The Enthusiast, by Herman Melville "Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him" Shall hearts that beat no base retreat In youth's magnanimous years - Ignoble hold it, if discreet When interest tames to fears; Shall spirits that worship light Perfidious deem its sacred glow, Recant, and trudge where worldlings go, Conform and …
Author: Gregory Hake
Son. Husband. Father. Thinker. Doer.
Life: The Most Precious of Gifts
If you haven't had the opportunity to watch an episode of the 11 part series, "Life," narrated by Oprah Winfrey, you're missing something special. Presented on the Discovery Channel, the series "reveals the most spectacular, bizarre and fascinating behaviors that living things have devised in order to thrive," according to a http://www.discovery.com press release. The …
What has your heart has you.
"What has your heart has you." A simple phrase, isn't it? What has your heart has you. How many times have you snapped out of a moment (or perhaps longer) of obsessing about something that was probably not worth giving the time of day? I once heard someone say that what lies in the center of your thoughts is your …
A Word on Causality
"To put the world in order, we must first put the nation in order; to put the nation in order, we must put the family in order; to put the family in order, we must cultivate our personal life; and to cultivate our personal life, we must first set our hearts right." -Confucius (551-479 BC) …
9 (plus 3) Traits of a Great Small Business
Small businesses are the engine of the U.S. economy. The U.S. Small Business Administration recently estimated that 99.9 percent of all businesses in the US have less than 500 employees and as such are considered small businesses. The U.S. Census Bureau data corroborates these numbers, revealing that 98.2% of total businesses have less than 100 employees and 89.3% have fewer than 20 …
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Melody Gardot, Music as Therapy
Melody Gardot's sultry voice has made her an international sensation. Her album, "My One and Only Thrill," recently went double platinum and topped the charts in France; an impressive feat for a young Philadelphian who not long ago suffered a life threatening accident while riding her bicycle. Gardot was hit by a Jeep and suffered terrible injuries. The …
Music is Medicine, Music is Sanity
In a previous post we considered the fact that certain types of music help to bring order to the conscious mind. Robert Gupta, violinist with the LA Philharmonica, shares a fascinating story about an encounter he had with this phenomenon. Nathanial Anthony Ayers, a Julliard-trained violinist, was diagnosed with schizophrenia. He left school and became homeless, only to be discovered …
Civic Virtue and the Rise and Fall of Empires
Every great civilization of which we have record in history that came and went, failed from within. Edward Gibbon, in his seminal work The Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire, outlines this process in great detail: internal weakness precipitates external vulnerability and collapse inevitably follows.
Victory! Momentum, Character and You
Katie Spotz, a 22 year old from Ohio, recently rowed solo across the Atlantic Ocean, setting new records in the process. The journey from Dakar, Senegal to Georgetown, Guyana took 70 days, 5 hours and 22 minutes. Yes, she rowed alone, in a small boat, across the Atlantic Ocean! (see: http://rowforwater.com/) Listen to Katie Couric's congratulatory report, and pay …
A visit to the “still wood”
"An April Day" by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow When the warm sun, that brings Seed-time and harvest, has returned again, 'T is sweet to visit the still wood, where springs The first flower of the plain. I love the season well, When forest glades are teeming with bright forms, Nor dark and many-folded clouds foretell The …
Gregory Hake 