A Very Few

Some people have greatness thrust upon them.  Very few have excellence thrust upon them.
—    John W. Gardner
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On This Day In:
2021	Or Blog Every Day
	Every Woman Should Have One
2020	Where Are We Going?
2019	One Before I Go
2018	And Blog Posts, Too
2017	Just Doin’ It
2016	Definitely Not Bell Shaped
2015	Dreadful Pity
2014	Worse Than Useless
2013	Personal Prisons
2012	So, Not Yet Then
2011	Real Love

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Spending A Lifetime Learning To Draw

All of life is a constant education.
—    Eleanor Roosevelt
Life is the art of drawing without an eraser.
—    John W. Gardner
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On This Day In:
2020	Light And Dark
2019	My Dog Scratches At The Bedroom Door
2018	One Person Can
2017	Been There, Thought That
2016	Diligent Students
2015	Unanswered Prayers
2014	Pray, v.
2013	As I…
2012	But We Need Room
2011	A Definition Of Leadership

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Horticulture Anyone?

Much education today is monumentally ineffective.  All too often we are giving young people cut flowers when we should be teaching them to grow their own plants.
—    John W. Gardner
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On This Day In:
2020	Heroes Die Too
	Front Update
	Still More Hope Than Fact
2019	The Ones Worth Remembering, Anyway
	Boot Edge Edge (My New T)
2018	To Reach The Next Threshold
2017	Streaking Tales
2016	Singular Reality
2015	He Says It’s Hard To Get There From Here
2014	Question From A Founding Father
2013	Make Heroes
2012	See And Hold
2011	Am Not, Are So

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Working On The Ordinary

Excellence is doing ordinary things extraordinarily well.
—    John W. Gardner
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On This Day In:
2020	Republican Senators Should Vote For Conviction Of #45
2019	Carry It
2018	Simple
2017	Knowledge Pays
2016	Brief Glimpses And Full Glances
2015	Pursuing Perspective
2014	Wearing Down?
2013	Labouring Under A Curse
2012	Listen To Yourself
2011	Career Tips (Part 1)
	No Captain Dunsel

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Be Creative, Question Assumptions

The creative individual has the capacity to free himself from the web of social pressures in which the rest of us are caught.  He is capable of questioning the assumptions that the rest of us accept.
—   John W. Gardner
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On This Day In:
2020	I’ll Eat To That (Gemütlichkeit)
	To The Front
2019	#ContinueToResist
	Except Willful Ignorance And Prideful Stupidity
2018	More Executive Time For #DumbDonald
2017	Watched The Inauguration
	Two Geniuses
2016	Come Dance And Laugh With Me
2015	Looks Good To Me
2014	Desire For The Sea
2013	The Fierce Urgency Of NOW
	Happy Inauguration Day!
2012	One Path
	Sorrow And Joy
	The Seven Year View
2011	Emergent Practicality

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Says Every Generation Since Schools Were Invented

I am entirely certain that twenty years from now we will look back at education as it is practiced in most schools today and wonder that we could have tolerated anything so primitive.
—    John W. Gardner
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On This Day In:
2019	Dance The Night Away
2018	#45: The Poorest President In History
2017	Bull’s Eye
2016	Gifts
	Jacked 3
2015	I’d Settle For Interesting
2014	Old Math
2013	Adequate Explanation
2012	Superior Discovery
2011	Welcome Home And Thank You!!
	Two Heritages

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Sometimes It Does

History never looks like history when you are living through it.
—   John W. Gardner
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On This Day In:
2019	Pushing The Envelope
2018	The Price Of Justice Is (Sometimes) Security
2017	Time Too
2016	The Cornerstone Pays
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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Like Belief In Truth And Facts

America’s greatness has been the greatness of a free people who shared certain moral commitments.  Freedom without moral commitment is aimless and promptly self-destructive.
—    John W. Gardner
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On This Day In:
2019	Many Forms
2018	Serenity Prayer
2017	But The Clock Says It’s Already Two Minutes 30 Seconds to Midnight
2016	Towards No Regret
2015	109 And Beyond
2014	Are You Waiting?
2013	Traditional Human Sacrifice
2012	A Division Of Men
2011	Miles, Legends and Superwoman
	Got Tragedy?
2010	My Company For A Prince!!
	On The Shoulders Of Titans

