Talent vs. Genius

Talent is like a marksman who hits a target which others cannot reach; genius is like the marksman who hits a target, as far as which others cannot even see.

— Arthur Schopenhauer, German philosopher


Activism

I swore never to be silent whenever and wherever human beings endured suffering and humiliation. We must take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.

— Elie Wiesel, acceptance speech for the Nobel Peace Prize.


Apathy

History will have to record that the greatest tragedy of this period of social transition was not the strident clamor of the bad people, but the appalling silence of the good people.

— Martin Luther King, Jr., Stride Toward Freedom


Hurry

When you want to hurry something, that means you no longer care about it and want to get on to other things.

— Robert Pirsig, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance


TV Ads – Too Many?

We are in the business of providing the material that prevents the commercials from all slamming together . . . that’s what we are doing here. That’s what we are doing on the West Wing set. We gotta deliver them twelve minutes of stuff to separate the Chevy commercials.

— Lawrence O’Donnell, Jr. Executive Producer of the The West Wing. Quoted in an NPR interview, January 2006.

I counted forty-two ads in last week’s episode of Lost. And that does not include any that aired before the show started or after the credits started to roll. Just forty-two ads in five breaks squeezed between six seven-minute segments of content. There were almost nineteen minutes of ads in a sixty-two minute time slot. That’s almost 30% of the air time dedicated to noise from advertisers.

Marketers and media moguls wonder why the ad-supported model is dying. I am saturated. My brain is full. Each ad flashes what seems like an endless stream of sub-second images in front of me. Yes, I have a TiVo, and the 30-second skip, and I fast forward through most of the ads. But I am tired of the noise that is attacking my senses.

On a related note, we canceled our cable today. We kept basic cable service in case we want to watch a presidential speech or catch the occasional episode of The Daily Show. I am sure that the advertisers wont miss me. I wasn’t buying any of their stuff anyway. I am looking forward to spend more time with my Kindle.


What is a Poet?

What is a poet? A poet is an unhappy being whose heart is torn by secret sufferings, but whose lips are so strangely formed that when the sighs and the cries escape them, they sound like beautiful music. . . . And men crowd about the poet and say to him, “Sing for us again;” that is as much to say, “May new sufferings torment your soul, but may your lips be formed as before; for the cries would only frighten us but the music is delicious.”

— Søren Kierkegaard


Be Interesting

If it weren’t for the rocks in its bed, the stream would have no song.

— Carl Perkins, Rockabilly pioneer

I have been hesitant to post this quote because of its inclination towards banality. I mean, come on, how corny is “the stream would have no song?” But there is an underlying wisdom to this rockabilly adage. We do not grow if we are not challenged.

Lately I have been intrigued by the idea of what makes people interesting. I discovered a number of “be interesting” blog posts and began to reflect on what captures my interest when I meet new people. I find people interesting when they are curious about the world around them. This is especially true when they are curious about their own journey as well.

The professional speaking circuit is flooded with people who have overcome great adversity — the cancer survivors, the “pick-yourself-up-by-your-own-bootstraps” entrepreneurs, or the guy who cut off his hand to save his life. We are drawn to these stories because of their sensationalism but we take away a deep sense of inspiration because of the speaker’s ability to turn adversity into a song.

Be interesting.

 


Lincoln’s Legend and Legacy

The color of the ground was in him, the red earth;
The smack and tang of elemental things:
The rectitude and patience of the cliff;
The good-will of the rain that loves all leaves.

— Edwin Markham, Lincoln, Man of the People

I watched the Bill Moyer’s special last night on Lincoln’s Legend and Legacy. Since moving to North Carolina a year and a half ago, I have become a student of the Civil War. The passion with which both sides fought and Lincoln’s incredible role in holding the Union together ignites in me a deep fascination for my adopted country.

The excerpt above is but a few lines from a rich and delightful poem by Edwin Markham. The second verse alone brings tears to my eyes and is worth committing to memory. Steel away a few quiet moments today and indulge yourself in a full reading of Markham’s Lincoln, Man of the People.


Secret of Amazon’s Success

We don’t have one big advantage so we have to weave a rope of many small advantages.

— Jeff Bezos


Gadget Distraction

What’s happening here, now, isn’t as important to me as what could be happening anywhere else.

— Renny Gleeson

I watched Renny Gleeson in a brilliant, short Ted video this morning talk about the sneaky, anti-social behaviors we demonstrate with our smartphones. When I am sitting in a meeting, or at an event, and I can’t resist the urge to pull out my iPhone and check my email or peruse my Twitter updates, I am actually telling those around me that what is happening in the here and now is not as important as literally anything that could come across that tiny screen.

I am fond of the old bumper sticker that says, “I would rather be here, now.” It was designed in reaction to those classics statements of bumper expression such as “I would rather be sailing” or “I would rather be fishing.” The truth is that I really would rather be here, now. I prefer to embrace the moment and milk each experience for all that it is worth. And yet the iPhone becomes a seductive siren call to draw my attention away to somewhere else. Go figure.


← Previous Page — Next Page →