Within a year, I followed in the footsteps of those who had gone before me, those who had left a real job to go out and follow their dreams and share their important message with the world. And I got the same results as most of them: I promptly went broke.

from Brendan Burchard, The Millionaire Messenger
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It seemed to Michel that one of the major reasons for the advent of Nazism was the German educational system. It was designed to produce a highly educated elite, while neglecting the education of the proletariat who were expected to be subservient and deferential.

"Michel Thomas, The Test of Courage" by Christopher Robbins Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device

'Some people say I cannot sing, but no one can say I didn't sing' - Florence Foster Jenkins, famous 'bad' soprano, quoted in 'Eccentrics' by David Weeks and Jamie James.
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Do you know there are people who choose to die in a burning building rather than run ouside with their pants off? Embarrasment and the fear of violating apparently trivial norms often lock us into intolerable predicaments.  And these are not minor regulatory forces in social life, but basic ones.
[...]
If you think it is easy to violate social constraints, get onto a bus and sing out loud.
Full-throated song now, no humming. Many people will say it is easy to carry out this act, but not one in a hundred will be able to do it.

Stanley Milgram - The Individual in a Social World

I left the masters swimming clinic deeply impressed with how athletes diligently learn from their mistakes through the practice of critical observation. Watching replays of their actions is the staple of their learning. In the world of business, this is not the case.

William R. Noonan - Discussing the Undiscussable Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device

No matter where you go, you will find yourself in situations of potential embarrassment or threat. Your and other's reactions will give rise to defensive routines. Avoiding any interaction with others around difficult and complicated issues is an option, but the result will always be the same. In time, the continued existence of defensive routines will become intolerable. The pain in your life and in the lives of others and the organisation will become so great, it will force a course action. In too many cases, the course of action is to remove the people involved in the defensive routine through termination, resignation, or relocation.

William R. Noonan - Discussing the Undiscussable Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device

And I, stepping from this skin
Of old bandages, boredoms, old faces

Step up to you from the black car of Lethe,
Pure as a baby.

Sylvia Plath, Getting There.
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When the word 'because' is used in a sentence, a causal explanation will follow. [...] Often out theories of other people's behaviour can get pretty elaborate. [...] Each causal link is added to another, creating a chain of psychobabble explanations that extend out into the stratosphere of strange and undocumented personality deformities. William R. Noonan - Discussing the Undiscussable
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We willingly assign negative intentions to others, but we rarely see ourselves as having them. We think of ourselves as basically good and having only the best motives. This is an ironic and all-too-human twist of human thinking. [...]. When it comes to finding the source of the problem, it is always easier to blame the other person.

William R. Noonan - Discussing the Undiscussable
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Productive conversations take place "low on the ladder" by sharing concrete information rather than vague general concepts. William R. Noonan - Discussing the Undiscussable
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