assertiveness

Assertiveness is inner confidence and positive projection.
It is the fulfillment of self-respect in social interactions.
It is the equilibrium in what is correct.

grandpa

Grandpa was a lean, hearty man with a 'no-one's fool' gentleness, schooled in common sense and the results of reasoned efforts fired by the love of self-determination. At eighty he had the strength of a man half his age. His personal creed was strong, his code of conduct regarded by many as holy, and his diet rigorous - 'eat anything from the garden, and nothing more.' No drink or smoke passed his lips, nor did bad words.

I came to visit him in his country home bordered by a great garden, a humble estate almost hidden by acres of woodland but for a small break where a railway line could be seen not far beyond. New paint on the house, the weathervane repaired, otherwise it appeared nothing else had changed in five years.

Settled in, I was pleased to visit him and enjoy the country solitude. Grandpa came out to the front porch just as I was sitting comfortably in his old oak rocking chair. As if by the light of heaven, he smiled and said to me, 'Comfort elsewhere is laziness here.' Pointing beyond the garden, Grandpa added, 'Come. Help me with that woodpile over there, then we'll rest.' It was the beginning of many lessons I was to learn on what it is to be free.
. . . . .

any eventuality

You live for any eventuality that follows death. If you don't, perhaps you should.

fear of losing

You've been afraid of losing crumbs when in fact you've lost the whole loaf of bread.

responsibilities

Our responsibilities are always as we find them.

more or less

The more I understand the less I seem to know.

simply unassuming

Truth is unequal to all men know. It has no time, yet within the reality of men is its own place. Truth acquires from all, yet learns nothing from us and willingly allows us to draw from it. Oath, shrine, fane or convention cannot bind truth, yet it can be found in these. Truth is not made. It simply is.

chararcter known

Our character is known in what we encounter.

the consultant

Gretchen sat down after checking in at the flight counter and looked contemplatively out through the great glass windows of the airport corridor. The sky had a look of washed out blue as the sun burst through clouds like radiant silver. Looking out beyond the black runway at the bleach white snow remaining from the morning, she mused, 'This will be...'

A mobile rang, jarring her. Thinking it was her own, she instinctively reached into her handbag when she heard a strong Texas baritone drawl say 'Hello' from the seat behind her.

The strong voice continued 'yup ... yup ... an'?'

'If she wants a dog to kick, tell'er to go find one that's agreeable.'

'Hmm. She wants the burly butcher with the manhood of a eunuch.'

He chuckled.

'Politics is war, my friend, and she wants a tea party, so ...'

'No, Jack, and she ain't gonna win the primary by ... excuse me, Jack ...'

'Look what the other side of the aisle has. Those two aren't women. They're carnivores. Hell, they eat their own. And she hopes to be fightin' one of'em in the general.'

'Then tell her to fire her staff, and hire people with thick hides, stainless steel backbones, cast iron guts, and brawny brains.'

'Go soft soap someone else, if you think ...'

'It's possible.'

'Let's get things straight, Jack. I'll cancel this flight out and return, under these conditions ...'

'Wait a ...'

He breathed a deep sigh.

'I don't get involved in office politics.'

'You know my rule. I set up the expectations and contract to reflect it.'

'She knew my reputation comin' in. She knows how I work. I told her strategy, tactics, counsel, advice, recommendations, findin's, criticisms and critiques will serve her campaign, her platform, her personal interests, her alone, an'll be objective to boot. And one proof of it is that everyone in'er camp will probably find somethin' that'll piss'em off.'

'Their karma ain't tailored for me. It'll be their problem.'

'Then let me explain matters this way, Jack. She has a target for me to hit. She has one chance at it. I won't spend my time ridin' and guidin' an arrow to dodge in an' out, up an' down an' around some dumb jackass wannabe campaign gurus that get in the way of the bullseye. If I have to, I'll shoot'em first, then shoot the target. Get the picture?'

'You know better. I don't make friends with competin' agendas. And I can't be bought with a pretty face, so don't pull that bunny from the hat again. My name's worth more than a twenty minute carnival ride.'

His laugh was long and barely audible.

'Stop. You made your point.'

'Sure. Everybody wants the best. But some want the best advisor, others, the best mascot. She needs to make a choice and keep it.'

