The greatest thing by far, is to be a master of metaphor. It is the sign of genius. ~Aristotle

Why Metaphors? Human Beings constantly think and reason in form of metaphors. It is through metaphors that we process information and make new associations in our minds. Because metaphors are a non-literal language, they allow us to create new associations and anchor them to our mental database of relevant experience. More simply, the use of metaphors is a way of communicating or explaining a concept by likening it to something else. The two concepts may appear to have little resemblance to each other, but our familiarity with one allows us to gain an understanding of the other. As early as Humans began to communicate, metaphors played a vital role. Stories could be constructed, remembered, and repeated. The I-Ching recorded stories and metaphors in form of oracles; Aesop created fables with morals to the stories; Confuses spoke in metaphors called analects of moral philosophies; Jesus spoke in metaphors called parables; and, Shakespeare used metaphoric works of literary depth filled with meaning and complexities.

Here are a Few of My Favorites:

My father taught me the theory and practice of Act as if.  This is what he told me:

If there is something you want - really, really want --   see it, believe it, feel it, fire it up, and act as if you already have it. There will come a time when you will not be able to pinpoint when the acting left off and the real thing set in. ~ Nick Charles Nackos

Master Metaphysician Florence Scovel Shinn (1924) explained: “All sickness is due to congestion and all healing is due to circulation.”   This is a phenomenon that likewise applies to prosperity and abundance.  When your thoughts and self talk is bogged down with a mind full of lack, struggle, resistance, and woe, money cannot come to you.  It would be the Kingdom which Jesus Christ spoke of, where all things are automatically added unto us. I say automatically added unto us, because all life is vibration; and when we vibrate to success, happiness, and abundance, the things which symbolize these states of consciousness will attach themselves to us.”

"Feel rich and successful, and suddenly you receive a large check or a beautiful gift."

"No man gives to himself but himself, and no man takes away from himself but himself: the "Game of Life" is a game of solitaire; as you change, all conditions will change."                                                                ~ Florence Scovel Shinn

Jesus demonstrated that only those who have prepared for their good (thereby acting as if) will bring the manifestation to pass. Mark 11:24 - in this parable He said, "And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive." "Therefore I say unto you, what things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them."

We might paraphrase the scripture and say:
When ye pray, see it, feel it, and believe ye have it; when ye pray ACT as if you have already received it, and ye shall have it.

Forget those who say, “You can't…” and do it ANYWAY.

On occasion, you've probably been told that you can't do this, have no talent for that, are not capable of whatever, and never succeed at something, and so on. Rich people have in common the mind-set to overcome those negative comments and do what they were told they couldn't do. Then they smile at the getting there, the freedom of having created what they want, and the lesson they gained by proving themselves right.

Look at some people who got off to a slow start or had set-backs, and still did okay: Paul Allen and Bill Gates dropped out of college to found Microsoft, Karl Rove dropped out of college, Woody Allen dropped out; Alexander Bell, Ray Bradbury, Samuel Clemens (Also known as Mark Twain- quit school at 13), Grover Cleveland, Charles Dickens, Michael Dell, Walt Disney, Thomas Edison, William Faulkner, Scott Fitzgerald, Henry Ford, Robert Frost, Ernest Hemingway, Peter Jennings, Estee Lauder, Ralph Lauren, Edgar Allen Poe, John D. Rockefeller, Steven Spielberg, Harry Truman, and Ted Turner all made it without making it all the way through school.  And, there’s more:

• Socrates was called "an immoral corrupter of youth" and continued to corrupt even after a sentence of death was imposed on him. He drank the hemlock and died corrupting.
• Charles Darwin gave up a medical career and was told by his father, "You care for nothing but shooting, dogs, and rat catching." In his autobiography, Darwin wrote, "I was considered by all my masters and my father, a very ordinary boy, rather below the common standard of intellect." (Clearly, he evolved)!
• As a young man, Abraham Lincoln went off to war a captain and returned a private. After the war he was a failure as a businessman. Lincoln became a lawyer in Springfield, and he was too impractical and temperamental to be a success. Next, he went into politics and was defeated in his first try for the legislature, again defeated in his first attempt to be nominated for congress. After, he was defeated in his application to be commissioner of the General Land Office, defeated in the senatorial election of 1854, defeated in his efforts for the vice-presidency in 1856, and defeated in the senatorial election of 1858. At about that time, he wrote in a letter to a friend,

"I am now the most miserable man living. If what I feel
were equally distributed to the whole human family, there
would not be one cheerful face on the earth."

• Inventor Thomas Edison was asked to leave the school at age 9 because he was at the bottom of his class. His teacher declared she thought there was something wrong with him; that he was "addled” and that he was "too stupid to learn anything." Young Thomas told his mother and they took him out of the school. He only went to school for 3 months in his whole life. Afterwards, he was taught at home. Edison was fired from his first two jobs for being "non-productive." As an inventor, Edison made 1,000 unsuccessful attempts at inventing the light bulb. When a reporter asked, "How did it feel to fail 1,000 times?" Edison replied, "I didn’t fail 1,000 times. The light bulb was an invention with 1,000 steps."
• Louis Pasteur was only a mediocre pupil in undergraduate studies and ranked 15th out of 22 students in chemistry.
• Daniel Boone was once asked by a reporter if he had ever been lost in the wilderness. Boone thought for a moment and replied, "No, but I was once bewildered for about three days."
• Sigmund Freud was booed from the podium when he first presented his ideas to the scientific community of Europe. He returned to his office and kept on writing.
• Winston Churchill failed sixth grade. He met defeat in every election for public office until he became Prime Minister at the age of 62. He later wrote the now infamous command,

"Never give in; never give in, never, never, never, never - in anything,
great or small, large or petty - never give in
except to convictions of honor and good sense,
Never, Never, Never, Never give up."
(Churchill’s capitals on Never)!

• Albert Einstein didn't speak until he was nearly five years old and was considered "mentally slow." He did not begin to read until he was seven. His parents thought he was "sub-normal," and one of his teachers described him as "mentally slow, unsociable, and adrift forever in foolish dreams." He was expelled from school and was refused admittance to the Zurich Polytechnic School. (He did eventually learn to speak and read. Even to do a little math)!
• Henry Ford failed and went broke five times before he succeeded.

