Those who occupy their minds with small matters, generally become incapable of greatness.
—François de La Rochefoucauld (Public Domain)
Occupy Your Mind with Lofty Thoughts, not Irrelevant Chaff
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Penn All AccessMost Recent Articles
Maintain an Action Environment
One of the greatest and simplest tools for learning more and for growing is to simply do more. — Washington Irving (1809, by John Wesley Jarvis; Public Domain) Washington Irving was a prolific...
Don’t Seek Approval; Forge Ahead With Your Bold Plan
Whatever task you undertake, do it with all your heart and soul. Always be courteous; never be discouraged. Do not blame anybody else for your mistakes and failures. Do not look for approval...
Humor Friday
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...
On Personal Excellence
If you want to achieve excellence, you can get there today. As of this second, quit doing less-than-excellent work. — Thomas J. Watson, IBM CEO between 1914 and 1962 (Image licensed by Penn Wealth...
Live in the Moment
If you are depressed, you are living in the past. If you are anxious, you are living in the future. If you are at peace, you are living in the present. — Lao Tzu (Image licensed by Penn Wealth Pub.)
Renewal
Whether one has succeeded, failed, or just muddled along…life begins each morning! Each night is a wall between today and the past; each morning is the open door to a new world—new vistas, new...
Perception: Why Some See Stone Walls Where Others See Only Stepping Stones
The learner always begins by finding fault, but the scholar sees the positive merit in everything. — Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1831, by Jakob Schlesinger; Public Domain)
Humor Friday: On Taking the Erudite Too Seriously
Without education we are in a horrible and deadly danger of taking educated people seriously. — G.K.Chesterton, English author, philosopher, and lay theologian (Public Domain)
Merchants of Division
Be leery of any person or movement which tries to separate us into groups by pointing out our differences rather than trying to bring us together based our common threads. Odds are strong that...
You Do Something Remarkable, So Get Your Message Out!
Without promotion, something terrible happens…nothing! — P.T. Barnum (Image licensed by Penn Wealth Pub.) People are always open to good ideas, new solutions, applications which can improve the...
The Eye of the Beholder
The tree which moves some to tears of joy is, in the eyes of others, only a green thing that stands in the way. Some…scarce see nature at all. But to the eyes of one with imagination, nature is...
Having Selected Your Destination, Do What You Must to Get There
We shall never have more time. We have, and have always had, all the time there is. No object is served in waiting until next week or even until tomorrow. Keep going day-in and day-out....
Humor Friday: on Temptation
Better to shun the bait than struggle in the snare. — John Dryden, England’s first Poet Laureate (by Sir Godfrey Kneller; Public Domain) I am sure we all have very colorful examples in our lives...
On Humility and a Willingness to Learn, to Adjust One’s Thinking
Some people will never learn anything for this reason: because they understand everything too soon. — Alexander Pope (1727, by Michael Dahl; Public Domain)
Be the Pioneer, the Catalyst for Growth
With a tree, all the growth takes place at the growing tips. Humanity is exactly the same. All the growth takes place in the growing tip: among that small percentage of the population. It’s made...
The Spiritual Nature of Time
This lifetime is a sliver on the path of our soul’s journey. If we keep that in mind, we see our world with increased clarity, we become more emboldened with our daily pursuits, and our setbacks...
On Accomplishment-Focused Leadership
A leader is best when people barely know he exists, when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say: we did it ourselves. — Lao Tzu (Image licensed by Penn Wealth Pub.)
Humor Friday
Good advice is something a man gives when he is too old to set a bad example. — François de La Rochefoucauld (Image licensed by Penn Wealth Pub.)
Become the Embodiment of Personal Excellence
All things excellent are as difficult as they are rare. — Baruch Spinoza, Enlightenment philosopher (1665, artist unknown; Public Domain) Despite the ease with which the word is bandied about,...
Motivating Others Toward a Common Goal
If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up people to collect wood and don’t assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea. — Antoine de...