'I didn't hear ya ... she's on the ... take your time. I'll wait.'

'You certain?'

'Then she's mine, lock, stock and barrell. And she'll win. And, Jack, the fee just went up 20.'

'Yes. We understand each other. We always have.'

'Let me know if she accepts the bump.'

'Oh, I'll be here waitin'. Take all the time you need of the next fifteen minutes you got before this flight leaves.'
. . . . .

artificial intelligence

artificial intelligence: a semantic world that acts on how it feels no matter what it thinks.

the famished

Lacking knowledge and skills needed for the professional esteem they impatiently crave, the famished for identity earnestly seek. So they take and copy what they believe are the characteristics and vocabulary of those they find and deem competent. Yet the famished wish, while acquiring, to be regarded as complete, and any acquisitions to 'talent' incidental finishing touches that make them divine. While quietly building their house, they want us to keep our focus on their pretty picket fences.

innocence

Innocence is the absence of all virtues and the need for none.

lie in power

People occasionally need power, and in a lie they acquire it quickly. In deed, in an instant. Sadly they do not realize that the power is not in them but in the lie. They ride the tiger of their creation but are not its master; fall and they are its prey.

toleration terminal

Your unhappiness will extend as far as your toleration.

so what If you know

What good is it if you know everything about Ceasar, if you cannot think like him?

objects of remarks

He looked over the top of the magazine he was reading and added, 'After 30 years of practice, Freud couldn't figure out what women wanted.' With a shrug, she replied in a bored tone, 'It doesn't matter. They'll never get it.'
. . . . .

training the right person

Can train a hunting dog to be obedient, but you can't train a lapdog to hunt.

a prince in the household

If God in Heaven is the King of the Universe,
and I am a child of God,
then I am a prince in the household of God,
a nobleman in His kingdom,
and so I shall live this way among men.

love's essense

Love's essense is a continual promise continually satisfied.

the window

Be like the window; light passes both ways.

not accepting what is

We are motivated by not accepting what is.

common still

Though uniqueness is the preference of many, we are what we are because of the common.

statement by the chair

The old manager had a framed statement on the wall beside the chair job candidates were asked to sit. It read, 'I require much and offer much and only want people who want both.'

turn the knob to open

It's as though we have been sent from Heaven to live in a closet with instructions to turn the knob to open the door back to it.

first within

If a woman has no beauty within she has no beauty at all.

will

We live to learn to train our wills.

maturity

We graduate to maturity when we go from being mastered by the past to masters of the moment.

benefits of quick judgment

I have observed since my youth that those overtly or covertly quick to exercise judgment seek for themselves or those they love gain and status at the expense of those they judge.

our local world

The subtleties of life and what we take for granted are one and the same. We are masters in the subtleties within our own environment and our powers reside in what we take for granted.

need in love

Need in love is deficiency sometimes demanding, sometimes commanding, attention. To true love's sorrow, it seeks for itself, when love's premise is to mutually gain, give and share.

being true

A rose doesn't cheat the sun for moonlight.

loves's utensil

Some love to be better, some to be complete.

get out

If remaining in unhappiness to receive an answer that never comes to 'Why?', grasp the beginning of your quest as the only answer that matters: 'It's not right'.

from a place within

Our purpose in life is to find our own voice, to speak our own words, from a place within we discover is our own.

advice on life

The old man said, 'You wrote the drama you're in. If you don't like it, exit stage right and rewrite your script.'

expectations' force

People's expectations have a greater force in their lives than the power to choose. Choice tends to be exclusively contingent on expectation.

slipping into trouble

Tinkering trifles
Travailing trites
Trafficking troubles
Then tragedy strikes

words

The young woman suddenly said in a tone of emphatic disgust, 'Words mean nothing.' The old gentleman looked across her face, then into her eyes compassionately, and replied with calm certainty, 'Words are deeds that dismay or inspire. Words are acts that kindly touch or rudely slap.'
. . . . .

belief is not a truth

Belief is not a truth.