"I don't want to achieve immortality through my work. I want to achieve it through not dying. Eighty percent of success is showing up."  Woody Allen

• When Bell telephone was struggling to get started, its owners offered all their rights to Western Union for $100,000. The offer was disdainfully rejected with the pronouncement, "What use could this company make of an electrical toy."
• F. W. Woolworth was not allowed to wait on customers when he worked in a dry goods store because, his boss said, "he didn't have enough sense."
• R. H. Macy failed seven times before his store in New York City caught on.
• Creative business mogel Walt Disney was fired from his first newspaper job because he had "no imagination" and "he had no good ideas." He went bankrupt several times before he built Disneyland. In fact, the proposed park was rejected by the city of Anaheim on the grounds that it would only attract riffraff.
• George Duvall’s own family told him he would be dead or in prison by the time he was 13. By the time he was six, he was a thief, frequently truant from school, and involved with gangs. Then he spent 15 years in foster care and in boys facilities.
• Frank Sinatra was told he couldn’t sing and would never, ever make it into the industry.
• Jane Goodall got her doctorate long after she made her mark with her animal studies.
• Rahul Bajaj when once slapped by his teacher, replied,” No one can beat Bajaj" and walked out of the class. Later this became the tagline of his company.
• Robert Sternberg received a C in his first college introductory-psychology class. His teacher commented that "there was a famous Sternberg in psychology and it was obvious there would not be another." Three years later Sternberg graduated with honors from Stanford University with exceptional distinction in psychology, summa cum laude, and Phi Beta Kappa. In 2002, he became President of the American Psychological Association.
• John Garcia, who eventually was honored for his fundamental psychological discoveries, was once told by a reviewer of his often-rejected manuscripts that, “one is no more likely to find the phenomenon he discovered than to find bird droppings in a cuckoo clock.”

"Our greatest glory is not in never falling but in rising every time we fall." Confucius

• Rocket scientist Robert Goddard was met with bitter rejection by his scientific peers and teachers.  His ideas were dismissed on the grounds that rocket propulsion would not work in the rarefied atmosphere of outer space.

• An expert said of Vince Lombardi: "He possesses minimal football knowledge and lacks motivation." Lombardi would later write, "It's not whether you get knocked down; it's whether you get back up." And, my favorite,

“Success [winning] is not a sometimes thing; it’s an all-the-time thing. 
You don’t do things right once in a while, you do them right all the time. 
Success, therefore is a habit.” ~Lombardi

• Michael Jordan and Bob Cousy were each cut from their high school basketball teams. Jordan once observed,

"I've failed over and over again in my life. That is why I succeed."

• Babe Ruth is famous for his past home run record, but for decades he also held the record for strikeouts. He hit 714 home runs and struck out 1,330 times in his career.  About this he said,  

"Every strike brings me closer to the next home run."

• Hank Aaron went 0 for 5 his first time at bat with the Milwakee Braves.
• Stan Smith was rejected as a ball boy for a Davis Cup tennis match because he was "too awkward and clumsy." He went on to clumsily win Wimbledon and the U. S. Open nd eight Davis Cups.
• Tom Landry, Chuck Noll, Bill Walsh, and Jimmy Johnson accounted for 11 of the 19 Super Bowl victories from 1974 to 1993. They also share the distinction of having the worst records of first-season head coaches in NFL history - they didn't win a single game.
• Johnny Unitas's first pass in the NFL was intercepted and returned for a touchdown. Joe Montana's first pass was also intercepted. And while we're on quarterbacks, during his first season Troy Aikman threw twice as many interceptions (18) as touchdowns (9) . . . oh, and he didn't win a single game. You think there's a lesson here?
• After Carl Lewis won the gold medal for the long jump in the 1996 Olympic games, he was asked to what he attributed his longevity, having competed for almost 20 years. He said,
• "By remembering that you have both wins and losses along the way. I don't take either one too seriously."

• After Fred Astaire's first screen test, the memo from the testing director of MGM, dated 1933, read, "Can't act. Can't sing. Slightly bald. Can dance a little." He kept that memo over the fire place in his Beverly Hills home. Astaire once observed that "when you're experimenting, you have to try so many things before you choose what you want, that you may go days getting nothing but exhaustion." And here is the reward for perseverance: "The higher up you go, the more mistakes you are allowed. Right at the top, if you make enough of them, it's considered to be your style."
• Charles Schultz had every cartoon he submitted rejected by his high school yearbook staff. Oh, and Walt Disney wouldn't hire him. Despite his many lack of successes this boy did not give up. He then decided to write his own life story in cartoons, about a little boy who was regarded as a loser and a nobody, and he was the creator of the famous Charlie Brown and Peanuts cartoon comic strip.
• After his first audition, Sidney Poitier was told by the casting director, "Why don't you stop wasting people's time and go out and become a dishwasher or something?" It was at that moment, recalls Poitier, that he decided to devote his life to acting.
• When Lucille Ball began studying to be actress in 1927, she was told by the head instructor of the John Murray Anderson Drama School, "Try any other profession."
• The first time Jerry Seinfeld walked on-stage at a comedy club as a professional comic, he looked out at the audience, froze, and forgot the English language. He stumbled through "a minute-and a half" of material and was jeered offstage. He returned the following night and closed his set to wild applause.
• In 1944, director of the Blue Book Modeling Agency, Emmeline Snively, told a hopeful and determined Norma Jean Baker, "You'd better learn secretarial work or else get married." I'm sure you know that Norma Jean was Marilyn Monroe. (Now . . . hum, who was Emmeline Snively)?
• At the age of 21, French acting legend Jeanne Moreau was told by a casting director that her head was too crooked, she wasn't beautiful enough, and she wasn't photogenic. She took a deep breath and said to herself, "Alright, then, I guess I will have to make it my own way." After making nearly 100 films her own way, in 1997 she received the European Film Academy Lifetime Achievement Award.

• Harrison Ford's first performance wad as a hotel bellhop in the film Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round.  He flopped and the studio vice-president called him in to his office. "Sit down kid," the studio head said, "I want to tell you a story. The first time Tony Curtis was ever in a movie he delivered a bag of groceries. We took one look at him and knew he was a movie star." Ford replied, "I thought you were supposed to think that he was a grocery delivery boy." The vice president dismissed Ford with "You ain't got it kid, you ain't got it ... now get out of here." (I don’t remember the studio vice-president’s name).
• Michael Caine's headmaster told him to face it, "You will be a laborer all your life."
• Charlie Chaplin was initially rejected by Hollywood studio chiefs because his pantomime was considered "nonsense."
• Enrico Caruso's music teacher said he had no voice at all and could not sing. His parents wanted him to become an engineer.
• Decca Records turned down a recording contract with the Beatles with the unprophetic evaluation, "We don't like their sound. Groups of guitars are on their way out." After Decca rejected the Beatles, Columbia records followed suit and dismissed them as no talent.
• In 1954, Jimmy Denny, manager of the Grand Ole Opry, fired Elvis Presley after one performance. He told Presley, "You ain't never goin' nowhere, son. You ought to go back to drivin' a truck."
• Beethoven handled the violin awkwardly and preferred playing his own compositions instead of improving his technique. His teacher called him "hopeless as a composer." And, of course, you know that he wrote five of his greatest symphonies while completely deaf.

• A Paris art dealer refused Picasso shelter when he asked if he could bring in his paintings from out of the rain.
• Van Gogh sold only one painting during his life - to the sister of one of his friends for 400 francs (approximately $50). This didn't stop him from completing over 800 paintings.
• Rodin's father once said, "I have an idiot for a son." Described as the worst pupil in the school, he was rejected three times admittance to the Ecole des Beaux-Arts. His uncle called him uneducable. Perhaps this gave him food for thought.
• Stravinsky was run out of town by an enraged audience and critics after the first performance of the Rite of Spring.
• When Pablo Casals reached 95, a young reporter asked him "Mr. Casals, you are 95 and the greatest cellist that ever lived. Why do you still practice six hours a day?" Mr. Casals answered, "Because I think I'm making progress."

