Compliance & Excellence

When compliance becomes
The measure of our excellence
Heroes disappear, quality declines
Efficiency, brevity, and intelligence wither
Creativity is stifled, and bureaucracy blossoms.
02.28.2015

Seeing & Hearing

We believe what is written
More than what is heard
Because we are constituted
To believe what we see
More than what we hear;
Once things are written
They become indelible.
02.27.2015

Life & Living

To feel alive
Every living moment
Is to honor life with love;
To be oblivious of moments
Is to spend life waiting for death.
02.26.2015

Country & Self

Countries decay
When their inhabitants
Begin to benefit themselves
At the expense of their countries.
02.25.2015

Truth & Popularity

When an audience hears what it wants to hear
Especially when it is not true
It applauds;
When it hears what it doesn't want to hear
Especially when it is true
It boos;
Authentication by applause or by popularity
Is detrimental to truth.
02.23.15

Intelligence & Simplicity

Brilliant minds simplify
Ordinary minds complicate;
We can measure the intelligence
Of our systems by measuring the ratio
Of their simplicity to their complexity.
02.22.15

Humanity & Home

When we do not belong to humanity
We live as global strangers;
When we espouse humanity
Planet earth becomes home.
02.21.15

Gratitude & Grief

If one gives us gifts and then departs
That would not cause us grief
But rather, gratitude;
If one dies, having given us gifts
Through living a generous life
Why don’t we feel gratitude
In stead of grief?
0220.15

Temporary & Feelings

If we could remind ourselves
That every thing good is temporary
We would cherish all good things more;
And if we could remind ourselves
That every thing bad is temporary
We would harbor less worry and fear.
02.19.15

Important & Enjoyable

There are important things that are not enjoyable
And enjoyable things that are not important
And things that are neither enjoyable nor important;
Lucky are those who can do only what’s enjoyable.
02.18.15

Understanding & Tragedies

Instead of expending our efforts
Trying to understand tragedies
Which are out of our control
We would be better served
To accept such tragedies
As random, unintelligible
Acts of nature.
02.17.15

Ideas & Interactions

Most of our good ideas
Come from our interactions
With other people or things;
And isolated mind
Cannot evolve
Good ideas.
02.16.15

Youth & Quality

As we age
We cling to youth
Which is preposterous;
Instead
In all aspects of living
We should cling to quality
Since that’s within our reach.
02.15.15

Work & Life

Making time for life
Is a duty as solemn
As making time for work;
But, whereas others
Can perform our work
Only we can live our lives.
02.14.15

Identity & Self

To ourselves
We are whom we think we are;
To others
We are whom they think we are.
02.13.15

Majority & Country

In politics
What appeals
To the majority
Is easier to enact
Than what is best
For the country.
02.12.15

Language & Actions

Good language
Can sanction
Bad actions.
02.11.15

Irrationality & Harm

The tragedy of the human mind
Lies in the simple fact that
When we are irrational
We believe that we are rational
And no amount of evidence
Will convince us of the contrary;
Hence the harm that people can do
While believing that they are right
Explains most of human conflicts.
02.10.15

Passion & Meaning

It is our passions
That render life meaningful;
Without passions, life becomes
A boring voyage.
02.09.15

Life & Resurrection

Life is never a preparation for death
It is a rebellion against it because
Life always springs out of death;
Death, on the other hand
Is the eternal preparation for life
Because every life is but a resurrection
From the inanimate.
02.08.15

Life & Speed

Living slowly helps us savor
Life’s precious moments;
And living fast
Kidnaps those precious moments
Never to be returned.
02.07.15

Nature & Living Things

Nothing living
Notices everything
But nature always does.
02.06.15

Brutality & Enlightenment

Brutality
Is the power
Of un-enlightenment;
The more enlightened
The more kind we are
And the more ignorant
The more cruel we get.
02.05.15

Stories & Time

Stories told of yesteryears
      
Come to us through little ears
      
Hold us captive in their spheres;
       
When the years will disappear
        
Only stories keep them near
      
For our little ears to hear.
02.04.15

Alcohol & Weight

Alcohol consumption
Can cause weight gain
In seven sundry ways:
-The calories in alcohol
-The cravings for more alcohol
-The carbohydrates in the drinks
-The increased appetites ensuing
-The prolonged sitting around food
-The lethargy and inactivity that follow
-The fatigue and cravings of hangovers.
02.03.15

Trust & Crooks

If we weren’t so trusting
There wouldn’t be so many crooks.
02.02.15

Attitude & Outcome

The means to temper tragedy
And morph defeat into victory
Is with a winning attitude;
The means to amplify tragedy
And morph victory into defeat
Is with a losing attitude.
02.01.15