Belief is the commitment to and investment in a proposition that may or may not be true.

one's own visitor

Many people are a walled city living outside its gate.

glory found

Our glory is found in our trials ~ God's glory is found there, too.

the whole is in the parts

She looked me studiously in the eyes and asked, "Is the sum greater than the whole?" Caught off guard by the sudden turn in our conversation, I replied with a question. "What flies, the feathers or the bird?" She mused for a second, faintly laughed, then leaned forward and said with a smile, "The feathers are only one portion of all that makes a bird." Smiling back, I asked, "What flies, all that makes a bird or the bird?"
. . . . .

disappearing ink

whatever good you are or do for some
it is all written like disappearing ink on their hearts

our lease on life

We are all tenants with a lease. Some of us, however, behave like we are the landlord, others like there is no lease at all.

what satisfies

There are those that wealth satisfies in a way God does not.

an avenue

Respect is an avenue not a one way street.

associates and well-wishers

Lies have many more associates in this world than truth. Truth, however, has many more well-wishers.

a choice before you go

An angel suddenly appeared to a man in the middle of the night and declared, "Death is immanent. Choose now before you die: repent or forgive." Gripped with astonishment then slowly resigned to an inevitable fate, the man considered his common humanity and replied to the angel, "I forgive all who sinned against me." "Well chosen," replied the angel, "for there is repentance in it."

we cup what we choose

We are each a chalice of life choosing the drink we cup.

truth

Truth is a discreet, differentiated recognition of reality which is validated by the retention of its identity in spit of perspectives. Truth is predicateless, yet all things and their predicates can be identified with truth.

leaving the rude in its own company

The rude will press till you break with frustration or anger; let them fail and see the power you have in the best you are without them. Know your memories, and remember someone or something that is worthy of your attention for the moment. With equinimity, smile pleasantly - and, if necessary, seize or make an opportunity - and take your leave. Note the best of what may be bad and move on to other company.

becoming

something is nothing unless it embraces what embraces it and becomes.

what remains

Pity and purge desires that turn into frustrated needs, and be content with what gives, sustains, and maintains life from a decree that cannot be altered by reason, wish, magic, delusion or rebellion. Look! See! What remains will be recognized as blessing's source and its continual endowment upon you now.

dignity and nobleness

Being near dignity and nobleness is not the same as possessing them. Proximity and frequency of contact alone do not acquire their attributes. Whatever continual contact the King's chamber-pot has to the King, it remains a chamber-pot.

advice

Be sparse with advice; too freely given, it's seen as opinion's counterfeit. The foolish are often advised best by their own misfortune and the intelligent will prudently seek it out for sound planning or when pressed by exigency.

unconditional love

Unconditional love is absence of self and self's advantages, yet always virtue's illumination.

structured idiocy

Deductive logic is structured idiocy if its product is not a hypothesis for verification.

remember god?

The Gift-giver is greater than the gifts-given.

handle with care

Truth is like a sharp, double edge knife without a handle. It will cut him who holds it as easily as the one he hopes to cut.

love at hand

Getting older I sought peace more than love only to find love was at hand all along.

self-serving assumptions

Opinionated people base their judgments on self-serving assumptions.

understanding others

Incongruent behavior and words yield insight into purpose and motivation by first placing attention on the behavior.

sacrifice

Sacrifice doesn't take anything.

natural contemplation

Leaves and branches sway -
The tree remains still.

There's contemplation in this.

think on

Think your blessings came with a condition to be arrogant, rude, haughty, or selfish? or enjoy a sense of unique superiority? Such privilege born of blessing ~ an interesting concept. Think on.

"gelassenheit"

Be to brightness
a companion of night
Be to darkness
a companion of light

the write impact

[on a whimsy]

What's in a name? Reputation. Purple Cow PR has earned a solid reputation for being open and responsive, pragmatic, results driven, and radically innovative. As one observer remarked, 'Purple Cow PR doesn't pursue results. It makes them.'

As Croatia's powerhouse public relations and communications agency, Purple Cow PR is acknowledged as an achievement leader in substantive client outcomes. The engine that drives our success is senior veteran savvy and expertise blended with the top young, public relations specialists in the industry.

Providing an unmatched spectrum of agency services, from business, not-for-profit, and government public relations to high-profile communications and crisis management, Purple Cow PR's accent is on service, proactive and responsive strategic counsel, and innovative programs with measurable outcomes and distinguished results.

'Purple Cow PR doesn't pursue results. It makes them.'