• Leo Tolstoy flunked out of college. He was described as both "unable and unwilling to learn.”
• Louisa May Alcott, author of Little Women, was encouraged to find work as a servant by her family.
• Emily Dickinson had only seven poems published in her lifetime.
• 15 publishers rejected a manuscript by E. E. Cummings. When he finally got it published (by his mother), the dedication, printed in uppercase letters, read WITH NO THANKS TO . . . followed by the list of publishers who had rejected his prized offering18 publishers turned down Richard Bach's story about a "soaring eagle." Macmillan finally published Jonathan Livingston Seagull in 1970. By 1975 it had sold more than 7 million copies in the U.S. alone.
• 21 publishers rejected Richard Hooker's humorous war novel, M*A*S*H. He had worked on it for seven years.
• 27 publishers rejected Dr. Seuss's first book, To Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street.
• Jack London received six hundred rejection slips before he sold his first story.
• English crime novelist John Creasey got 753 rejection slips before he published 564 books. (But, who’s counting)?
• Gertrude Stein submitted poems to editors for nearly 20 years before one was finally accepted. (Reference A Rose is a Rose).
• John Milton wrote Paradise Lost 16 years after losing his eyesight
• One of Professor Pajares's first research efforts came back with a review that began, "There are so many things I don't like about this article I just don't know where to begin." When asked in a interview how he remained dedicated to his pursuit he said, “I don't really know how my initial interest in psychology came about. I went to college intending to major in political science, but at some point wandered into an introductory psychology class and became intrigued. Then, I took another class and had to read William James. Well, that did it. However, I had wanted to be a teacher from the day I read James Hilton's Goodbye, Mr. Chips in seventh grade. Thus, educational psychology proved a happy marriage of interest and passion.”

There is a professor at MIT who offers a course on failure. He does that, he says, because failure is a far more common experience than success. An interviewer once asked him if anybody ever failed the course on failure. He thought a moment and replied, "No, but there were two Incompletes."

I have more, but I think you get the point (and I’m tired now)!  The end-note is, having a false start, a set-back, a slump, and nay-sayers along your journey won’t make you a failure and can’t mean you won't be successful.

All these people had the insight to NOT CARE about all the negative comments from other people and they proved themselves right and everyone else wrong.

If someone tells you that you'll never be rich, go ahead and prove them wrong. Recognize an opportunity, choose the opportunity, act on it, and you're sure to reach it one day. Many people recognize a business opportunity and just go for it and put in a lot of effort. Even though many said that they will fail but their beliefs in their goal has cause them to succeed.

If you’ve made it down this far, I've saved the best for last!  I must close with the life-altering words from Mother Teresa.  The verses below reportedly were written on the wall of Mother Teresa's home for children in Calcutta, India. Personally, the whole course of my life’s pursuit changed when I read this for the first time and continues to drive me.  It is entitled ANYWAY (there are several versions, I like this one):

People are illogical, unreasonable and self-centered. Love them anyway. If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives. Do good anyway. If you are successful, you win false friends and true enemies. Succeed anyway. The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway. Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable. Be honest and frank anyway. The biggest persons with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest persons with the smallest minds. Think big anyway. People favor underdogs but follow only top dogs. Fight for a few underdogs anyway. What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight. Build anyway. People really need help, but may attack you if you do help them. Help them anyway. Give the world the best you have and you'll get kicked in the teeth. Give the world the best you have anyway. In the final analysis, it is between you and God.  It was never between you and them anyway. ~ Attributed to Mother Teresa

Have you heard the story of the ambulance down in the valley?

It seems there was a small village built in a beautiful mountainous valley just below a magnificently scenic, yet dangerous cliff. Because of the enticing view from the cliff above above the valley, many villagers had fallen over and suffered injury. As a result, the little village was losing its citizens, workers, and neighbors and the tight knit society was diminishing in population.

The town leaders were moved by compassion at the increasing statistics of those that were prey to the fall. A community group was formed and met to resolve the issue. Realizing the proof that their citizens and commerce would perish, it was decided they must invest in ambulances to capture the fallen victims. The community trusted their wise leaders and voted to support the measure to purchase the first ambulance.

Having a solution, more people visited the view from the cliff... and more people fell ...and more ambulances were purchased!

Then one day, a wise man spoke up. He agreed that the ambulance has merrit, however there was something missing, “Would it not be wiser (and more economical) to erect a fence at the top of the cliff, post a sign to warn the sightseers, and stop the falling altogether?” "After all, the fense and sign would be $100,000 once and an ambulance is $500,000 each," He reasoned.

The leaders were outraged and the people thought him absurd; a traitor to question the systematic approach! Why, this man would probably stop all charitable community donations, as well! Why change? The task group saw no reasonable justification to change the working process. Taxes were raised to purchase more ambulances in rapid order, and fallen victims continued to pick up just as fast as they fell.

An ambulance down in the valley?  OR  A fence on the edge of the cliff?

I've often heard the following story actually happened, although I've not been able to identify the source.  At the same time, I'm quite positive it's a story being played out in some form or other all the time!  It goes like this:

Sometime around the first of the twentieth century, an expanding shoe manufacturer sent a sales and marketing representitive to Africa to open a market in the undeveloped continent.  Completing a month-long marketing research strategy, the rep sent an anxious telegram back to the home office declaring, "Disaster! Disaster!  The people here do not wear shoes!  Bring me home immediately!"

It wasn't very long until another shoe company sent their representative to Africa for the same purpose.  Upon completing the marketing research, this rep also sent an energetic telegram back to the home office: "Opportunity! Opportunity!  The people here do not wear shoes!  Triple production immediately!"

A Jain Story tells of six blind men who decided they would work together to determine what an elephant looked like. They would each use the sense of touch to feel the elephant and share their experience.

The first blind man felt the elephant's leg and said the elephant is a mighty pillar; the second felt the tail and said the elephant is a strong, thick rope; the third man felt the trunk and was definite the elephant is a limber tree trunk; the fourth felt the ear and described the elephant as a huge fan; the fifth man leaned up against the elephant's belly and said the elephant is a sturdy wall; and the last man felt the tusk is adament that the elephant is a rigid pipe.

A wise man explains to them, "All of you are right and each speak the truth." He went on to explain, "The reason you tell six versions of the truth are because of the viewpoint from your experience. Your experience is your truth and your truth is your belief."

Dorothy Law Nolte wrote a powerful reminder of our influence to those around us.  This could be said of our children, our employees, our students, our spouses,
and any person in our range of influence. Most importantly, it can be said of our relationship with ourself. Think about it:

If children live with criticism, they learn to condemn.  

