The moment you consecrate yourself to a higher purpose you establish a pole in the earth through which your influence can be felt and known. That pole allows for polarization, wherein all that is agreement with your purpose aligns with you while all that is opposed to that which you stand for allies against you. …
Tag: Abraham Lincoln
The Better Angels of our Nature
"We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot's grave, to every living heart and hearthstone, all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when touched again, as surely they …
The Stormy Present
"The dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate to the stormy present. The occasion is piled high with difficulty, and we must rise with the occasion. As our case is new, so we must think anew and act anew." ~ Abraham Lincoln Well, here we are again. We went to sleep in the old world …
Charting your Course
"You have to do your own growing no matter how tall your grandfather was." ~ Abraham Lincoln There comes a point in your life when it becomes clear that you are responsible for charting your own course. Circumstance may require that this comes sooner than ideal, but in most cases the moment is lost upon …
This too shall pass
Anche questo passerà. (This too shall pass.) I was walking the streets of Manhattan yesterday admiring the remarkable product of man's ingenuity, productivity and never-ending creative drive. New York City, the product of the latest empire to serve as world hegemon, is a technical, architectural social, economic and cultural marvel and I daresay that there …
Laugh, Love, Live!
"What soap is to the body, laughter is to the soul." ~ Yiddish Proverb I have the good fortune to put my sons to bed most nights and I have to admit that it takes everything in me not to get them amped up when they make me laugh. Four and five year olds are …
Pluck a Thistle and Plant a Flower
"Die when I may, I want it said by those who knew me best that I always plucked a thistle and planted a flower where I thought a flower would grow." ~ Abraham Lincoln One of the characteristics I admire most in people is the ability to pluck a thistle and plant a flower. The …
Freedom, Transparency and Trust
"If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be." ~ Thomas Jefferson An informed nation hinges upon a citizenry desirous of the truth and a government steeped in the principles of transparency and trust. The farther we veer from these two …
With the catching ends the pleasure of the chase.
I had the wonderful privilege of earning my seaplane rating at the Aero Club Como in Lake Como, Italy. If you haven't had the pleasure of getting to know the region, I can assure you that on first sight you will ask yourself as Longfellow did in his lovely poem Cadenabbia: "Is this a dream? …
Continue reading With the catching ends the pleasure of the chase.
Bring on the Learning Revolution!
We live in an era of momentous change. The industrial revolution feathered out and the information revolution feathered in over the course of the last century and the world is a different place. The digital revolution is transforming every aspect of our lives and economic activity is becoming more and more virtual. This massive shift …
Gregory Hake 