Total internal collaboration is at the heart of Purple Cow PR's efforts on behalf of each client. We don't relegate some clients to junior and delegate other clients to senior agency members. Each client has our agency's entire attention and collective intelligence.

We don't think inside or outside the box. We don't nudge the box or shift it from here to there. There is no box. Each client's interest is articulated in a field of communication dynamics and relationships, where each message is tailored, each communication strategy is crafted, for impact and results - enhancing reputation, the bottom-line, or protecting in a critical moment.

Offering unmatched insight and knowledge of the Croatian market across all business and industry sectors, Purple Cow PR has the uncanny ability to immediately focus on the relevant.

With a rich network of local and international strategic partners, we can assemble teams that will advance organizations' agendas, goals, and major initiatives within Croatia or across borders. Our strategic partnerships effectively complement our service, together delivering line of sight, high performance outcomes equal to Purple Cow PR's standards and exceeding client expectations.

Running through Purple Cow PR's record agency performance is a simple core principle. We do for each client what we'd expect as a client - the very best from the very best.

What's in a name? Reputation. Purple Cow PR.

---

[translation]

tko smo mi?

Što je u imenu? Ugled. Agencija Purple Cow PR stekla je solidan ugled zbog otvorenosti i responzivnosti, pragmatičnosti, vo?enosti rezultatima i radikalnom inovativnošću. Kako je jedan promatrač primijetio: "Agencija Purple Cow PR ne teži rezultatima. Ona ih stvara."

Kao agencija za odnose s javnošću i komunikacije "Hrvatske elektroprivrede", Purple Cow PR priznata je kao vodeća u postignućima istinskih rezultata svojih klijenata. Stroj koji pokreće naš uspjeh jest mudrost i ekspertiza naših veterana koje se skladno uklapaju s najboljim mladim stručnjacima za odnose s javnošću u industriji.

Jamčeći neusporediv spektar usluga koje agencija pruža, od poslovnih, neprofitabilnih i vladinih odnosa s javnošću do visoko profiliranih upravljanja komunikacijama i krizama, naglasak agencije Purple Cow PR jest na usluzi, proaktivnom i responzivnom strateškom savjetovanju, te inovativnim programima s mjerljivim rezultatima.

U srcu napora agencije Purple Cow PR za svakog pojedinog klijenta jest potpuna unutrašnja suradnja. Ne upućujemo jedne klijente mla?im, a delegiramo druge starijim članovima agencije. Svaki klijent ima potpunu pažnju i kolektivnu inteligenciju naše agencije.

Ne razmišljamo unutar ili izvan "kutije". Ne guramo niti prebacujemo "kutiju" s jednog mjesta na drugo. Ta, "kutija", ne postoji. Interes svakog klijenta rasčlanjen je na području komunikacijske dinamičnosti i odnosa gdje se kroji svaka poruka i izra?uje svaka strategija, komunikacija za učinak i rezultate ? poboljšavajući ugled, krajnji smisao, ili štiteći ga u kritičnom trenutku.

Nudeći neusporediv uvid i poznavanje hrvatskoga tržišta kroz sve poslove i industrijske sektore, Purple Cow PR ima izvanrednu sposobnost u istom se trenutku fokusirati na najbitnije.

S bogatom mrežom lokalnih i internacionalnih strateških partnera, u mogućnosti smo sastaviti timove koji će unaprijediti programe rada, ciljeve i glavne inicijative organizacije unutar Hrvatske ili izvan njenih granica. Naša strateška partnerstva djelotvorno upotpunjuju našu uslugu, zajedno dajući jasno vidljiva, visoko učinkovitia rješenja koja su jednaka standardima Purple Cow PRa i prelazeći očekivanja naših klijenata.

Pri pregledu agencijskih izvedbi nalazimo jednostavnu jezgru temeljnog pravila agencije.

Za svakog klijenta činimo ono što bismo mi očekivali da se učini za nas kao klijente – najbolje od najboljih.

Što je u imenu? Ugled. Purple Cow PR.

flashbacks

If you want good memories, make good decisions.

do you believe in magic?

One may as well stand at the pantry door waiting for supper to come out to the table, as to wait for one's gifts to manifest without work.

irritating truths and pleasing lies

Better the company of irritating truths than pleasing lies.

increasing law

The more laws the more punishment. The novelty of solutions is diminished. Wisdom fades, compassion wanes, and justice becomes a burden to the people.

