Equal Gains

"Modern Man is the victim of the very instruments he values most. Every gain in power, every mastery of natural forces, every scientific addition to knowledge, has proved potentially dangerous, because it has not been accompanied by equal gains in self-understanding and self-discipline." - Lewis Mumford The longevity of any society depends upon the ability …

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Come Again

Nativity by John Donne Immensity cloistered in thy dear womb, Now leaves His well-belov'd imprisonment, There He hath made Himself to His intent Weak enough, now into the world to come; But O, for thee, for Him, hath the inn no room? Yet lay Him in this stall, and from the Orient, Stars and wise …

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At Christmas

At Christmas by Edgar Albert Guest A man is at his finest towards the finish of the year; He is almost what he should be when the Christmas season is here; Then he’s thinking more of others than he’s thought the months before, And the laughter of his children is a joy worth toiling for. He …

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Paying It Forward

Every once in a while you see something worth sharing, those occasional moments of unexpected selflessness which restore your faith in humanity. I was on a full commercial flight yesterday afternoon and while I was sitting, waiting for the rest of the passengers to board, a gentlemen in first class whose family was in coach …

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Sufficient Motivation

What is it in the human spirit which compels him to accomplish great things, to compete to the best of his ability? I had a wonderful conversation with a Coloradan who had spent seven winters in Antarctica several years ago and he was telling me of an opportunity he had to meet Sir Edmund Hillary …

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Persistence

“Success is stumbling from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm.” - Winston Churchill My sons are continuing to refine their downhill skiing skills this winter, and I am thrilled to see them coming face to face with the a temptation that stops many in their tracks: giving up when the going gets tough. …

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A Bum Rap

A competent horseman will tell you that most supposedly "sour" horses are deemed (and usually made) so by inexperienced, insensitive or uneducated riders. An experienced pilot will tell you that most airplanes deemed dangerous due to poor safety records are typically classified as such because of the pilots who flew them, not as a result …

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I’m a Believer!

It is no wonder that children often confuse Jesus with the more corpulent and rosy-cheeked confrère, Santa Claus. Children are taught that both will bring them good things if they behave and that both will exact some form of punishment (though in Jesus' case it is more often assumed that His Father who doles out …

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Reputation Management

"You can't build a reputation on what you are going to do." - Henry Ford Anyone who decides to improve upon his present reputation must first face the harvest of his past actions. The seeds sown in the past will continue to sprout in the field of his responsibility for some time, so initially he …

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Free Inquiry

I'd like to believe that men of science seek only truth and do not discriminate, that they base their conclusions on hard evidence and that they pursue knowledge without bias or prejudice, but scientists do not live in a social vacuum. Scientists are ordinary people who work for a living and compete with uncommonly intelligent …

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