Those who bring sunshine to the lives of others, cannot keep it from themselves. ~ James Barrie  To bring up a child in the way he should go, travel that way yourself once in a while. ~ Henry Wheeler Shaw The Role of leader, in the workplace, in our communities, and in our homes, require modeling the disired behaviors and allowing others to see the the values in action. The apple does not fall far from the tree. ~ American Proverb Behind an able man there are always other able men. ~ Chinese Proverb

If children live with hostility, they learn to fight.

If children live with ridicule, they learn to be shy.

If children live with shame, they learn to feel guilty.

If children live with tolerance, they learn to be patient.

If children live with encouragement, they learn confidence.

If children live with praise, they learn to appreciate.

If children live with fairness, they learn justice.

If children live with security, they learn to have faith.

If children live with approval, they learn to like themselves.

If children live with acceptance and friendship, they learn to find love in the world.

 

INSTRUCTIONS FOR LIFE by the Dalai Lama, 2000
	Take into account that great love and great achievements involve great risk.
	When you lose, don't lose the lesson.
	Follow the three Res' - Respect for self, Respect for others, and Responsibility for all your actions.
	Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck.
	Learn the rules so you know how to break them properly.
	Don't let a little dispute injure a great friendship.
	When you realize you've made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it.
	Spend some time alone every day.
	Open your arms to change, but don't let go of your values.
	Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.
	Live a good, honorable life. Then when you get older and think back, you'll be able to enjoy it a second time.
	A loving atmosphere in your home is the foundation for your life.
	In disagreements with loved ones, deal only with the current situation. Don't bring up the past.
	Share your knowledge. It's a way to achieve immortality.
	Be gentle with the earth.
	Once a year, go someplace you've never been before.
	Remember that the best relationship is one in which your love for each other exceeds your need for each other.
	Judge your success by what you had to give up in order to get it.
	Approach love and cooking with reckless abandon.

 

Aesop tells of a prideful alpha dog who found a large bone and held it tightly in his mouth. The dog growled and scowled at anyone who came near him, thinking they were after his prize. Off to the woods he went alone to bury and guard his bone.

By and by, the dog came to a stream and began over the footbridge. The dog glanced into the water, catching his own reflection. Thinking it was another dog with a bigger bone, he was sure the other dog was out to get him and he growled and scowled at it. The reflection growled and scowled back. "I'll get you first! And your bone too," thought the dog, "Before you get mine."

The dog snapped his sharp teeth at the image in the water and fell in after it, growling and fighting all the time. Alas, when he did, his bone vanashed out of reach, leaving the dog alone and empty.

You've no doubt heard Hans Christian Anderson's story of the pompous Emperor who obsesses of owning the most exquisite clothing ever worn.

The Emperor hires two tailors and pays them gold to fashion a worthy design. The swindling tailors promise the Emperor a suit from the rarest and most valuable cloth on earth. The cloth, they tell him, is invisible to anyone who is either stupid or unworthy of esteemed position.

Much to his horror, the Emperor cannot see (the nonexistent) cloth, but convincingly pretends he can so he is not deemed unworthy; his counsel and much of the kingdom does the same. When the swindling tailors report the suit is finished, the Emperor is dressed in mime. The Emperor then goes on procession in a royal parade throughout the kingdom!

During the course of the procession, a truthful child cries out in laughter, "Look mama, the Emperor has nothing on!" The child's honesty spreads swiftly through the crowd, picking up laughter until it reaches a roar! The Emperor, however, holds his head high and continues along the procession.

Eureka!

This famous expression was first uttered by a man whose genius changed the worlds of science and math forever over 2200 years ago. The word is Greek for "I have found it!"  It has been cried by many, many critical creative thinkers.  Here’s the story of Archimedes and his cry of eureka: 

King Hieron II of Syracuse commissioned the crafting of a golden crown as a tribute to the gods. He gave a carefully weighed amount of gold to a smith, who was to produce a beautiful crown, such as had no equal in value or art.   The king became suspicious; however, that the goldsmith had not used all of the gold he had been given. It was a common trick to alloy gold with cheaper silver, but the King had no way of proving the craftsman had been dishonest. King Hieron petitioned the brilliant scientist and mathematician Archimedes to solve the problem.      Archimedes knew that gold and silver have different densities, meaning that a lump of gold will weigh about twice as much as a lump of silver the same size. The challenge was that no one knew how to determine the size of an irregularly shaped object like a crown.      Archimedes went to the public baths to relax, and often seek answers to his questions. He slipped into the water and began to relax.  In his mind’s eye he pictured the water that had spilled over the edge of the tub from the weight of his body, and he had a sudden flash of inspiration. The amount of displaced water must be exactly the same volume as his weight. And by knowing the volume of an object one can now easily calculate its density. All Archimedes had to do was find out whether a lump of pure gold, with the same volume as the crown, weighed more. The crown would be lighter than it should be if the goldsmith had deviously used some silver instead. It is said that Archimedes, in a fit of jubilation, leapt straight out of the bath and ran naked down the streets shouting “Eureka! Eureka!”– “I have found it! I have found it”      The goldsmith never dreamed there would be a way to discover his deviance.  When faced with the proof, he soon confessed and was dealt with by the King.

Archimedes Screw Archimedes 287 BCE-212 BCE

It is unlikely that there has been another mathematician so devoted to his subject since Archimedes. He was thinking through a problem even when he died. Syracuse surrendered to Rome in 212 BC, but Archimedes was typically so deep in thought and calculation, he was unaware of what was going on around him. The troops entered the city and a soldier approaching Archimedes disturbed the geometrical diagrams he had been drawing in a sand pit. Archimedes angrily commanded, “do not disturb the circles” and was slain by the soldier, not realising who he was!

Give me a place to stand and I will move the world.  ~Archimedes

Several millennia later, the scientific world is replete with the exclamation, Eurika and many people have received inspiration in the shower. Many historians consider Archimedes to be one of the greatest scientists in history and the greatest mathematician of all time. Archimedes' contributions to science and math include the discovery and development of the laws and principles of mechanics, buoyancy, hydrostatics, specific gravity, the lever, and the pulley; in addition, he discovered how to find the measurement of a circle and the volume of a solid. Archimedes derived the formula for the volume of a sphere, and found an accurate value for pi. These discoveries and other inventions were the life and love of Archimedes. The mathematical conjectures of Henri Poincarι, Einstein's theory of relativity, Newton getting dinged on the head with an apple and discovering gravity--all have been described as eureka moments. Edgar Allan Poe wrote a prose poem to science by that title and the prospectors of California's gold rush were so fond of the phrase that it crept into that state's motto. Even the American Association for the Advancement of Science calls its breaking scientific news site EurekAlert.

A farmer sets a number of traps to catch cranes, which are pests and eating his crops. Within a few days, the farmer goes into the field Inspecting the traps.  Much to his satisfaction the farmer finds a number of cranes, and also a stork, which pleads to be let go. "Please release me because storks are not pests and do not take the crops," begs the stork. But the farmer refuses, saying, "I don't care who you are - you're with the cranes that ruin my crops and so you'll suffer just the same."