"i can't"

"I can't" is something you do in the toillete.

past acts

Past acts are the present's refuse. No man need keep husks to enjoy his corn, nor dine on the threshing floor to enjoy his bread.

the beauty of it

Beauty needs character
but character need not beauty.

we're the tailor

How can God put on us if we don't fit him?

the company question

I am well below the threshold of guile and candidly confess that there are times when for the first time in the company of another I ask myself this question: 'would I want this person as a neighbor?'

the worst loneliness

To feel without while being within, to belong and not be valued, is the worst loneliness.

rock in the goose down pillow

The corporation had been too long in grave financial trouble. Eventually the board did what it must do and sacked the CEO.

After scouring for the best candidate they could find, the board hired a new CEO. The new CEO was a soft spoken, pleasant man, who, with a number of changes, quickly made his mark in the C-suite. One change was a highly progressive open door policy, where anyone in the company was welcome to speak with him in his office.

But it wouldn't be long before the entire company was abuzz about one conspicuous item in the CEO's office.

Hanging on the wall behind his desk was a very, very large, beautifully framed, magnificently designed graphic that read:

In controversial moments
My judgements rather fine,
I always see both points of view,
The one that's wrong and mine.

. . . . .

a child builds love

A mother's love provides the cornerstones, a father's love the keystone, to the arch of love a child builds.

love reasons

Love's Paradox: Union of selves that remain individual
Love's Theorem: Sharing in the fruits of sharing
Love's Postulate: Focus of attention in the absence of self-interest
Love's Corollary: Seeing life through a second pair of eyes

comebacks

Everything returns to its origins. Our acts do, too.

creative finesse

Creativity does not collaborate; it lends itself what it borrows.

advancement

Those who question learn more than those who agree.
Those who agree get further than those who question.

the diary

[written at mystique cafe in a country far, far away on a lonely, gray day]

Gretchen and I were traveling through the Holland countryside on our way to Amsterdam when our rental car's heater hose ruptured. I hailed a passing car and had the good fortune the gentleman stopped and spoke enough English for us to communicate. He called from his mobile for help, and a half hour later we were towed to a village not far from the thoroughfare. With one call to the rental agency the village mechanic was authorized to repair the broken hose. Gretchen and I decided to explore the shops while we waited. She went to a craft shop, while I was drawn to the bookshop next door.

I entered to meet a young woman coming from the back room who could tell from my poorly spoken French greeting I was a Brit. 'You are British, monsieur?' 'I am.' Playfully, she replied, 'Then let us speak English.' After small chatter about the village and shop, she explained that I was the first 'Englishman' to be in the shop since 1915. Indifferent, I awkwardly thanked her for bringing it to my attention.

After brief silence, she continued, explaining that her family four generations earlier had been deeply affected by a young British officer badly wounded near the beginning of the war. From what she described, in spite of his severe wounds, he exhibited extraordinary character and had a quiescent, peaceful presence - an inner certainty and dignity that seemed to overtake any who came to his bedside.

My curiosity roused, I rattled off some questions. Smiling, she raised her right hand up slowly to me and said, 'Wait! I will show you our family's greatest treasure.' She left for the back room. Flushed with mild irritation, I thought, 'How I hate non sequiturs.'

She returned with an old untitled leather cover book with a dark stain on its lower spine and front cover. Running her hand slowly across the front of the book, she said, 'This was the Englishman's blood.' Placing the book in my hands, she said, 'Open.'

Opening the book, I saw what looked like a diary entry at the top of the page dated 21 August 1914. The young lady laughed gently with pleasure. I looked up and only saw bright eyes. 'You are a blessed man!' 'Why?' I asked. Leaning forward, she spoke softly, 'You have begun well, monsieur.' Then moving her hands as if shooing me away, she continued, 'Now read!' And so I did.

21 August 1914 Calcutta

Our final overture to sense and reason failed. Father's will has prevailed. Cogshall and I must return to England forthwith. Such a father and patron exasperates. Our studies end before begun. One more son from the family for another war? We leave tomorrow.

