Kevin Koym

Courage to face challenges

Mon, 27 May 2013 18:44:48 -0500

President John F. Kennedy told a story in 1962 about a mother who wrote to the principal of her son’s school, “Don’t teach my boy poetry, he’s going to run for Congress.” Kennedy commented, “I’ve never taken the view that the world of politics and the world of poetry are so far apart. I think politicians and poets share at least one thing, and that is their greatness depends upon the courage with which they face the challenges of life.”

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by...

Wed, 15 May 2013 14:24:07 -0500

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Discover.
-Mark Twain

“Those who are skilled in combat do not become angry. Those who are skilled at winning do not...

Mon, 15 Apr 2013 12:41:56 -0500

“Those who are skilled in combat do not become angry. Those who are skilled at winning do not become afraid. Thus the wise win before the fight and the ignorant fight to win.”

–Morihei Ueshiba

Work is...

Mon, 31 Dec 2012 17:59:55 -0600

“Work is about a search for daily meaning as well as daily bread, for recognition as well as cash, for astonishment rather than topper, in short, for a sort of life rather than a Monday through Friday sort of dying.” -Studs Terkel

“Ever more people today have the means to live, but no meaning to live for.“ —Viktor E....

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 11:39:35 -0600

“Ever more people today have the means to live, but no meaning to live for.“
—Viktor E. Frankl

Returning to Center

Sun, 18 Dec 2011 12:19:00 -0600

Leadership and the New Science page 154:

“Morihei Ueshiba, the founder of the martial art of Aikido, was a small man who could turn back the onslaughts of opponents many times his weight and size with movements that were imperceptible. He appeared to be perfectly centered, anchored o the ground in an extraordinary way. But this was not the case. His ability to came not from the superior balance, but from superb levels of self-awareness. As he describes it, he was quicker to notice when he was off-balance, and faster at returning to center. He perfectly describes how to move in harmony with life rather than to resist it. First we must know what ‘center’ feels like. We must know who we are, our patterns of behavior, our values, our intentions.”

“Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness....

Tue, 06 Dec 2011 14:49:00 -0600

“Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness. Concerning all acts of initiative and creation, there is one elementary truth the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then providence moves too.

“All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in ones favor all manner of unforeseen incidents, meetings and material assistance which no man could have dreamed would have come his way.

“I have learned a deep respect for one of Goethe’s couplets: ‘Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it! Boldness has genius, magic, and power in it.’”

W. H. Murray, of the Scottish Himalayan Expedition

(reposted with formatting)

Commitment

Tue, 29 Nov 2011 06:41:28 -0600

“Commitment means that it is possible for a man
to yield the nerve center of his consent to a purpose
or cause, a movement or an ideal, which may be more
important to him than whether he lives or dies.”
- Howard Thurman (1900-1981)

Steve Jobs

Thu, 06 Oct 2011 23:33:00 -0500

Jobs on -not- following the crowd:

“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma— which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.”

Jobs on change and politics:

“We’re making the largest investment of capital that humankind has ever made in weapons over the next five years. We have decided, as a society, that that’s where we should put our money, and that raises the deficits and, thus, the cost of our capital.”

“I think it takes a crisis for something to occur in America. And I believe there’s going to be a crisis of significant proportions in the early Nineties as these problems our political leaders should have been addressing boil up to the surface.”

Jobs on charity… and the importance of failure:

“And that’s the problem with most philanthropy— there’s no measurement system. You give somebody some money to do something and most of the time you can really never measure whether you failed or succeeded in your judgment of that person or his ideas or their implementation. So if you can’t succeed or fail, it’s really hard to get better.”

Jobs on careers:

“Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don’t lose faith. I’m convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. You’ve got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers… As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it… So keep looking until you find it. Don’t settle.”

Jobs on making it count:

Most of the time, we’re taking things. Neither you nor I made the clothes we wear; we don’t make the food or grow the foods we eat; we use a language that was developed by other people; we use another society’s mathematics. Very rarely do we get a chance to put something back into that pool. I think we have that opportunity now. And no, we don’t know where it will lead. We just know there’s something much bigger than any of us here.

Jobs on death:

“[D]eath is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life’s change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new.”

“It is a lack of commitment, not a lack of talent, that damns you to mediocrity.” - Roy...

Mon, 26 Sep 2011 10:44:33 -0500

“It is a lack of commitment, not a lack of talent, that damns you to mediocrity.” - Roy H. Williams

“Forgiveness is the fragrance that the violet sheds on the heel that has crushed it.” Mark Twain

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 23:52:06 -0500

“Forgiveness is the fragrance that the violet sheds on the heel that has crushed it.” Mark Twain

“The moment one definitely commits oneself, the providence moves too. All sorts of things...

Mon, 22 Aug 2011 11:42:52 -0500

“The moment one definitely commits oneself, the providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issue from the decision, raising in one’s favor all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance which no man could have dreamed would have come his way.”
- W. H. Murray, The Scottish Himalaya Expedition, (1951.)

“To offer no resistance to life is to be in a state of grace, ease, and lightness”...

Sat, 16 Jul 2011 20:54:31 -0500

“To offer no resistance to life is to be in a state of grace, ease, and lightness” -Eckhart Tolle

From Napoleon to his generals...

Wed, 29 Jun 2011 10:04:49 -0500

We are at a time when you need to double the resolve, and double the vigor of ordinary times. Lead by example. Be the first to put yourself in danger. And with the troops that you have, I expect you to defeat double of theirs.

If either of them falls down, one can help the other up

Thu, 02 Jun 2011 21:10:45 -0500

Solomon said,

“There was a man all alone; he had neither son nor brother. There was no end to his toil, yet his eyes were not content with his wealth… Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor: If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up. Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone? Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.”

- Ecclesiastes, chapter 4

Window on the world Ball and chain 4 GB of Ram

Fri, 13 May 2011 09:53:46 -0500

Window on the world

Ball and chain

4 GB of Ram

Security is mostly a superstition . It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a...

Wed, 20 Apr 2011 14:34:16 -0500

Security is mostly a superstition . It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure or nothing.— Helen Keller

39. He that has known the weakness of human nature has had experience of the divine power; by it...

Mon, 11 Apr 2011 16:54:13 -0500

39. He that has known the weakness of human nature has had experience of the divine power; by it such a man has done some things rightly, others he hastens so to do; but never does he scorn a single man. For he knows that as it has helped him and freed him from many passions and difficulties, so God is able to help all men when He wishes, especially those who are striving for His sake. Although in the dispositions of His judgment God does not at once deliver all from their passions, yet as a good and charitable physician in due time He heals each of those who are pressing on.

“Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world...

Sun, 03 Apr 2011 16:54:08 -0500

“Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.” Howard Thurman

“A hero is someone who has given his or her life to something bigger than oneself.”-...

Wed, 09 Mar 2011 12:10:58 -0600

“A hero is someone who has given his or her life
to something bigger than oneself.”- Joseph Campbell