A woman came out of her house and saw three old men with long white beards sitting in her front yard. She did not recognize them. She said, "I don't think I know you, but you must be hungry. Please come in and have something to eat."

"We do not go into a house together," they replied. "Why is that?" she wanted to know. One of the old men explained: "His name is Wealth," he said pointing to one of his friends, and said pointing to another one, "He is Success, and I am Love. We wish to join you, but we must follow our path.  We can not go into a house together." Then he added, "Now go in and discuss with your husband which one of us you want in your home."

The woman went in and told her husband what was said. Her husband was overjoyed. "How nice!" he said. "Since that is the case, let us invite Wealth. Let him come and fill our home with wealth!"

His wife disagreed. “If we invite wealth inside, perhaps Success will leave. If this is the case, Wealth can not last here long.” She continued, "My dear, why don't we invite Success? Surely Wealth will not be far away."

The woman's daughter-in-law was listening from the other corner of the house. She jumped in with her own suggestion: "Would it not be better to invite Love? Our home will then be filled with love!"

"Yes, of course. Let us heed our daughter-in-law's advice," said the husband to his wife. "What good is Wealth and Success if there is no Love?” Go out and invite Love to be our guest."

The woman went out and asked the three old men, "Which one of you is Love? Please come in and be our guest." Love got up and started walking toward the house. The other two got up and followed him. Surprised, the lady asked Wealth and Success: "I only invited Love, why are you coming in?" The old men replied together: "If you had invited Wealth or Success, the other two of us would've stayed out, but since you invited Love, wherever He goes, we go with him. Wherever there is Love, Wealth and Success must follow!"

Don Miguel Ruiz, Toltec Master and author of The Four Agreements, tells a story of The Magic Kitchen. The story changed the way I look at relationships. I remember it going something like this:

Imagine that you have the perfect life.  You live in the perfect city, in the perfect neighborhood, in the perfect home.  In your perfect home, imagine you have a magical kitchen.  Can you see it?  What does it look like?  What kind of furniture and appliances do you have in your perfect, magical kitchen? Imagine the most expensive, technical appliances available today. What style and colors have you decorated in?  See the most expensive, quality countertops and cabinets you have in your perfect, magical kitchen?  What does your kitchen smell like?  How does it feel to sit in your perfect, magical kitchen?

Now, imagine the abundance of food you have stored in your kitchen.  You have any food you want from any place in the world in any quantity.  You never have to worry about what to eat; whatever you think about, you can have on your table and in your pantry and cabinets.  You are very generous with your abundant food; you give food unconditionally to others, not because you want something in return; you certainly don’t need anything. Whoever comes to your home, you delight in feeding them just for the pleasure of sharing your food, and your house is always full of people who come to eat with you in your magical kitchen.  Whenever you serve food from your storage it is magically refilled.

Then one day, just as you and your friends have finished a feast, someone knocks at your door. You open the door to welcome another guest to your bountiful table, and find a person with a pizza. The person looks at you and says, “Hello!  Do you see this pizza? I’ll give you this pizza if you let me control your life, if you let me treat you however I want, and you do whatever I say.  You’ll see me on my terms, and all you will ever get from me is pizza, but you can eat when I show up because I will bring you enough pizza to keep you from starvation.  You just have to be good to me.”

Can you imagine your reaction?  In your abundant kitchen you have a party with an Italian theme!  You have pizza fresh from Italy, and you are full from the feast!  Yet this person comes to you and offers you food, if you just do whatever he wants you to do.  You laugh and say, “No, thank you!  I don’t need your food; I have plenty of food.  You can come into my house and eat whatever you want, and you don’t have to do anything.  Don’t believe I am ever going to do whatever you want me to do.  No one can manipulate me with food, for I have abundance.

Ruiz then suggests you imagine exactly the opposite.  Imagine you are very, very hungry.  Weeks have gone by since you have had food and you have no where to go.  You are weak from starving and you have no money in your pocket to buy food.  You are empty and desperate with no hope of a next meal. 

The person comes with the pizza and says, “Hello!  Do you see this pizza? I’ll give you this pizza if you let me control your life, if you let me treat you however I want, and you do whatever I say.  You’ll see me on my terms, and all you will ever get from me is pizza, but you can eat when I show up because I will bring you enough pizza to keep you from starvation.  You just have to be good to me.”

You have food today, but tomorrow you may not have food, so you agree to do whatever you can for food.  You can become a slave because of food, because you need food, because you do not have it.  Then after a certain time you have doubts.  You say, “What am I going to do without my pizza? I cannot live without my pizza.  What if my partner decides to give the pizza to someone else ---- my pizza?

Now imagine that instead of food, we are talking about love.

When you realize nothing is lacking, The whole world belongs to you! ~Lao Tse

The blind man's friends reason with him, explain, and try to describe, but he clings to his opinion: "What you say that you see," he objects, "are illusions. If colors were so I should be able to touch them. Colors have no texture and are not real. Everything real has weight, but I feel no weight and your colors are illusionary."    

A physician is called upon by the friends to see the blind man and after examination the man is prescribed a remedy.  The physician mixes a potent from The Four Simples (truths) and applies it to the man's eyes.  Upon so doing, grey film of the cataracts disolve and the once blind eyes can see.

Post Script - Here, I’ve provided what I know of The Four Noble Truths:

The First Noble Truth: Dukkha – There are challenges in life; if we look you can see there exists illness, poverty, disease, age, and death. If this is all we know (pay attention to) we suffer.

The Second Noble Truth: Samudaya  - The origin and cause of suffering is attachment.  Attaching to the craving desire of something (or someone) leads to suffering.

The Third Noble Truth: Nirodha - By stopping the cravings, the suffering is stopped.

The Fourth Noble Truth: Magga  - The way to ending craving is the Eightfold Path. Truth is found through moderation (or balance) by way of the Noble Eightfold Path:

1.      Right Viewpoint: Realizing the Four Noble Truths, identifying one's values and purpose

2.      Right Values: Commitment to mental and ethical growth in alignment with one's values

3.      Right Speech: One speaks in a non hurtful, not exaggerated, truthful way

4.      Right Actions: Wholesome action, avoiding action that would do harm to self, others, and environment

5.      Right Livelihood: One's job does not harm in any way oneself, others, or the environment; directly or indirectly

6.      Right Effort: One makes an effort to improve

7.      Right Mindfulness: Mental ability to see things for what they are with clear consciousness

8.      Right Meditation: A state where one reaches enlightenment and the ego has disappeared

There is a Tao Story about an old farmer and his son. The two men made a meager living selling the crops produced on thier farm. The old farmer worked very hard but his labor was always met with a joyful heart and a love for his land.

One evening there was a magnificent thunderstorm and the old farmer's only horse ran away. The next day the village neighbors gathered in sympathy. They came to commiserate with the old man at such bad luck. "How dreadful, and such misfortune," they said, "Now you will not be able to plow your fields." To which the farmer said, "Maybe."