22 August 1914 Calcutta

Arrived at the railway station to a most singular event. One of our trunks was so heavy that two porters had difficulty removing it carefully from the cart. Impatient, the station master yelled at them with resounding ferocity. The usually reticent Dr Cogshall, annoyed by the ill mannered station master, sternly retorted in Hindi, 'Leave them be!' The station master stood astonished, then slowly turned his back and walked away. The two porters continued with conspicuous equanimity. When they finished, I asked Cogshall to ask them from whence they acquired such extraordinary dispositions. Cogshall spoke to them in Hindi. With subtle smiles, they both turned from Cogshall to me, peered into my eyes, and answered as if in song as one man. From his extraordinary memory and wit, Cogshall has given me this translation.

porter 1 ~ be still in movement
porter 2 ~ move in stillness
porter 1 ~ seeing all destinies
porter 2 ~ be not in nor out
porter 1 ~ be here and there now
porter 2 ~ there is rest in movement
porter 1 ~ when you are still
porter 2 ~ this stillness is clarity
porter 1 ~ murmuring shadows
porter 2 ~ banished from self
porter 1 ~ is translucence
porter 2 ~ stillness - no commotion
porter 1 ~ silence - no dissent
porter 2 ~ then perception clear
porter 1 ~ then thought timeless
porter 2 ~ then action grace
porter 1 ~ then speech true
porter 2 ~ this is called
porter 1 ~ life without a shell
porter 2 ~ this is called
porter 1 ~ indefectible peace
porter 2 ~ this is called
porter 1 ~ extensible existence
porter 2 ~ this is called
porter 1 ~ the atom of being
porter 2 ~ this is called
porter 1 ~ the power of power
porter 2 ~ we call it
porter 1 ~ living
porter 1 & 2 ~ in the origination of existence

I am captivated. Ready to pay the cost for Father's certain anger, I have decided to delay our travels, to meet with these two men tomorrow. I must learn what they know.

23 August 1914 Calcutta
. . . . .

light moving

Light casts lights,
overtakes the edge of objects,
moves without sound around corners,
to illumine what has seen it from the dark.

feathered bed or feathered faces

Feathers are just like opinions ~ better to sleep on them than to toss them into the face of others.

technorati

After spending the summer learning [and going bonkers with] coding into the wee hours of the night, writing, testing, and rewriting code, scrapping, one after the other, page designs, I have finally restored and renovated this blog [credit Aridewa], and ended this achievement with 'claiming' [?!] my blog at technorati. What an achievement. A little like graduating university. Study, persistence, a ceremony, a celebration capped later with friends and a few stout ales. But not this time. I will kiss and embrace sleep.

an angel

An angel requires no property to be defined, no property to be noticed, pursues no acquisitions, nor profits, lends not at a rate, nor borrows at one. Truth and love are his only possessions, not held in his hands but in his acts.

bureaucrat

Bureaucrat: without understanding, nor a wit of thought, one who is satisfied when a fact matches a rule.

thoughts like gifts

There are times we must leave our thoughts like gifts at the feet of those we care about and without ceremony walk quietly away. Rarely ignored, the manner of our behaviour will make recipients of these gifts.

master mystery solved

A master is a student at the root of his being.

complicity

Evil's reward is no retribution.

the straight line curves

We see a rule as a straight line until we turn it on its side and discover that it curves.

space life

We live in the space of our souls.

tale of a sweet talking frog

[my rendering of an old tale]

Long, long ago, deep in a forest a league or more from the earls's great castle was a little humble rustic village. And in this little humble rustic village lived a quaint little old man with a particular habit.

Every morning, if the weather be fair mind you, the old man with staff in hand went down a well trodden path that meandered through the forest whilst listening to the chirpping of birds and watching shafts of sunlight glowing through limbs and leaves.

On one particular morning walk, or better said a shuffle, the old man heard a voice that said so sweetly, 'If you kiss me I will turn into a beautiful young maiden and be your's forever.'

The old man, startled, stopped, pulled the back of his pants up with one hand, and looked about to find from whence this sweet voice spoke. With no success, the old man continued, staff firmly in hand, when again he heard, 'If you kiss me I will turn into a beautiful young maiden and be your's forever.'

