Steve Jobs involved himself in details, which is the opposite of my approach: I have always believed in the art of delegation… It is necessary to give other people the space to thrive, to catch people doing something right, rather than getting things wrong… Don’t lead your company from a distance. Walk the floor, get to know your people. Even though I don’t run Virgin’s companies on a day-to-day basis any more, I still find it crucial to get out and about among our staff… If you don’t enjoy what you do, then it isn’t likely to work out. In a 1997 marketing campaign for Apple, entitled “Think Different”, Jobs said ‘Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in square holes. The ones who see things differently’ (Richard Branson writing about his friend Steve Jobs, just after he died (Age, 8/10/2011). `

If at first you don’t succeed… so much for skydiving (Henny Youngman)

If I was an animal, I’d be… a meerkat, always on the lookout….

If I came back as a member of the opposite sex I’d be… a lesbian (Eddie Brimson)

Type A males always push the flush button on the toilet way before they finish peeing… (now why didn’t I know that?).

Medical student during a visit to a psychiatric institution… ‘I came upon a patient fishing on the lawn. He was casting with his rod and reeling in the line. I struck up a conversation: ‘Nice day!’ He said ‘Yeah’. I asked ‘What are you doing?’ He said ‘fishing’. So to humour him a little I asked, ‘How many have you caught today?’ He said ‘You’re the third’. Touche!

Happiness is a decision (Denis Waitley)

‘Put your trust in God and get a signature from everyone else’ (My lawyer)

Married men live longer than single men, but single women live longer than married women.

The more sex women have, the less they think about it, but the more sex men have, the more they think about it. (It’s a worry isn’t it?).

~ Dr John Tickell, ‘Laughter, Sex, Vegetables & Fish’ p. 165

I know perfectly well that poverty and misfortune suit me better than riches and pleasure,,,

Christ the Lord himself was poor for our sakes…

~ St Patrick, 5th century

Teach me, good Lord:

Not to murmur at the multitude of business or the shortness of time.

Not to call attention to crowded work or petty fatigues.

Not to gather encouragement from others, lest this should interfere with purity of motive.

Not to seek praise, respect, gratitude, or regard from superiors or equals on account of age or past service.

Not to let myself be placed in favorable contrast with another.

~ Edward White Benson,  Papers Public and Private.

Such types as the statesman, politician, headmaster, parson, poet ¢â‚¬ ¦ are continually subject to become what the public expect them to be rather than what they really are ¢â‚¬ ¦ This is murder  ¢â‚¬“ murder of the spirit  ¢â‚¬“ and the murderers are the victim ¢â‚¬â„¢s admirers and friends.

~ Melville Chaning-Pierce,  The Kingdom of the Real.

Would-be theologians ¢â‚¬ ¦ must be on their guard lest by beginning to soon to preach they rather chatter themselves into Christianity than live themselves into it and find themselves at home there.

~ Soren Kierkegaard,  Journal, July 11, 1838.

The colonial is a usurper who, having come to another ¢â‚¬â„¢s land and culture  ¢â‚¬Ëœsucceeded not merely in creating a place for himself, but also in taking away that of the inhabitant, granting himself astounding privileges to the detriment of those rightfully entitled to them ¢â‚¬â„¢.

~ Albert Memmi,  The Colonizer and the Colonized, 1965, 9.

***

The life of prayer is commanded for the disciple, not chosen. Prayer is about obedience – prayer has very little to do with words, but rather the reality of life lived in and through the living God as known in Scripture.

~ Jacques Ellul,  Prayer and Modern Man.