The next week the farmer's horse returned with six wild horses who had herded with him. The neighbors rushed to see for themselves the farmer's good luck. "It's a miracle," they cried, "Now your labor will be light and your harvest swift." To which the farmer said, "Maybe."

The following day the farmer's son saddled and rode one of the wild horses to tame him. The son was thrown and broke both legs. Again the neighbors came in sympathy. "Oh, farmer," they said, "You have such bad luck. Now you must tend and harvest your crops alone." To which the farmer said, "Maybe."

Two days later the King's Army ravaged through the village, seizing all able young men to go to battle. The farmer's son was rejected because of his broken legs. "Our sons are gone to war," said the neighbors, "But, your son remains because of your good luck," they said. To which the farmer said, "Maybe."

Once there was an enormous statue of Buddha made of mud and clay, in Thailand. A humble monk was assigned an old temple to renovate and make usable for the village.  Attempting to clear the debris from the war-torn temple, the monk stumbled upon an ancient statue of Buddha that had not been discovered for possibly centuries. The statue was deemed to be worth little in monetary value, but the discovery of it hidden deep beneath the old temple meant much to a humble monk.  The villagers helped to carefully remove rocks and wood to make the clay Buddha visible, and they enjoyed it for many years.

Then one day the old temple was to be torn down to make way for a new highway.  The Villagers protested in behalf of salvaging the figure and it was agreed that it would be moved to a newer location. As the crane was lifting the clay figure, it started to crack.  Then matters worsened when it began to rain. The detail of the clay began to run. The construction crew decided to lay the statue down in the mud until the weather cleared. The head monk attempted to cover the old Buddha so that it shouldn’t continue to dissolve and be destroyed.

At night, the concerned monk came to check on the figure and saw from it a bright, shining, golden light which glowed more brightly under the torch light he carried. He broke back some of the wet clay and when the top mud tore away he found that the statue was made of solid gold!

It is now known that the Golden Buddha is about 900 years old and is cast in the Sukhothai style.  When the Burmese were about to attack the village centuries ago, it was covered in clay to protect it from looters and hide its value. All were killed in the looting frenzy and the secret of the golden Buddha was buried until the monk found it. Two centuries later, still in clay, it was thought to be worth very little.  Then in 1957 when the accidental discovery was made, the image of solid gold is found to be three meters high and weighing five and a half tons of solid gold!

You can see the image in Bangkok where it now resides at Wat Traimit (Temple of the Golden Buddha).

"If you observe a really happy man, you will find him building a boat, writing a symphony, educating his child, growing double dahlias or looking for dinosaur eggs in the Gobi Desert. He will not be searching for happiness as if it were a collar button that had rolled under the radiator, striving for it as a goal in itself. He will have become aware that he is happy in the course of living life twenty-four crowded hours of each day." ~ W. Beran Wolfe

“Most people achieved their greatest success one step beyond what looked like their greatest failure.” - Brian Tracy

Two suspects are arrested by the police. The police have insufficient evidence for a conviction, and, having separated both prisoners, visit each of them to offer the same deal.

The deal is this: If one prisoner testifies ("defects") for the prosecution against the other and the other remains silent, the betrayer goes free and the silent accomplice receives the full 10-year sentence.

If both remain silent, both prisoners are sentenced to only six months in jail for a minor charge.

On the other hand, If each betrays the other, each receives a five-year sentence. Each prisoner must choose to betray the other or to remain silent.

Each one is assured that the other would not know about the betrayal before the end of the investigation. How would you decide to act?

I love this mind challenge because the dilemma of the game seems that regardless of what the opponent chooses, each player always stands to receive a greater payoff (lesser sentence) by opting a form of betrayal; that is to say that betraying is the strictly dominant strategy. For example, if Prisoner A can definitely say, "No matter what Prisoner B does, I personally am better off betraying him than keeping silent. As such, for my own sake, I should betray." However, if the other prisoner is thinking the same, then they both betray and both suffer more than they would get by staying silent. Rational self-interested thinking result in each prisoner's being worse off than if each chose to invest in the lessening of his accomplice’s sentence. The cost, of course is staying a little longer in jail himself; Hence, a dilemma. In game theory, this demonstrates very elegantly that in a non-zero sum game a Nash Equilibrium (from Mathematician John Nash, of A Beautiful Life) need not be a Pareto Optimum (named after economist Vilfredo Pareto, 80/20 rule et al.).

The Prisoner's Dilemma constitutes an exercise in reasoning by way of mind game theory. It was originally outlined by Merrill Flood and Melvin Dresher while working at RAND in 1950. As far as I can tell, Albert Tucker formalized the game with a prison sentence metaphor, presenting consequences in form of payoffs, and gave it the "Prisoner's Dilemma" name. 

Given the choice, would you rather be given
a dollar doubled everyday for a 64 days or
$20,000 a day for the rest of your life?

Long, long ago in a far away place, there lived a very wise man who happened to be the King of a very great land. When he grew old and faced his mortality, he asked his mentor and scholar to guide his young Prince when it came time to replace him.

Months and years passed by and the great King died. As the king suspected, the young Prince lacked experience. The Prince became obsessed in gambling, spending, and squandering his inheritance. The Wise Scholar remembered his promise to the king and decided it was time to teach the brash Prince a lesson!

It wasn’t long before the Prince fell prey to the taunting of the Wise Scholar and accepted a challenge of the game of chess.  The proud Prince was overly confident and agreed that the winner would be granted whatever he wished for. Of course the Wise Scholar won, and asked the Prince to grant his prize: one Drachma and a chess board!

"What? Just one Drachma! Are you insulting my wealth?" cried the Prince. 

A note to my readers:  I heard the story in the form of Drachma, for the rest of the story I will now change one Drachma to one U.S. Dollar.

"No, your majesty, certainly not," the Wise Scholar explained. "You have to promise to double that single Dollar every day until the chess board of 64 squares is full. On the first day you give me one dollar on the bottom right square of the chess board; On the second day you double it, giving me two dollars on the second square plus the one dollar on the first square; On the third day you double it, giving me four dollars on the third square plus the three dollars on the second square and so on, until the sixty-four squares on the chess board are filled."

"I would have thought you being so smart," the young Prince laughed, "you would ask for a chest of gold. But, if this is your wish I will grant you what you request and nothing more."

And so, on the second day, the Wise Scholar got $2 Dollars, on the third, he got $4 Dollars, and the young Prince couldn't help making fun of the Wise Scholar, boasting of his victory!

By the sixth day, the Wise Scholar got $32 Dollars, at the end of the eighth day the first row was over with a mere $128 Dollars. By the end of the sixteenth day, the second row was over with $32,768 Dollars. Where was this leading to? Was the Wise Scholar really so ‘wise’ after all?  By the end of the game (it was a mind game, wasn't it?) can you estimate how many Dollars the Wise Scholar would get?

