In crises the most daring course is often safest.
—Henry Kissinger
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Category Archives: Leadership
Quote of the Day
A leader is a dealer in hope.
—Napoleon Bonaparte
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The most courageous act is still to think for yourself. Aloud.
—Coco Chanel
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Whatever needs to be maintained through force is doomed.
—Henry Miller
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Science fiction writers foresee the inevitable, and although problems and catastrophes may be inevitable, solutions are not.
—Isaac Asimov
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Creativity takes courage.
—Henri Matisse
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Wer aber nur ein Mal in das brechende Auge eines sterbenden Kriegers auf dem Schlachtfeld geblickt hat, der besinnt sich, bevor er einen Krieg anfängt. But anyone who has once looked into the glassy eyes of a dying warrior on the battle-field would think twice before beginning a war.
—Otto von Bismark
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Courage is a special kind of knowledge: the knowledge of how to fear what ought to be feared and how not to fear what ought not to be feared.
—David Ben-Gurion
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You can’t achieve anything without getting in someone’s way.
—Abba Eban
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If you seek truth you will not seek victory by dishonorable means, and if you find truth you will become invincible.
—Epictetus
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Never relinquish the initiative.
—Charles de Gaulle
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To aim and hit, you need one eye only, and one good finger.
—Moshe Dayan
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The Russians feared Ike. They didn’t fear me.
—Lyndon B. Johnson
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If the highest aim of a captain were to preserve his ship, he would keep it in port forever.
—Thomas Aquinas
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But courage which goes against military expediency is stupidity, or, if it is insisted upon by a commander, irresponsibility.
—Erwin Rommel
Electrons and Guys Over 50
It’s being reported that the electrical system of the submarine recently lost on a tourist dive to the wreck of the Titanic had been designed by a college intern. It had been previously reported that the CEO of OceanGate, the company that operated the sub, didn’t want to hire “white guys over 50.”
I’m currently working on the power systems for a couple projects for NASA. One is a robot that will be used to refuel satellites on orbit. The other is a lidar system what will used by autonomous vehicles for close-in maneuvering. While most of members of the teams working on these systems are young engineers under 30, there are at least a couple over-50 engineers and technicians on both teams. One of us is 70. I’m 75. We’re there as mentors.
It’s been said that most of us need about 10,000 hours of experience to fully master a skill. (Think of all the time Michael Jordan spent shooting baskets.) The young men and women I work with are smart and talented, but only part way up their learning curves. We geezers are there to coach them and to help them avoid mistakes we have already made.
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Those who say it can’t be done are usually interrupted by others doing it.
—James Baldwin
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Ninety-nine percent of the failures come from people who have the habit of making excuses.
—George Washington Carver
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Principles and rules are intended to provide a thinking man with a frame of reference.
—Carl von Clausewitz
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Sheep, like people, are ungovernable when hungry.
—John Muir
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The first method for estimating the intelligence of a ruler is to look at the men he has around him.
—Niccolo Machiavelli
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If you want to succeed you should strike out on new paths, rather than travel the worn paths of accepted success.
—John D. Rockefeller
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Sometimes when you innovate, you make mistakes. It is best to admit them quickly, and get on with improving your other innovations.
—Steve Jobs
Meanwhile, in Chicago …
… the city held an election for mayor, and the current mayor Lori Lightfoot lost her bid for another term. She came in third in a field of nine candidates. Because no one received at least 50 % of the votes, there will be a runoff election between the top two candidates.
Lightfoot is an incompetent leader who got into office because of an opponent’s corruption scandal. She picked fights she didn’t have to have and blamed others for the city’s problems.
During a press conference, she said, “Look, I’m 60 years old. I’m not going to change who I am.” It seems the voters in Chicago don’t want more of the same.
Quote of the Day
We must plan for freedom, and not only for security, if for no other reason than that only freedom can make security secure.
—Karl Popper