A mere friend will agree with you, but a real friend will argue. – Russian Proverb What does that mean? As an aside, this is also listed as an Assyrian Proverb. It means just what it says, that a mere friend will simply agree with you. A true friend will stand their ground and let…
I never did anything worth doing by accident, nor did any of my inventions come by accident; they came by work. – Plato What does that mean? I have also seen this quote attributed to Thomas Edison, but I think Plato said it first. Most of us have done something interesting, even spectacular, on accident. …
Million dollar ideas are a dime a dozen. The determination to see the idea through is what’s priceless. – Robert Dieffenbach What does that mean? To me, this says that there are lots of great ideas out there. And not just any ideas, Million Dollar ideas. Really good ideas. Lots of them, all over the…
Things turn out best for the people who make the best of the way things turn out. – John Wooden What does that mean? Is the glass half empty or half full? Do you cry and complain about how things worked out, or do you play the hand you are dealt to the best of…
There are plenty of acquaintances in the world; but very few real friends. – Chinese Proverb What does that mean? This saying goes back to the definition of “friend” vs that of “acquaintances.” And, despite the existence of a textbook definition, everyone has a personal definition, which will differ slightly from person to person. At…
Beware the barrenness of a busy life. – Socrates What does that mean? To me, this saying has real meaning. I tend to be overly busy, with too many projects working at the same time. It’s kind of like the saying about taking time to smell the roses. If you’re too busy, you don’t see…
Sorry. I will not be posting anything worthwhile today. I will be back tomorrow and be working on rebuilding my backlog again. Thanks!
If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough. – Albert Einstein What does that mean? To me, it talks about the straight forward answer. E=mc2. Simple, elegant and still holding true over a century later. Some less esoteric examples? Water flows downhill : gravity. Hot air rises : density. Light going…
Sometimes it is more important to discover what one cannot do than what one can do. – Lin Yutang What does that mean? To me, this is about where your talents are and where they are not. No matter how badly you want to play the piano at Carnegie Hall, if the best you can…
Half the lies they tell about me aren’t true. – Yogi Berra What does that mean? I love this guy, he has a problem with thinking so much faster than he speaks, and sometimes crossing his wires. I have the same problem, but not to the same extent as he does (or at least I…
What happens to a man is less significant than what happens within him. – Louis L. Mann What does that mean? To me, it talks about the trials and tribulations that happen in life. So much “stuff” happens to you. Some of what has happened to you has been wonderful, and some of it was significantly…
God gave us burdens, also shoulders. – Yiddish Proverbs What does that mean? To me, this speaks about our luck, our fate, our destiny, our karma or whatever other term you want to use. We all have things we’d rather not have to do, but that seems to be our lot in life. But it…
Create the kind of self that you will be happy to live with all your life. – Golda Meir A longer version of the quote: “Trust yourself. Create the kind of self that you will be happy to live with all your life. Make the most of yourself by fanning the tiny, inner sparks of…
Good actions give strength to ourselves and inspire good actions in others. – Plato What does that mean? To me, this quote is about leading by doing. Do good deeds. In doing so, repeatedly, we begin to strengthen ourselves. The strength will be from both the repetition of doing (like building a muscle), and by…
When we are motivated by wisdom and compassion, the results of our actions benefit everyone… – Dalai Lama What does that mean? To me, this is fairly straight forward. When we act from a place of compassion, with wisdom as our guide, it is very hard to do something that doesn’t also benefit others. In other words,…