The Prince could not provide enough money to give the Wise Scholar a chess board’s worth of Dollars. Why? Because there is not enough money in the entire world to pay the sum of $18,446,744,073,709,551,615 Dollars! What? I don’t even think there is a name for a number that high - that's 19 digits! According to the story there aren’t even that many grains of sand!

So, if you should be offered the choice of a penny that doubled every day or $20,000 a day for the rest of your life – take the former! (Although the latter wouldn’t really be something to kick yourself over).

This is the Power of Compounding. Take a look at the table below, get out a spreadsheet, and run the numbers again! Of course, you cannot expect that kind of return on your investments, but you get the general idea of the Power of Compounding and how it can make you rich.

Sequence No.	Running Total
1	$   1.00
2	$   3.00
3	$   7.00
4	$   15.00
5	$   31.00
6	$   63.00
7	$   127.00
8	$   255.00
9	$   511.00
10	$   1,023.00
11	$   2,047.00
12	$   4,095.00
13	$   8,191.00
14	$   16,383.00
15	$   32,767.00
16	$   65,535.00
17	$   131,071.00
18	$   262,143.00
19	$   524,287.00
20	$   1,048,575.00
21	$   2,097,151.00
22	$   4,194,303.00
23	$   8,388,607.00
24	$   16,777,215.00
25	$   33,554,431.00
26	$   67,108,863.00
27	$   134,217,727.00
28	$   268,435,455.00
29	$   536,870,911.00
30	$   1,073,741,823.00
31	$   2,147,483,647.00
32	$   4,294,967,295.00
33	$   8,589,934,591.00
34	$   17,179,869,183.00
35	$   34,359,738,367.00
36	$   68,719,476,735.00
37	$   137,438,953,471.00
38	$   274,877,906,943.00
39	$   549,755,813,887.00
40	$   1,099,511,627,775.00
41	$   2,199,023,255,551.00
42	$   4,398,046,511,103.00
43	$   8,796,093,022,207.00
44	$   17,592,186,044,415.00
45	$   35,184,372,088,831.00
46	$   70,368,744,177,663.00
47	$   140,737,488,355,327.00
48	$   281,474,976,710,655.00
49	$   562,949,953,421,311.00
50	$   1,125,899,906,842,623.00
51	$   2,251,799,813,685,247.00
52	$   4,503,599,627,370,495.00
53	$   9,007,199,254,740,991.00
54	$   18,014,398,509,481,983.00
55	$   36,028,797,018,963,967.00
56	$   72,057,594,037,927,935.00
57	$   144,115,188,075,855,871.00
58	$   288,230,376,151,711,743.00
59	$   576,460,752,303,423,487.00
60	$   1,152,921,504,606,846,975.00
61	$   2,305,843,009,213,693,951.00
62	$   4,611,686,018,427,387,903.00
63	$   9,223,372,036,854,775,807.00
64	$   18,446,744,073,709,551,615.00

*Thanks to my friends for the help with the math!

Still can't picture it?  Try this visual of $315 Billion
(keep in mind, $315 Billion is a fraction of the $18,466,744,073,709,551,615)

Thanks to the creator, David Faris, contact information

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 License.
Created by David Faris, contact information. 
With a nod to the MegaPenny Project,
Updated : July 21, 2006

       Pygmalion, the Greek King of Cyprus, could not see love in any woman within or beyond the kingdom. He traveled far and wide with no satisfaction. Surrendering to the thought there would be no mate in this life; King Pygmalion resigned to what he visualized in his mind - the perfection and beauty of the love he longed for. 

      At last, with such a vivid image of his love, he set about and carved an ivory statue of the perfect woman he could see so clearly in his imagination. All of Pygmalion's attention was dedicated to the creating the manifestation of his image.  He thought about her when he awoke, and fell to sleep with the image still on his mind.  The statue woman was fairer than any that yet had been seen, and he named the replica Galatea. In the end Pygmalion came to love his own handiwork as though existed. Every time Pygmalion looked upon Galatea he could feel what it would feel like to have her love him back and his love grew stronger.  Soon, Galatea became so real in his thoughts and feelings that he imagined her voice, her breath, and her warm, tender touch. Everything Pygmalion wanted to see, he saw in Galatea. Everything he wanted to feel, he felt in Galatea.  Everything he wanted to believe, he believed in Galatea.

       Now in his heart and mind Galatea WAS alive and at soon, with the help of Venus and his own loving belief, Pygmalion and Galatea began to breathe the breath of life.

In 1968, Dr. Robert Rosenthal performed an experiment to test the validity of the Pygmalion Effect. Using an elementary school to test the hypotheses, teachers were given the list of students who had been identified as those with high intellectual quotients and abilities. The teachers were counseled to pay special attention to and expect more from these students. In reality, the students were random selections from the enrollment records. After eight months, Dr. Rosenthal and his staff reported the students who had been identified as "gifted" did in fact have significantly higher increases in their achievement scores than the students that had been classified as average. The attention and high expectations of the teachers had resulted in confidently higher achievement by the students.

Long ago in a far away land, a young man went to the forest to meditate on his desires.  He wanted desperately to have unlimited wealth and “With that wealth” he said, “I want to serve and heal the world.”  He asked the Universe to tell him the secret to creating wealth.  The universe said he must first understand the nature of things:

The young man was taught that in the beginning there was chaos.  There was no form or reason.  “How was order brought about to this disorder?” asked the young man.  “With Knowledge,” answered the Universe.  So, there was the God of Knowledge and the Universe was organized and the creator became the guardian of the cosmos.  With knowledge came dharma, the laws to the order that ensure stability and growth in all existence.

The young man asked, “But, how was the guardian to ensure the cosmic order and maintain it?” “With Wealth,” answered the Universe.  So, there was the God of Wealth and wealth gave the wherewithal to ensure the maintenance of cosmic order, all was well in the Universe.

The Universe taught the young man that the two gods, the God of Knowledge and the God of Wealth reside in the souls of all Human Beings.  By nature all Humans deeply love both Gods.  “Now, there is a secret you must know about the two gods and I will tell you the secret in answer to your request,” said the Universe. 

“Although you love both Gods you must be careful how you attend to them.  You must pay more attention to the God of Knowledge.  You must pursue him, love him, and put your favor on him always.” The young man listened carefully.  “Because,” counseled the Universe, “The God of Wealth is a jealous god.  As you pay more attention to the God of Knowledge, Wealth will become extremely jealous and intent on gaining your favor.  The more you pay attention to Knowledge, the more Wealth will want you.  He will always follow you, begging for your attention and never leave you.  Wealth will be yours forever.  This is the secret.”

The above is from a Hindu story of the Secret to an Abundant Life. Both Knowledge and Wealth are necessary to sustain the cosmos. Without Knowledge you cannot plan.  Without Wealth you cannot implement a plan.  Knowledge does not fill an empty stomach; Wealth may keep man alive but gives no meaning to life. Wealth sustains life; the Arts give value to life. 

Nature Boy

There was a boy
A very strange enchanted boy 
They say he wandered very far, very far, over land and sea
A little shy and sad of eye
But very wise was he.

