Sir Ken Robinson from Fora TV

The more I hear of Sir Ken the more I like what he has to say. Much of what is said here is based on his latest book, “A New View of Human Capacity”.

Starting small – a key to success

I was reading through the story of brining mobile phones to Bangladesh. Its the tale of GrameenPhone — a partnership between Norway’s Telenor and Grameen Bank, co-winner of the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize — illustrates a new approach to building business opportunities in the developing world.

“Nothing good in society ever started out big,” says Quadir: verything good, whether it’s a company or an institution, tarts small and grows and spreads. If the idea is no good, it doesn’t spread, and no harm is done.” source

Iqbal Quadir’s story is worth the read.

“If you always do what you’ve always done, you always get what you always got” Tony from NCIS

My quote of the day

About the most originality that any writer can hope to achieve honestly is to steal with good judgment.
– Josh Billings-

This is very true of most of what is blogged.

Attention spans

Herbert Simon – “What information consumes is rather obvious: it consumes the attention of its recipients. Hence a wealth of information creates a poverty of attention.”

Quotes on responsibility

Part of our essential humanity is paying respect to what God gave us and what will be here a long time after we’re gone. – Bill Clinton

Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom. Viktor Frankl

The trouble with being punctual is that nobody’s there to appreciate it. Franklin P. Jones

“Stay committed to your decisions, but stay flexible in your approach.”  Tony Robbins

Responsibility:  A detachable burden easily shifted to the shoulders of God, Fate, Fortune, Luck or one’s neighbor.  In the days of astrology it was customary to unload it upon a star.  ~Ambrose Bierce, The Devil’s Dictionary, 1911

Why do children want to grow up?  Because they experience their lives as constrained by immaturity and perceive adulthood as a condition of greater freedom and opportunity.  But what is there today, in America, that very poor and very rich adolescents want to do but cannot do?  Not much:  they can “do” drugs, “have” sex, “make” babies, and “get” money (from their parents, crime, or the State).  For such adolescents, adulthood becomes synonymous with responsibility rather than liberty.  Is it any surprise that they remain adolescents?  ~Thomas Szasz

What wisdom would you like to pass on to others?

Steve Pavlina has this list of quotes of wisdom that he would like to pass onto others. Here are a few of them.

• After the age of 50, you will discover that your greatest trophies in life are your children.” – Rod LeGrande
• “There are no ordinary moments.” – Mark Valentine
• “Effective communication involves more than talent. It involves trust, respect, understanding, empathy, and resolution. It is an art.” – David Rohlander

My addition would be something like this:

” Always seek what is admirable in others it wlll bring you wealth beyond what can be counted in dollars”

Quotes on personal courage

“Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear, not absence of fear. Except a creature be part coward it is not a compliment to say it is brave.” – Mark Twain -

“Far away there in the sunshine are my highest aspirations. I may not reach them, but I can look up and see their beauty, believe in them, and try to follow where they lead.” -Louisa May Alcott - 

“Courage is not the absence of fear but the ability to carry on with dignity in spite of it.”  -Scott Turow-

Quotes on potential

If we all did the things we are capable of doing, we would literally astound ourselves. Thomas Alva Edison

It seems to me that people have vast potential. Most people can do extraordinary things if they have the confidence or take the risks. Yet most people don’t. They sit in front of the telly and treat life as if it goes on forever. Phillip Adams

Try not to be a man of success, but rather to be a man of value. – Albert Einstein

Motivation will almost always beat mere talent. -  Norman R. Augustine