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."