Again the old man stopped, scratched the top of his head, and looked around. Glancing to the ground whilst now rubbing his chin he saw a large green frog with large green eyes batting its long green eyelashes, that said, 'Sir', with emphasis, 'if you kiss me I will turn into a beautiful young maiden and be your's forever.'

The old man, first startled, now excited, without a reply picked up the large green frog, put it in his pouch, and rushed back to the village as quickly as his old feet could shuffle.

Whilst shuffling from the forest to the small open field that led to the village green, the old man saw two of his dearest friends sitting on an old log by the edge of the green. He approached them with a hearty greeting and told them his story of the talking frog. Mute, they stared at him in disbelief, turned to each other nearly nose to nose, then suddenly burst out laughing so uncontrollably that they both nearly fell off the log.

With a slight squint of the eye and nod of the head, the old man spoke, 'I tell the truth and so will prove!', and forthwith, like sleight of hand, pulled the large green frog out from his pouch. There it was, in his hand, batting its long green eyelashes, saying with mild but noticeable impatience, 'Sir, if you kiss me I will turn into a beautiful young maiden and be your's forever.'

Starring at the large green frog with large green eyes batting its eyelashes, the old man's friends rose to his side and nudged him with their elbows shouting, 'Well aren't you going to kiss the frog? Kiss the frog! Aren't you going to kiss the frog?'

The old man looked up at his two dear friends and replied, 'Are you daft? At my age? I would rather a talking frog.'

known by a game

One doesn't realize clearly how responsible they are for their own destiny - circumstances encountered, made, altered, or altered by - until they play a game.

"abgescheidenheit"

Be as the snow
no rest in rest

Be as the rain
no movement in movement

Glide like the eagle
no feelings in feeling

Dive like the hawk
no thoughts in thought

Be as a bowl empty
it waits without waiting

Be as a cup full
it gives without giving

unhinged

A man without a woman is a gate without a fence.

a glowing difference

These people of brass ~ they forever need polishing, always by others. So don't be taken by a glowing similarity. Keep with people of gold.

roots to conceit

There once was a tree regarded by the other trees in the forest to be mighty in stature and magnificent in form. With each new spring, he appreciatively mused over the adoration he received, and in time this turned into such a deep rooted conceit that it superseded interest in the very roots that bore him. "Why, what started me has no resemblance to what I have become", thought the tree. His thought and attention were so focused on his grand foliage and great sprawling limbs that he grew farther from what he was. As time passed, he lost his remembrance of what made him, and slowly lost what he really was. He had become his praise.

bad government

I was asked, "What is a bad government?" I replied, "It's where the sheppard abuses the sheep and feeds the wolves."

constituting conflict

Shared symbols... shared meanings... shared values... shared rules... shared purpose: the properties constituting the reason for group formation, maintenance, and movement. Symbols... meaning... values... rules... purpose: the properties constituting conflict between groups.

the water

Be like the water; it is in agreement with itself in rest or movement.

don't be a pinhead

When you're at your peak, be sure you're not standing on the point of a pin.

fitting answers

It's amazing that people dismiss the presence of answers felt imprecisely tailored to their prayers ~ when Heaven's wisdom suggests they must grow to fit their answers.

the darkside

Judgements of others are Prides's finest moments, unforgiving Pride's highest power.

lying paradox

A lie disposes of truth like trash yet hides it like treasure.

flipping the koan

The old Zen master asked, "What is the sound of one hand clapping?" The young village boy shrugged his shoulders and replied, "It depends Master; is it clapping against my cheek?"

sim.ple sym.me.tries 1

wisdom: love stuffed in knowledge.
compassion: knowledge stuffed in love.

sim.ple sym.me.tries 2

action: where perfection follows completion.
speech: where completion follows perfection.

the sweetener

Goodness given sweetens goodness received.

currency only meant to be spent

Your life is currency. Spend it.

self sowing

Each one of us is an individual field of life, and all that we say, and all that we do, are seeds thrown upon the field of ourselves. Be careful, then. Do not sow seeds you do not want grown.

love boat

Building a relationship is like building a boat. Two first frame it with keel and ribs, then lay the planking for the hull; next the deck and finally the mast and sail are installed. Build your boat well, the two of you! A well made boat will be comfortable in calm waters, and rugged enough to withstand the tempests at sea - they come inevitably.

self-instinct

People assess others for themselves.

letter to a young professional

[excerpt of a letter of advice written to a young professional entering the political campaign world]

Many years ago I conducted polling for two federal campaigns – Senate and Congressional seats, respectively. The Senate campaign staff dismissed a couple of serious and urgent recommendations – because they were based on the qualitative side of my efforts. On the other hand, the Congressional candidate and campaign manager had to be coaxed and persauded on a couple of matters, but then assiduously applied recommendations and counsel given.

