Something To Think About Archive

It’s been said that “The world is not interested in the storms you encountered, but whether or not you brought in the ship.”

Playwright George Bernard Shaw once noted that “There are two tragedies in life. One is not to get your heart’s desire. The other is to get it.”

“Never despair;” advised Father of Conservatism Edmund Burke. “But if you do, work on in despair.”

Business executive Donald M. Nelson said: “… we must assume that there is probably a better way to do almost anything. “We must stop assuming that a thing which has never been done before probably cannot be done at all.”

Finally, thanks to the efforts of Assemblyman David Tangipa, after 15 years of overspending and under-delivering the California High Speed Rail Authority is being required to develop a detailed business plan that reviews any funding gaps or project delays. Unfortunately, it only addresses the initial phase from Merced to Bakersfield and does nothing for the rest of the boondoggle project. With his new-found fiscal sense of responsibility as he eyes the White House, Gavin Newsom signed the bill lauding its importance for accountability on the project. Too bad the bill didn’t kill it outright.

Writer and publisher Elbert Hubbard believed that “Self-discipline is the ability to make yourself do what you should do when you should do it, whether you feel like it or not.”

According to theologian John H.C. Newman, “A man would do nothing if he waited until he could do it so well that no one could find fault.”

Coach Vince Lombardi claimed that “Winning isn’t everything, but wanting to win is.”

“First health, then wealth, then pleasure,” said Catherine the Great, “and do not owe anything to anybody.”

According to writer and publisher Elbert Hubbard, “We work to become, not to acquire.”

It’s interesting to watch Gavin Newsom come out against some of California’s worst legal and regulatory missteps as he prepares to run for President. After six years of overseeing the state’s decline he now champions such causes as the rollback of CEQA’s onerous growth-killing regulations as well as a more stringent response to the impact of chronic homelessness on the quality of life of all Californians.  We half expect him to finally pull the plug on the horribly expensive and unnecessary bullet train to nowhere next.

Author and motivational speaker Dennis Waitley believed that “Continuous learning is the minimum requirement for success in any field.”

Anthropologist Margaret Mead once noted that “(she) learned the value of hard work by working hard.”

Fashion editor Anna Wintour says “The best way to make a dream come true is by waking up.”

As writer Corrie ten Boom once noted, “Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow. It empties today of its strength.”

Poet Louise Erdrich claims that “All of our actions have in their doing the seeds of their undoing

While it’s a long way from the Mother Lode, the front-runner for New York City Mayor represents a real concern for political leadership in the U.S. Mamdani’s stand as a self-proclaimed Socialist is bad enough, but his use of the slogan "Globalize the Intifada" in the past is deeply disturbing. He recently pledged to stop using it. That’s great, but the question is: Does he still believe in it and it’s equally abhorrent racist cousin “From the River to the Sea” calling for the elimination of the Jewish State?

It’s been said that “Fires can’t be made with dead embers.”

George Washington Carver said: “Do the common things of life in an uncommon way.”

Elvis advised us to “Do something worth remembering.”