Category Archives: Quotable & Notes

U. S. Founding Fathers

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Scott Adams insists we must look at the the actions of our Founding Fathers in order to understand their ideals:

1. Slavery – excellent source of poontang
2. Women voting? That’s crazy talk!
3. People who don’t own land suck
4. A good way to change tax policy is through violence
5. It’s not really crossdressing if you also wear manly boots.
6. Treason is okay if you have a good reason.
7. No one wants to sit next to Ben Franklin

Like Adams, I’m glad they did the whole create-a-new-country thing… just don’t go nuts with the “this country was founded on sacred ideals put forth by our Founding Fathers” riff. They were a practical lot.

The Art of Demotivation

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From the folks at Despair, Inc., a business book that’s “So Dangerous We Had to Put a Lock on It.”

“Ironically, managers attempting to motivate employees by increasing their self-esteem only compound the very problem they seek to solve. Reinforcing employee delusions of grandeur only increases their irrational sense of entitlement to the wealth, stature and privilege that justice dictates be reserved for the truly accomplished and inarguably worthy: namely, Executives.”

These are the same funny kids that produce the motivational calendars and posters.

Quality: The Race for Quality Has No Finish Line – so Technically it’s More Like a Death March.

I’ll share nuggets from TAOD here.

Scott Adams: Intelligence, god, dogs and dentists

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“Dentists are generally pretty smart and they have the highest suicide rate of any profession. In stark contrast, dogs are goofy and they always look happy. You almost never hear about a dog trying to shoot himself. I know you want me to make a joke along the lines of “Dentists would be happy too if they could lick themselves.” But this is a serious discussion and I won’t have it. Plus that’s why dentists have office assistants.”

— Scott Adams

State of “flow” like playing jazz

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For several years now I have found myself in a semi-manic state of mind that, initially, had me concerned. Fortunately, a professional friend recognized what I have been experiencing as “flow,” and gave me a book that explains the concept:

“People enter a flow state when they are fully absorbed in activity during which they lose their sense of time and have feelings of great satisfaction. Mr. Csikszentmihalyi (author of Flow) describes flow as “being completely involved in an activity for its own sake. The ego falls away. Time flies. Every action, movement, and thought follows inevitably from the previous one, like playing jazz. Your whole being is involved, and you’re using your skills to the utmost.”