to science, unfriendly to reason, contemptuous of personal autonomy. It sees America as a religious nation. It views patriotism as allegiance to God. It secretly adores coercion and conformity. Despite our constitution, despite the legacy of the Enlightenment, it appeals to millions of Americans and threatens our freedom.
The other vision finds its roots in the spirit of our founding revolution and in the leaders of this nation who embraced the age of reason. It loves freedom, encourages diversity, embraces science and affirms the dignity and rights of every individual. It sees America as a moral nation, neither completely religious nor completely secular. It defines patriotism as love of country and of the people who make it strong. It defends all citizens against unjust coercion and irrational conformity.
This second vision is our vision. It is the vision of a free society. We must be bold enough to proclaim it and strong enough to defend it against all its enemies.
Rabbi Sherwin Wine
Source: wisdomquotes.com
The other vision finds its roots in the spirit of our founding revolution and in the leaders of this nation who embraced the age of reason. It loves freedom, encourages diversity, embraces science and affirms the dignity and rights of every individual. It sees America as a moral nation, neither completely religious nor completely secular. It defines patriotism as love of country and of the people who make it strong. It defends all citizens against unjust coercion and irrational conformity.
This second vision is our vision. It is the vision of a free society. We must be bold enough to proclaim it and strong enough to defend it against all its enemies.
Rabbi Sherwin Wine
Source: wisdomquotes.com
Mohandas K. Gandhi on Mindfulness
The Roots of Violence:
Wealth without work,
Pleasure without conscience,
Knowledge without character,
Commerce without morality,
Science without humanity,
Worship without sacrifice,
Politics without principles.
Mohandas K. Gandhi
Source: wisdomquotes.com
Wealth without work,
Pleasure without conscience,
Knowledge without character,
Commerce without morality,
Science without humanity,
Worship without sacrifice,
Politics without principles.
Mohandas K. Gandhi
Source: wisdomquotes.com
Howard Zinn on Perspective
To be hopeful in bad times is not just foolishly romantic. It is based on the fact that human history is a history not only of cruelty, but also of compassion, sacrifice, courage, kindness.
What we choose to emphasize in this complex history will determine our lives. If we see only the worst, it destroys our capacity to do something. If we remember those times and places -- and there are so many -- where people have behaved magnificently, this gives us the energy to act, and at least the possibility of sending this spinning top of a world in a different direction.
And if we do act, in however small a way, we don't have to wait for some grand utopian future. The future is an infinite succession of presents, and to live now as we think human beings should live, in defiance of all that is bad around us, is itself a marvelous victory.
Howard Zinn
Source: wisdomquotes.com
What we choose to emphasize in this complex history will determine our lives. If we see only the worst, it destroys our capacity to do something. If we remember those times and places -- and there are so many -- where people have behaved magnificently, this gives us the energy to act, and at least the possibility of sending this spinning top of a world in a different direction.
And if we do act, in however small a way, we don't have to wait for some grand utopian future. The future is an infinite succession of presents, and to live now as we think human beings should live, in defiance of all that is bad around us, is itself a marvelous victory.
Howard Zinn
Source: wisdomquotes.com
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