| Prior Date | Back to Archive Index | Next Date |
|
~~~~~~~ WITANDWISDOM™ - April 30, 1999 ~~~~~~~ THOUGHTS: Find a need and fill it. - Ruth Stafford Peale - Bits & Pieces, February 4, 1993 (Magazine: BITS & PIECES http://www.epinc.com/) ~~~~~~~ SPECIAL THOUGHTS: President Abraham Lincoln often visited hospitals to talk with wounded soldiers during the Civil War. Once, doctors pointed out a young soldier who was near death and Lincoln went over to his bedside. "Is there anything I can do for you?" Asked the President. The soldier obviously didn't recognize Lincoln, and with some effort he was able to whisper, "Would you please write a letter to my mother?" A pen and paper were provided and the President carefully began to write down what the young man was able to say: "My dearest mother, I was badly hurt while doing my duty. I'm afraid I'm not going to recover. Don't grieve too much for me, please. Kiss Mary and John for me. May God bless you and father." The soldier was too weak to continue, so Lincoln signed the letter for him and added, "Written for your son by Abraham Lincoln." The young man asked to see the note and was astonished when he discovered who had written it. "Are you really the president?" he asked. "Yes, I am," Lincoln replied quietly. Then he asked if there was anything else he could do. "Would you please hold my hand?" the soldier asked. "It will help to see me through to the end." In the hushed room, the tall gaunt President took the boy's hand in his and spoke warm words of encouragement until death came. - LEADERSHIP, Vol. F, No. 1 ~~~~~~~ THIS & THAT: AVIATION 101 - (Part 1 of 2) [Pt 2: 5-11-99] Takeoff's are optional. Landings are mandatory. If God meant man to fly, He'd have given him more money. If you push the stick forward, the houses get bigger, if you pull the stick back they get smaller. (Unless you keep pulling the stick back -then they get bigger again) Flying is not dangerous; crashing is dangerous. It's better to be down here wishing you were up there, than up there wishing you were down here. The propeller is just a big fan in the front of the plane to keep the pilot cool. Want proof? Make it stop; then watch the pilot break out into a sweat. Speed is life, altitude is life insurance. No one has ever collided with the sky. It's best to keep the pointed end going forward as much as possible. Flying is the second greatest thrill known to man. . . . Landing is the first! Every one already knows the definition of a 'good' landing is one from which you can walk away. But very few know the definition of a 'great landing.' It's one after which you can use the airplane another time. The probability of survival is equal to the angle of arrival. Always remember you fly an airplane with your head, not your hands. Never let an airplane take you somewhere your brain didn't get to five minutes earlier. You know you've landed with the wheels up when it takes full power to taxi. Those who hoot with the owls by night, should not fly with the eagles by day. A helicopter is a collection of rotating parts going round and round and reciprocating parts going up and down - all of them trying to become random in motion. Helicopters can't really fly - they're just so ugly that the earth immediately repels them. Trust your captain . . . . but keep your seat belt securely fastened. (E-zine: NEW HUMOR Mailto:ListManager@NewHumor.com) ~~~~~~~ KEEP SMILING: Recently, I heard about a project to turn the big guns from obsolete battleships into some sort of conduit for a cyclotron-like device. This required someone of a smallish stature to run cables through the old gun barrels. When one of the cable-runners threatened to quit, his boss pleaded with him to stay, as . . . they were unlikely to find another worker of his caliber. (The Funny! List ~~~~~~~ TRIVIA: "Everyone has a list of favorite sites that they visit regularly, sometimes daily, in hopes to find something new. As I was surfing the net yesterday, I found a ‘free' service that will check your favorite sites on a regular basis, and send you an e-mail when something new has been added! It's easy to sign up. Join for free, enter the URL's to be monitored, and you will receive e-mail messages when your favorite sites have been updated! It will even periodically search for ‘terms' that you supply with search engines! Visit The Informant: http://informant.dartmouth.edu/ " (E-zine: DAILY INTERNET TIPS NEWSLETTER http://www.TheWebHut.com/newsletter.html) |