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One Person

The cynic says, ‘One man can’t do anything.’  I say, ‘Only one man can do anything.’
—    John W. Gardner
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On This Day In:
2019	More Likely Unsinging
	What’s At Stake…
2018	But What Are You DOING About November?
	Or His Elected Position
2017	Some Good
2016	Edges
	Sums
2015	I Hope Not
2014	Study The Means Of Expressing Yourself
2013	That Stubborn Thing
2012	Like Mike
2011	Flawless Or Candid
2010	Browning…

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Plumbers, Philosophers Or Presidents

The society which scorns excellence in plumbing as a humble activity and tolerates shoddiness in philosophy because it is an exalted activity will have neither good plumbing nor good philosophy:  neither its pipes nor its theories will hold water.
—    John W. Gardner
[Nationwide, we have lost (deaths) over 1,000 medical staff to COVID-19.  With only 4% of the world’s population, we have over 25% of the world’s confirmed cases and over 25% of the COVID-19 deaths.  We are the only major industrialized country in the world without universal health care.   I (for one) put it all down to poor leadership – starting at the top.  Remember how we were promised “better than Obamacare, and it’ll cost less”?  That was before our #IdiotInChief President “discovered” (Feb 2017) how complicated “health care” was to solve / fix.  #IncompetentDonald – November is coming!    —    kmab]
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On This Day In:
2019	Watching
2018	Even #45 Shall Pass To Sand
2017	Shedding Light
	In The Neighborhood
2016	The Responsibility Of Freedom
2015	Face It
	Birdfight
2014	Honoring Firefighters
2013	And Never Will
2012	The Human Adventure Continues
2011	Almost Never

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For Sale

When one may pay out over two million dollars to presidential and Congressional campaigns, the U.S. government is virtually up for sale.
—    John W. Gardner
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On This Day In:
2019	Letting Go
2018	Trying To Give More
2017	The Reproductive Value Of A Presidential Election
2016	For Me It’s Been Faith
2015	Where Many Paths And Errands Meet
2014	Rimmed Out
2013	Likeness
2012	Sums It Up Quite Well, Actually
2011	Momentary Abandonment

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A Liar As President Corrupts Us

Men of integrity, by their very existence, rekindle the belief that as a people we can live above the level of moral squalor.  We need that belief;  a cynical community is a corrupt community.
—    John W. Gardner
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On This Day In:
2019	Is It Dark And Quiet For You?
2018	Undeniable Requirement
2017	Orange Corrosion
2016	Both Particle And Wave
2015	Deep In Debt
2014	The Difference
2013	My Heart Is Described
2012	Keen To Be Alone
2011	The Ideal Business…
2010	55

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And #IncompetentDonald Weakens It

Some people strengthen the society just by being the kind of people they are.
—    John W. Gardner
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On This Day In:
2019	Morning Mirror
2018	Wondering About #45
2017	A Prayer For London
2016	Don’t Default
2015	Her Pilgrim Soul
2014	Three Observations
2013	Robbed Again
2012	Good Hearts
2011	Interesting Reading
	What Are You Lookin’ At?

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Whoever / Whatever

Whoever I am, or whatever I am doing, some kind of excellence is within my reach.
—    John W. Gardner
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On This Day In:
2019	The Right Anger
	Another P&P Review
2018	Does Fatalism Equal Mental Health?
2017	Choice
2016	Growing Worlds
2015	Change The Tide
	Martyr, n.
2014	You, Too!
2013	Bitter Stand
2012	Lost For Words
2011	On Market Reactions…

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Implications

The idea for which this nation stands will not survive if the highest goal free man can set themselves is an amiable mediocrity.  Excellence implies striving for the highest standards in every phase of life.
—    John W. Gardner
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On This Day In:
2019	Just To…
2018	Still Going…
2017	Great Risk
2016	Robbery
2015	Humanity Plus
2014	Dinner For Two?
2013	Exercise For Those Over 50
2012	Tearful Joy!!
	Except When He’s Left

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