I’m An Optimist

People do not seem to realize that their opinion of the world is also a confession of character.
—    Ralph Waldo Emerson
[I’m not sure how that reflects on my character – or vice versa.    —    KMAB]
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On This Day In:
2020	Works For Me
	Rivers Versus Waterfalls
2019	Better To Do
	News: Drunken Party Girl Saves Seoul
2018	Keep Moving
2017	Fighting Good
2016	Size Matters
2015	Maybe The Best Thing
2014	Ready To Be Fried?
2013	A Real Lover
2012	Winning Wars
2011	A Different Lesson

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Thousands

There is no such thing as a ‘self-made’ person.  We are made up of thousands of others.  Everyone who has ever done a kind deed for us, or spoken one word of encouragement to us, has entered into the make-up of our character and of our thoughts, as well as our success.
—    George Burton Adams
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On This Day In:
2020	A Profound Source
2019	Sad Words
2018	Self-Sorted
2017	Right
2016	At Least One Step
2015	Month To Month Rental
2014	Professional Beliefs
2013	Books Are…
2012	True Distinguishing Marks
2010	Sub-300

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Even Being President For Almost Four Years

No change of circumstances can repair a defect of character.
—    Ralph Waldo Emerson
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On This Day In:
2019	And Autumnal Foliage
2018	Up Hill, Both Ways
2017	Trump Carnivores – The Revolution So Far
2016	Election Results
2015	Speak Louder
2014	Why I Frequently Give In
2013	Am Remembering
2012	Sustained Fear
2011	Commitment

 

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#IncompetentDonald Fails On All Three

Leadership is a potent combination of strategy and character.  But if you must be without one, be without the strategy.
—    General Norman Schwarzkopf
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On This Day In:
2018	I Put It Down To Bad Teachers
	Day 34: In And Out
2017	And The Future Is Now
2016	I Am
2015	Positively Aiming Higher
2014	Suspicious Minds
2013	We Are Not Alone
2012	Lawyer, n.
2011	Each Day Remember…
2010	Impossible Dreams of Camelot

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No Wall And Not One Dollar

How you react when the joke’s on you can reveal your character.
—  Robert Half
[After two years in Office, Congress continues to refuse to fund a “wall” so President Trump declares a “national emergency” to divert funds from approved budgets.  When lies fail, steal.
The “sad” thing is, the joke isn’t ON #IncompetentDonald, he IS the joke.  —  KMAB]
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On This Day In:
2018	Mirror, Mirror
2017	Keep On Keeping On
2016	Reflections
2015	Is It Time Yet?
2014	Ask Any Follower
2013	Cornered Or Surrounded?
2012	Escape
2011	Achievement
	Not Unreasonable Enough

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Happy Birthday, Bro!

We must take care to live not merely a long life, but a full one; for living a long life requires only good fortune, but living a full life requires character.
—    Lucius Annaeus Seneca
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On This Day In:
2017	Love Can Change The World In A Minute
2016	60, Little Bro!
2015	Vision and Courage
2014	58 – Little Bro
2013	New Adventures And Old Hopes
	Caving In
2012	Bits And Bobs And Birthdays
	Always Hope
2011	Wet Snow And Long Hills

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Found Out

The measure of people’s real character is what they would do if they knew they would never be found out.
—    J.C. Macauley
[For a certain President, it’s who are you going to try to fire to avoid being found out.    —    KMAB]
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On This Day In:
2017	Still Waiting…
2016	Same Old, Same Old
2015	Shout!
2014	I Hear Voices
2013	Ethics And Standards
2012	Swing Higher
2011	Convicted For Life

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Choose Life

Bad things do happen; how I respond to them defines my character and the quality of my life.  I can choose to sit in perpetual sadness, immobilized by the gravity of my loss, or I can choose to rise from the pain and treasure the most precious gift I have – life itself.
—    Walter Anderson
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On This Day In:
2016	We, Us, All
2015	No Less
2014	Life Advice (50)
	Orange October (IV) – Giants Win Game 1 Of NLCS!
2013	Running To
2012	Suddenly
2011	Liberal Washington
2010	Giants Advance To NLCS!!

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Thank You, Senator McCain (So Far Anyway)

The man of character, sensitive to the meaning of what he is doing, will know how to discover the ethical paths in the maze of possible behavior.
—   Earl Warren
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On This Day In:
2016	What About Friends?
2015	It Tastes Good To Me
2014	Others’ Footsteps
	The Not-So-Modern Samurai
2013	Doin’
2012	A Lover
2011	What Have We Found Here
	Words

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Never Give Up

… I had dinner with another English friend, now a banker, who had been a student at Harrow when its most famous alumnus, Winston Churchill, came back to the school to speak to the boys.  He was a great man, and everyone knew why.  He had carried the Western world through its worst crisis.
Now he looked out over the fresh-faced audience and said, “Never give up.  Never give up.  Never, never, never give up.”  It brought the house to its feet.
What Churchill was saying was this: You can act cleverly, selfishly or prudently in any situation, but what finally matters is character, desire and faith.  Victory never comes easy.
—    Barnaby Conrad III
From the article: “Have the Yanks Given Up?“
Published in “This World“, 18 May 1986
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On This Day In:
2016	Which Generation Are We?
	Congratulations, Kyle!
2015	Centered
2014	Economic Trinity
2013	At Both Ends
2012	Holding Allowance
2011	The Power Of Good

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The Cornerstone Pays

Honesty is the cornerstone of character.  The honest man or woman seeks not merely to avoid criminal or illegal acts, but to be scrupulously fair, upright, fearless in both action and expression.  Honesty pays dividends both in dollars and in peace of mind.
—   B. C. Forbes
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On This Day In:
2015	Would That This Be True
2014	More Likely
2013	Enjoyed The Desolation
	Watching Faux News
2012	Speaking Of Products
2011	Ready To Be Immortal?

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Trying To Capture Serenity

Character is of the first importance, but intelligence is nevertheless essential.  It is desirable for a leader to have a broad education.  History and poetry increase his knowledge of human passions.  Culture offers the man of action opportunities now and then to capture his serenity; it puts at his disposal models of order and clarity.  It is, in a sense, a work of art to reconstruct a country or to lead an army, and the man who has acquired a sense of beauty from his studies will be the more successful for it.
—    André Maurois
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On This Day In:
2012	Above The Vaulted Sky
2011	Active Learning

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A True Test

Standing for right when it is unpopular is a true test of moral character.
—    Margaret Chase Smith
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