And then one day
One magic day he passed my way
And while we spoke of many things, fools and kings, this he said to me,
"The greatest thing you'll ever learn
Is just to love and be loved in return"

"The greatest thing you'll ever learn
Is just to love and be loved in return"

Nature Boy is a song written by Eden Ahbez, in 1947.

Fritz Kreisler was a gifted violinist who, from the age of twelve had a lifelong dream to own a Stradivarius.  When Fritz came to America, he took his life savings to New York City's music district and began a quest to find the perfect violin.  By and by he found a shop, and to his surprise it had a Stradivarius for sale.  The shopkeeper went to the back of the store, removed the violin from safe keeping and handed it to Fritz.

Fritz's heart began to beat rapidly and his whole countenance lit up. He held the delicate instrument to his neck and began to play.  The divine tones and vibrations from the violin confirmed this was indeed the very Stradivarius he had dreamed of.  Fritz asked the owner the price and was gravely disappointed to learn it was twice the amount he saved. 

“May I agree to a payment plan?” Fritz asked.  “No.  I’m Sorry,” said the shopkeeper.  “Will you hold it for me if I give you all money I have and I will borrow the rest?”  “I’m afraid not,” was the answer.  “Someone may come with the full amount and I will have to sell it to them.”

Fritz left and immediately used any way he could think of to borrow and earn the money.  Within a month he found people to help him and eagerly returned to the shop.  “I’ve come back with the full amount for my Stradivarius,” Fritz told the shop owner.  “I’m sorry,” was the reply.  “You’re just a little late.  I sold it to a wealthy collector just two days ago.” 

Upon insistence, the shopkeeper gave Fritz the contact information of the collector. Fritz rushed to the collector and begged him to give him time to buy it for a profit.  But, disappointment met him again when the Collector said the Stradivarius was the jewel of his collection and he would treasure it for a lifetime.

“I see,” responded Fritz.  “Perhaps, then, you would let me play the violin for just a few moments before I go.  It would mean so much to me and I would keep the memory of playing it for a lifetime.”

The collector consented and handed Fritz the instrument.  Fritz took up the bow and tightening the strings, knowing he would never play this violin again, made the Stradivarius sing from the passion of his soul. After a few moments as promised, he returned the violin to its owner. 

As Fritz Kreisler touched the doorknob to leave, the owner called him back.  “Don’t go,” he requested.  “You made such beautiful music.  I bought this violin as a collector’s item to save and admire.  You will bring music and passion to the world in a partnership with it.  You belong together for that purpose.” “Take it. It is yours.”

      There is a Native Cherokee tale of a boy and his grandfather.  The two were fishing thoughtfully on the riverside sharing the love of being together.  The grandfather was talking to his grandson about how he felt to prepare the boy for a lesson. 
      The Grandfather said, "I feel as if I have two wolves fighting in my heart. One wolf is the vengeful, angry, violent one. The other wolf is the loving, compassionate one who has found wisdom."
      The grandson thought about this and asked him, "which wolf will win the fight in your heart?"
      The grandfather answered: "The one I feed."

A traveler journeyed far to seek his arcadia. From village to village, mountain to shore, far and wide, he searched and searched. At last, upon reaching the top of a hill, he looked down to see a village in the valley below. There, beneath the shade of an olive tree, the traveler rested to consider his descent. Soon an old man passed by carring kindling to the village below.

"Excuse me, sir," the traveler said to the old man, "I am seeking a new home. Pray tell, how is it living in the village below?"

"It's hard to explain," said the elder man. "Tell me, how was it in the place from which you came?"

The traveler answered quickly, for he remembered all too well, "It was gloomy and unwelcoming, I'm sad to say. I stayed mostly to myself in an effort to avoid the constant conflict of a judgmental

Painting: Village in Mount Lebanon in 1945, by Mustafa Farroukh

community. I found no satisfaction in the business I did there," he went on, "That is why I seek a new home."

"Well described," the old man sighed. "But, alas! You have described perfectly the village below." With that the stranger took his leave to search elsewhere.

Another day, sometime later, the old man came upon another stranger on his way back to the village. Just as before the stranger called out to the old man.

"Excuse me, sir," the traveler said to the old man, "I am seeking a new home. Pray tell, how is it living in the village below?"

"It's hard to explain," said the elder man. "Tell me, how was it in the place from which you came?"

"Oh, it was a beautiful village, I'm happy to say. My neighbors were welcoming and there was always time to visit. My business thrived and everyone shared their good fortune with one another," he said. "I was sorry to leave, but I am anxious to learn and grow and make new friends."

"Well described," the old man sighed. "And how fortunate you will find much the same here. Come with me to my home and I will introduce you the neighbors who live nearby."

Voltaire tells a parable of a Frenchman who was asked the following question by the Grand Magi:

The future - something which everyone reaches at the rate of sixty minutes an hour, whatever he does, wherever he is." ~ C. S. Lewis Those who make the worst use of their time are the first to complain of its brevity. ~Jean de la Bruyere The most important thing about goals is having one.   ~ Geoffrey F. Abert Don't duck the most difficult problems.  That just insures that the hardest part will be left when you're most tired.  Get the big one done - it's downhill from then on.  ~ Norman Vincent Peale Procrastination is the art of keeping u with yesterday. ~ Don Marguis

"What, of all things in the world, is the longest and the shortest,
the swiftest and the slowest,
the most divisible and the most extended,
the most neglected, the most regretted,
without which nothing can be done,
which devours all that is little,
and enlivens all that is great?"

After much consideration, Zadig, the Frenchman replied:

"Time.  Nothing is longer, since it is the measure of eternity.
Nothing is shorter, since it is for the accomplishment of your projects.
Nothing is more slow to him that expets;
nothing more rapid to him that enjoys. 
In greatness it extends to infinity,
in smallness it is infinitely divisible.
All men neglect it, all regret loss of it,
nothing can be done without it. 
It consigns to oblivion whatever is unworthy of being transmitted to posterity,
and it immortalizes such actions that are truly great."

François-Marie Arouet 1694-1778, Pen Name Voltair
French Philosopher and Enlightenment Writer

Voltaire is also known for many memorable aphorisms, such as: "Si Dieu n'existait pas, il faudrait l'inventer" ("If God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent him"), contained in a verse epistle from 1768, addressed to the anonymous author of a controversial work, The Three Impostors.

Voltaire was largely of the opinion that the Bible was 1) an outdated legal and/or moral reference, 2) by and large a metaphor, but one that still taught some good lessons, and 3) a work of Man, not a divine gift. These beliefs did not hinder his religious practice, however, though it did gain him somewhat of a bad reputation in the Catholic Church. From my studies, it appears Voltaire was viewed as a nuisance to many believers, and was universally recognized; Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart wrote a letter to his father the year of Voltaire's death, saying, "The arch-scoundrel Voltaire has finally kicked the bucket...." Keffe, Simon P. (2003). The Cambridge Companion to Mozart. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0521001927.