Quote for Today
January 2, 2009 by Ryan Merlin · Leave a Comment
Talent hits a target no one else can hit; Genius hits a target no one else can see.
Knowledge Quotes
December 3, 2008 by Ryan Merlin · Leave a Comment
Below are some of the sources of inspiration for our Investing in Knowledge vision.
“Even the most misfitting child
Who’s chanced upon the library’s worth
Sits with the genius of the Earth
And turns the key to the whole world”
(Ted Hughes)
“All men by nature desire knowledge” (Aristotle)
“Education is the leading of human souls to what is best, and making what is best out of them” (John Ruskin)
“Surely knowledge of the natural world, knowledge of the human condition, knowledge of the nature and dynamics of society, knowledge of the past so that one may use it in experiencing the present and aspiring to the future?all of these, it would seem reasonable to suppose, are essential to an educated person. To these must be added another?knowledge of the products of our artistic heritage that mark the history of our aesthetic wonder and delight.” (Jerome S. Bruner)
“Knowledge is indivisible. When people grow wise in one direction, they are sure to make it easier for themselves to grow wise in other directions as well.” (Isaac Asimov)
“Knowledge is the most democratic source of power.” (Alvin Toffler)
“Knowledge is of two kinds. We know a subject ourselves, or we know where we can find information upon it.” (Samuel Johnson)
“What I don’t know isn’t knowledge.” ( Henry Charles Beeching )
“For all knowledge and wonder (which is the seed of knowledge) is an impression of pleasure in itself.” (Francis Bacon)
“If you have knowledge, let others light their candles at it.” (Margaret Fuller)
“Men can know more than their ancestors did if they start with a knowledge of what their ancestors had already learned….That is why a society can be progressive only if it conserves its traditions.” (Walter Lippmann)
“Thought is the wind, knowledge the sail, and mankind the vessel.” (August Hare )
“Our knowledge is the amassed thought and experience of innumerable minds.” (Ralph Waldo Emerson)
“Knowledge is not simply another commodity. On the contrary. Knowledge is never used up. It increases by diffusion and grows by dispersion.” (D. J. Boorstein)
“What we want is to see the child in pursuit of knowledge, and not knowledge in pursuit of the child.” (George Bernard Shaw)
“The acquisition of knowledge is the mission of research, the transmission of knowledge is the mission of teaching and the application of knowledge is the mission of public service.” (James A. Perkins)
“To furnish the means of acquiring knowledge is… the greatest benefit that can be conferred upon mankind. It prolongs life itself and enlarges the sphere of existence.” (John Quincy Adams )
“Knowledge is like money: to be of value, it must circulate, and in circulation it can increase in quantity and, hopefully in value.” (Louis L’Amour)
“The only good is knowledge and the only evil is ignorance.” (Socrates)
“If a man empties his purse into his head, no man can take it away from him. An investment in knowledge always pays the best interest.” (Benjamin Franklin)
“In your thirst for knowledge, be sure not to drown in all the information.” (Anthony J. D’Angelo)
“I have always imagined that Paradise will be a kind of library.” (Jorge Luis Borges)
“You see I don’t believe that libraries should be drab places where people sit in silence and that’s the main reason for employing wild animals as librarians.” (Monty Python)
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Who Pushes You or Holds You Back
April 22, 2008 by Ryan Merlin · Leave a Comment
Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great.
Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds.
- One of the best exercises I do from time to time came from a great mentor of mine. Take a few minutes and write down the 6 people that you spend the most time with, purely on quantity of time basis. Then write down all the qualities of that person that you can think of…everything. The good, bad and the ugly. Then get totally honest and find the areas where these qualities show up for you in your own thoughts and actions.
The unconscious influence of those we surround ourselves with is tremendous and typically goes unrealized until it’s too late.
These people are the reflection of the type of person who you are in the process of becoming.
Choose wisely.
