Non-practice

Winston Churchill: „[…] surely from this period of ten months this is the lesson: never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never-in nothing, great or small, large or petty — never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense. Never yield to force; never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy.”

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Leo Burnett: „I regard a great ad as the most beautiful thing in the world.” (via »)

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I once took part in a local competition in physics.

We had a theoretical exam and a practical one.

We were given a string, two pieces of paper, and hominy for the practical one.

We were supposed to find the friction coefficient between hominy and hominy.

Most people would try to find a solution using all the available resources. „But how can I use the paper and string?”.

The actual solution was to create a pyramid using hominy, and then using the slope angle, you could have determined the actual coefficient.

The solution was simple, but the resources were complicated.

Sometimes, by trying to follow the rules („Use everything!”), we miss the essential („What’s the solution?”)

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„Both Are Me” – J. Raymond

I crave a gentle life.
I know what hell looks like already.
More harsh lessons aren’t necessary.
Give me soft evenings, sweet as chocolate.
Sultry like wool.
Let’s laugh till we’re in tears,
alongside those who make loving us look easy.
I want to breathe in the air of everywhere I once dreamt of making memories.
Though my hardships have shaped me,
in beautiful and painful ways that I will forever be grateful for,
I want my days to be full and affectionate.
I want to be formless,
someone who flows and moves without worry.
Some days I’m water.
Others, I’m lava.
Both are real.
Both are me.
All versions of me are honest and necessary.
Who I am is safe when respected.
I’d rather be a great friend to a few
than an acquaintance to many.
I’d rather be widely accepting
than widely accepted.
I want to be the one that others know it’s safe to turn to.
I want to be the person who I needed all those years ago.
There’s a softness within me that wasn’t always there.
It grew from heinous places.
Cold, callous, remorseful places.
My softness is my greatest strength.
To not be hardened by the very things meant to break you,
that’s what I’m most proud of.
Now, everyone near me gets my light.
This way we all shine.
J. Raymond
„Both Are Me”
Poem from The Kindred Project: Vol. II

Source: https://www.facebook.com/Jraymondwriting/posts/i-crave-a-gentle-life-i-know-what-hell-looks-like-already-more-harsh-lessons-are/971721531067819/

(via »)

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Sometimes, I think of this – how should pupils be put in benches?

For example, some ideas I got from school:

• Placing boys mixed with girls – in one bench, a boy and a girl.
• Putting people with aggressive behavior to be surrounded by people with more proper behavior.
• Putting people in conflict close to one another so that they can get past their aggressiveness.

I met in my school years people who cared about how pupils stay on a bench, and I think people should at least consider this. What’s the natural tendency? Sit boy-boy, girl-girl, always with friends, away from unpopular people, due to various reasons. Perhaps that’s not the best way.

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There are two ways of answering that question:

• For a beginner, I would state my main X account;
• For an advanced person, I’d mention all of my accounts, perhaps specifying some details on the most important ones.

Of course, I could also ask for additional details, but generally, I prefer not to.

Most people would prefer the first option for answering the question. I prefer the latter one.

I prefer to speak to advanced users, not beginners.

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In Amazon.com: How to Win Friends & Influence People, Dale Carnegie says in quite a few ways that you can impress people by treating them nicely.

I don’t think the world is evil, twisted, or bad, but I do think that the world he mentions is not really that true.

Some people will tend to abuse you if you treat them nicely.

Treat people kindly? That’s fine if you don’t expect something in return.

Overall, people are happy, work towards the good of others, and fight for the better.

But if you think, „I will treat people fine, and they will fall on their backs over me,” that might not be true.

I’m not advocating for being evil; I think you should do good at all costs, but don’t expect the reactions in the book.

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