Quote of the Day -- Eugene Debs

When great changes occur in history, when great principles are involved, as a rule the majority are wrong.

-- Eugene V. Debs

Quote of the Day -- Laura Ingalls Wilder

The trouble with organizing a thing is that pretty soon folks get to paying more attention to the organization than to what they're organized for.

-- Laura Ingalls Wilder

Quote of the Day -- Dag Hammarskjöld

Never look down to test the ground before taking your next step; only he who keeps his eye fixed on the far horizon will find the right road. 

-- Dag Hammarskjöld

Quote of the Day -- Albert Einstein

Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving.

-- Albert Einstein

Quote of the Day -- Harper Lee

The one thing that doesn't abide by majority rule is a person's conscience.

-- Harper Lee

Quote of the Day -- Elie Wiesel

Without memory, there is no culture. Without memory there would be no civilization, no future.

-- Elie Wiesel

Quote of the Day -- Yuval Noah Harari

One of history’s few iron laws is that luxuries tend to become necessities and to spawn new obligations.

-- Yuval Noah Harari

Quote of the Day -- Bob Mankoff

Humor is the antidote to over thinking. It’s a way of saying that life is paradoxical. Humor contains contradictions; it does not resolve them but revels in them. It says that the right way to exist among the contradictions, paradoxes, and absurdities of life is to cope with them through laughter.

-- Bob Mankoff

Quote of the Day -- Ambrose Bierce

Sweater, n.: garment worn by child when its mother is feeling chilly.

-- Ambrose Bierce

Quote of the Day -- Garry Kasparov

Somehow, people always forget that it’s much easier to install a dictator than to remove one

-- Garry Kasparov

Quote of the Day -- Maria Shriver

It’s such an honor to bring a child into this world. It’s such a humbling experience to try to get it “right” and do your best. It’s humbling because you never know if what you’re doing is what your child actually wants or needs. That's especially the case when you have more than one child because you quickly learn that each of them is different. There is no “one size fits all” when it comes to mothering.

-- Maria Shriver

Quote of the Day - Barbara Kingsolver

What keeps you going isn't some fine destination but just the road you're on, and the fact that you know how to drive.

-- Barbara Kingsolver

Quote of the Day -- Theodore Roosevelt

A man who has never gone to school may steal a freight car; but if he has a university education, he may steal the whole railroad.

-- Theodore Roosevelt

Quote of the Day -- Daniel Kahneman

If you care about being thought credible and intelligent, do not use complex language where simpler language will do.

-- Daniel Kahneman

Quote of the Day -- Jane Goodall

Change happens by listening and then starting a dialogue with the people who are doing something you don't believe is right.

-- Jane Goodall

Quote of the Day -- Diana Trilling

We lived our lives as if life was forever. To live one’s life without a sense of time is to squander it. 

-- Diana Trilling

Quote of the Day -- Henry James

Live all you can; it's a mistake not to. It doesn't so much matter what you do in particular, so long as you have your life. If you haven't had that what have you had?

-- Henry James

Quote of the Day -- Maya Angelou

We delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty.

-- Maya Angelou

Quote of the Day -- Emile Durkheim

One does not advance when one walks toward no goal, or - which is the same thing - when his goal is infinity.

-- Emile Durkheim

A Little Old Lady from Prague

I first visited Prague in 2003.  I had been invited to speak at a conference in Munich.  Rudolf, a young sales rep from Bratislava, contacted me to see if I would also be willing to speak at an event he was organizing for his customers in Prague.  Of course!  I'd never been to Prague.  I'd be delighted.  And even better, the event was on a Thursday morning, so I could spend time exploring the city and fly home on Saturday.  Prague and Munich are very close, wrote Rudolf.  I'll give you a ride...

Rudolf and I clearly had different definitions of "really close" and I'd been too busy to research before the trip, so I chalked that 5-hour drive with minimal options for sustenance up to cultural learning.  In the U.S., being an IBM sales rep was a "good job," with a pretty flexible expense account.  In my travels, I was gradually (and sometimes painfully) learning that expense accounts were carefully managed and time was valued far less than in my world.  I arrived at my hotel on the outskirts of Prague hungry, tired, and ignorant of the delights the city had to offer.

Things looked brighter in the morning.  The customers at the event were welcoming and enthusiastic.  And after the short and sweet event, Rudolf set off to introduce me to Prague before he headed home to Bratislava.   He decided, rightly, that the best introduction to this incredible city was the hike up to St Vilnius Cathedral.  The view was breathtaking, and I was utterly enchanted. That view of red roofs and church spires will be forever etched in my mind as the image of Prague.

Left to my own devices after Rudolf headed home, I made my way back down the hill, across the iconic Charles Bridge, and into the heart of the old city where I discovered shopping bliss.  Wherever my travels take me, I seek to bring home something representative to put on a shelf or on the wall.  But in Prague, how to choose?  The shops were filled with gorgeous crystal and lace.  I acquired a few small pieces as gifts.  

What really intrigued me were the marionettes that are one of Prague's hallmarks.  I was particularly enamored by a little old lady and a little old man. I kept coming back to the shop where they were displayed. They were a bit large and a bit pricey, but my inner voice kept saying that if I was repeatedly drawn to the same souvenir, then that was the thing I should buy. Eenie, meenie, mynie, moe.  I chose the little old lady.  With a little creative packing, I fit her into my suitcase for the journey home and presented her to Jim for Father's Day.  She's been hanging from our family room ceiling ever since, and I continue to be entranced by her quirky little-old-lady expression, a fond reminder of my first visit to Prague.

Serendipitously, I found myself back in Prague in November of the same year. Fighting off the chill, I eagerly explored the Christmas markets. Many lovely things called to me, but I couldn't resist the pull of the little old man, eager to be reunited with the little old lady. Jim's quirky Father's Day gift was matched by an equally quirky Christmas gift. Our family room is permanently enlivened by these delightful marionettes from Prague.

Quote of the Day -- Yogi Berra

It’s tough to make predictions, especially about the future.

-- Yogi Berra

Quote of the Day -- Robin Roberts

Venture outside your comfort zone. To stop growing is to stop living.

-- Robin Roberts

Quote of the Day -- Madeleine L'Engle

We can't take any credit for our talents. It's how we use them that counts.

-- Madeleine L'Engle

Quote of the Day -- Karl Ove Knausgaard

What makes life worth living? No child asks itself that question. To children life is self-evident. Life goes without saying: whether it is good or bad makes no difference. This is because children don’t see the world, don’t observe the world, don’t contemplate the world, but are so deeply immersed in the world that they don’t distinguish between it and their own selves. Not until that happens, until a distance appears between what they are and what the world is, does the question arise: what makes life worth living?

-- Karl Ove Knausgaard

Quote of the Day -- John Steinbeck

People don't take trips—trips take people.

-- John Steinbeck

Quote of the Day -- Maud Casey

I was born with a reading list I will never finish.

-- Maud Casey

Quote of the Day -- Flannery O'Connor

Accepting oneself does not preclude an attempt to become better. 

-- Flannery O'Connor

Quote of the Day -- Annie Dillard

How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives.

-- Annie Dillard