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Evolve Your Brain
March 30, 2008 by Ryan Merlin · Leave a Comment
We determine the experiences we want to engage in, based on how well we can predict the familiarity of the feelings those experiences will trigger.
-Joe Dispenza, D.C.
This wonderful eloquent quote from Evolve Your Brain essentially sums up the human process. Stop and think for a minute about the leaders, agents of change, and those who create history books and how they have mastered the ability to harness this natural human process and use it to their great advantage. That ability is to proactively alter the “prediction of familiarity” of their feelings so that they can pre-determine what they feel when they reach their goals. And perhaps by far most importantly what they will feel (and what it means to them) when they “fail.”
All of the geniuses and people of excellence I have studied share this attitude. Unlike nearly everyone else, they have learned (or even taught themselves), that failure is a precious gift when you have a strong purpose. Those who are not afraid to fail, even welcome it, are the ones that win.
Personally I like to embrace failure because that’s when I truly learn quickly and effectively. But I also recognize that most people still choose to interpret the word “failure” so negatively that it derails them. So I usually try to transform the linguistic representation into “feedback.”
Feedback is the breakfast of Champions!
move over wheaties.
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How to Lie with Statistics
March 28, 2008 by Ryan Merlin · Leave a Comment
There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.
-Benjamin Disraeli
Then there are two types of people, those who readily believe statistics and those who dare to think. Even Einstein noted, “Unthinking respect for authority is the greatest enemy of truth.” Everybody lets in certain ideas and filters out others, which is a good thing. However very very few people ever go the next step to question their filters, or the process they use to unconsciously pay attention to certain info and not other info. Don’t you think?
Related:
Blindly Following Logic
The Gap
March 5, 2008 by Ryan Merlin · Leave a Comment
The difference between vision and hallucination is action. ~ Allen Patmarajah
One of the most amazing phenomena that I am truly fascinated by is what bridges the gap between what someone wants to/should do and what they actually do. I like to lable it as “The Gap.”
There have been scores of research in the quality of individual health, wealth, and felicity (to borrow a term from Benjamin Franklin) that show that it IS NOT the quantity or the amount of any of these that makes the biggest difference. Instead it is the subjective measure of how far apart The Gap spans. The Gap between what our imagination tells us we “should” have and what we actually think/do/create.
This is the reason we can observe people just barely scraping by as some of the happiest people on earth while others, perhaps like Britney Spears, can’t stop suffering despite having access to wealth, attention, recognition, etc.
New Year’s Resolutions & Commitment
January 5, 2008 by Ryan Merlin · Leave a Comment
In the spirit of New Years I’m always intrigued to watch as many resolutions are made then quickly broken. Why? Commitment.
Until one is committed
there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back,
always ineffectiveness.
Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation),
there is one elementary truth,
the ignorance of which kills countless ideas
and splendid plans:
that the moment one definitely commits oneself,
then Providence moves too.
All sorts of things occur to help one
that would never otherwise have occurred.
A whole stream of events issues from the decision,
raising in one’s favour all manner
of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance,
which no man could have dreamt
would have come his way.
I have learned a deep respect
for one of Goethe’s couplets:
“Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it.
Boldness has genius, power and magic in it.”
W. H. Murray, The Scottish Himalayan Expedition, Published by J. M. Dent & Sons Ltd., 1951
What does it take to fully commit oneself so that there is no turning back? One example comes to mind of a woman who was determined to lose weight. She went out to buy all new clothes of the size she would become, and then gave away all of her bigger size clothes to Goodwill except for one pair of jeans and shirt. Everyday she would constantly be reminded of her commitment and literally gave herself PERMISSION to succeed. Cutting off all alternatives to fall back into old and limiting patterns.
It can all to easy to maintain “willpower” for a while, but it will only last so long. The wise person would construct their surroundings to support their positive changes, especially when it gets hard. Which begs the realization, the greater the goal, inevitably, the harder it will be. But also more rewarding!