The Senate race failed at the polls (they listened too late); the Congressional race won.

Some years later, I was asked to give a presentation in Washington on these campaigns from the research perspective as to the what's, how's, and why's of (what they said had turned out to be) predictive, 'qualitative' insights 'derived' from hard crosstabulated polling-data that appeared to 'speak for itself' to the contrary. 'Go figure'. The presentation provided me an opportunity to correct their notions.

The presentation was anchored to four simple, pragmatic principles I developed as a collegiate student and use in my professional career, the second of which is counter-intuitive (in those days called 'alogical'), and the fourth – a principle very simple to state, and in my view the most important, but requiring a great deal to explain or suggest applications – I will explain at a later date.

Of these four principles, 2 and 3 have implicit permutations of use, depending on the type of activity they are being applied.

1. Trust nothing, neglect nothing
assures everything gets done, everything gets known, etc

2. The least important thing has the greatest value
the 'obvious' distorts or filters perception, and the least important 'thing' corrects it and discloses

3. Every relationship has a weakness
discovering a weakness is the beginning of the process to 'advantage' in one's self, campaign, organization, etc, to factor, offset, or fix

4. Words don't think
. . . . .

morphing connections

to accept something is to accept its being
to reject something is to reject its being
~
to gain something is to gain its presence
to love something is to love its presence
~
to lose something is to lose its future
to hate something is to hate its future
. . . . .

tipping point

Fate advances a man to the point of his weakness that he may show his strength.

the unobtrusive foundation

Little regarded, plain, simple, and nearly hidden, the foundation is unlike anything that stands upon it. Yet without a good one, nothing stands well at all. And so lies the importance of character to personality.

predictions for dummies, chapter one

The future is history for those not learning its lessons.

eureka!

A thought in you, you in the thought. Perfection as perfection is.

threading

the secret to existence is space
the secret to space is origination
the secret to origination is purpose
the secret to purpose is result
the secret to result is plan
the secret to plan is creation
the secret to creation is fulfillment
the secret to fulfillment is satisfaction

breath of praise

The only expense in praise is the breath to express it.

commending propagation

Every belief commends itself for propagation.

freedom

The spider sat day after day in the middle of his elegantly engineered web when one day from his high position he spied a glorious looking bee buzzing from flower to flower. "Oh, look at his freedom," exclaimed the spider loudly to himself. "I envy him!"

The dragon-fly, the wizard of the air, heard the spider, buzzed in place before him and said, "Sir Spider, I heard your lament. As I understand it, you want the freedom of the bee." "Yes, yes. That's right," replied the spider. "I sit here day after day with nothing to do. If I were like that bee, I'd have the freedom to do other things." "There's a price with his freedom; he hazards so much," said the dragon-fly. "What could he possibly hazard when, with such freedom, he could avoid it," the spider impatiently retorted. "So be it. Let me see what I can do," and with that the dragon-fly flew off. Negotiating the deal with the tired bee, the dragon-fly magically transformed them both.

One day the spider, now a bee, flew towards a flower garden when he suddenly had his flight arrested in mid-air. "Oh no, I'm caught in a web!" he yelled in despair. The bee, now a spider, slowly treading the web, came over and said, "Such freedoms you have are now over. Your freedom required care, and now you are my meal tonight." Slowly moving closer, and closer, he continued: "I have found what you thought was idleness and the lack of freedom is really sound planning and its patient execution, and that, I must say, is a great advantage in this world."

the way, the only way

Those who do more toward a chosen end,
by unquenchable desire,
by intrepid exploration,
by undying persistence,
by the force of well-focused determination –
~ who invest more time,
~ and make more mistakes,
~ and seek more solutions,
~ and make more corrections than others,
ultimately achieve unparalleled accomplishment.
And running like a golden thread through all this is the final guarantor of success: patience.