On Self-Knowledge

– By Kahlil Gibran

And a man said, “Speak to us of Self-Knowledge.”

And he answered, saying:

Your hearts know in silence the secrets of the days and the nights.

But your ears thirst for the sound of your heart’s knowledge.

You would know in words that which you have always know in thought.

You would touch with your fingers the naked body of your dreams.

And it is well you should.

The hidden well-spring of your soul must needs rise and run murmuring to the sea;

And the treasure of your infinite depths would be revealed to your eyes.

But let there be no scales to weigh your unknown treasure;

And seek not the depths of your knowledge with staff or sounding line.

For self is a sea boundless and measureless.

Say not, “I have found the truth,” but rather, “I have found a truth.”

Say not, “I have found the path of the soul.” Say rather, “I have met the soul walking upon my path.”

For the soul walks upon all paths.

The soul walks not upon a line, neither does it grow like a reed.

The soul unfolds itself, like a lotus of countless petals.

 

It Is Unwise To Pay Too Little – Huh?

“It is unwise to pay too much, but it is unwise to pay too little. When you pay too much, you loose a little money; that is all.

When you pay too little, you sometimes lose everything. Because the thing you bought was incapable of doing the thing you bought it to do.

The common law of business balance prohibits paying a little and getting a lot. It cannot be done.

If you deal with the lowest bidder, it is well to add something for the risk you run, and if you do that, you will have enough to pay for something better.”

– John Ruskin 1819-1900

You Gotta Have a Dream

“You gotta have a dream. If you don’t have a dream, then how you gonna have your dream come true?”

– Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein, “Happy Talk,” South Pacific, 1958.

The Cost of Mistakes

“Recently, I was asked if I was going to fire an employee who made a mistake that cost the company $600,000.  ‘No,’ I replied, ‘I just spent $600,000 training him. Why would I want somebody to hire his experience?’ “

– Thomas J. Watson, Founder of IBM