| Prior Date | Archive Index | Next Date |
|
WITandWISDOM(tm) - November 19, 2002 ISSN 1538-8794 ~~~~~~~ THOUGHTS: When you argue with fools, observers find it difficult to identify the fool. - Bjorn Rafto ~~~~~~~ SPECIAL THOUGHTS: Remember, We're Raising Children, Not Flowers! By Jack Canfield I recently heard a story from Stephen Glenn about a famous research scientist who had made several very important medical breakthroughs. He was being interviewed by a newspaper reporter who asked him why he thought he was able to be so much more creative than the average person. What set him so far apart from others? He responded that, in his opinion, it all came from an experience with his mother that occurred when he was about two years old. He had been trying to remove a bottle of milk from the refrigerator when he lost his grip on the slippery bottle and it fell, spilling its contents all over the kitchen floor - a veritable sea of milk! When his mother came into the kitchen, instead of yelling at him, giving him a lecture or punishing him, she said, "Robert, what a great and wonderful mess you have made! I have rarely seen such a huge puddle of milk. Well, the damage has already been done. Would you like to get down and play in the milk for a few minutes before we clean it up?" Indeed, he did. After a few minutes, his mother said, "You know, Robert, whenever you make a mess like this, eventually you have to clean it up and restore everything to its proper order. So, how would you like to do that? We could use a sponge, a towel or a mop. Which do you prefer?" He chose the sponge and together they cleaned up the spilled milk. His mother then said, "You know, what we have here is a failed experiment in how to effectively carry a big milk bottle with two tiny hands. Let's go out in the back yard and fill the bottle with water and see if you can discover a way to carry it without dropping it." The little boy learned that if he grasped the bottle at the top near the lip with both hands, he could carry it without dropping it. What a wonderful lesson! This renowned scientist then remarked that it was at that moment that he knew he didn't need to be afraid to make mistakes. Instead, he learned that mistakes were just opportunities for learning something new, which is, after all, what scientific experiments are all about. Even if the experiment "doesn't work," we usually learn something valuable from it. Source: The Inspired Buffalo, http://groups.yahoo.com/group/the-inspired-buffalo/ ~~~~~~~ THIS & THAT: WHAT I LEARNED IN COLLEGE Part 2 of 2 [Nov 18, 19] ON REVISIONIST HISTORY What was sliced bread the greatest thing since? ON LAMENTATION Of all the things I've lost, I miss my mind the most. ON POETIC LOVE When you're swimmin' in the creek And an eel bites your cheek That's a moray! - Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers ON MATERIAL SCIENCE Character density: The number of very weird people in the office. ON LITERATURE This is not a novel to be tossed aside lightly. It should be thrown with great force. - Dorothy Parker ON HUMILITY To err is human, to moo bovine. ON EXCUSES I can't complain, but sometimes I still do. - Joe Walsh ON NUMBERS Grabel's Law: 2 is not equal to 3 - not even for very large values of 2. Submitted by Walt Groff ~~~~~~~ KEEP SMILING: Seen on a bumper sticker: "Don't let you mind wander. It is too little to be left alone." ~~~~~~~ TRIVIA: Why isn't Norman Rockwell's work in a museum? It is - his own. The Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, houses the world's largest and most significant collection of popular artist Rockwell's work, including 574 original paintings and drawings. The museum features original art materials, his library, furnishings and personal items. It also houses the Norman Rockwell Archives, a collection of more than 100,000 items, including working photographs, fan mail, personal calendars, and business documents. For more information visit: http://www.nrm.org/ Source: ArcaMax Trivia, http://www.arcamax.com |