Every once and a while you hear a story that knocks your socks off. I heard one such story three years ago this summer while mulling about an antique shop in Atlanta. The proprietor was a kind old Englishman and no matter what piece caught your eye, this gentleman was ready to tell its story. …
Continue reading The Hames: A Piece of Wood that Changed the World
This morning I would like to issue a challenge to you, my readers, one that you are perfectly capable of meeting if you are honest with yourself, honest with your Creator and honest with your fellow man. The nature of this challenge is as simple as it is profound and if you aspire to be …
My wife gave me a fascinating book called "Leonardo's Notebooks" by H. Anna Suh. The book is a rich collection of artwork and writings, arranged in three sections: Beauty, Reason and Art; Observation and Order; and Practical Matters. I'm delighted to borrow from the third section this morning, Practical Matters. Da Vinci possessed one of the greatest …
What is progress? I had to laugh when I read Norwegian ethnologist Thor Heyerdahl's clever definition of progress. He said that "Progress is man's ability to complicate simplicity." Despite our supposed progress as a species, human beings have a knack for making life more complicated, more challenging and harder to enjoy. Most would agree that contentment comes …
I had several conversations this weekend that made me think how easy it can be to give up hope for the future, specifically by losing confidence in the decency of mankind. There is so much corruption in the world and so little evidence of integrity. Staying positive and maintaining faith in humanity can be a challenge. Every once in a …
Continue reading Point A to Point B, A Message for Humanity by Viktor Frankl
In 1901 Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt became the 26th President of the United States at the age of 42, following the assassination of William McKinley. Using tactics that followed his famous slogan, "Speak softly and carry a big stick," Roosevelt negotiated an end to the Russo-Japanese War, a feat that earned him the Nobel Peace Prize. …
Continue reading Character and Success by Theodore Roosevelt
What would King Louis XIV have done to have the kind of access to the world that virtually everyone in the industrialized nations and many people in developing nations have at their fingertips? Engine driven travel, whether it be train, motorcar or airplane, shrunk the world in a period of several decades. Analog and digital …
Having spent time in a hospital recently I couldn't help but take a moment to discuss the word "hospitality." The word "hospitality" traces its roots through the Old French word hospitalite to the Latin hospitalitem, meaning "friendliness to guests." It's hard to imagine a more challenging service environment than the hospital setting where guests come …
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.
There is no harm in always leaving room for the possibility that your perspective may be limited, even if you have done your very best. Humility averts the pitfalls of hubris, prejudice and fanaticism. Humility is the harbinger of nobility and dignity. In true humility lies a fountain of inexhaustible strength and determination.
Gregory Hake 