Richard Galbraith

The strength of the Constitution lies entirely in the determination of each citizen to defend it. Only if every single citizen feels duty bound to do his share in this defense are the constitutional rights secure. – Albert Einstein

 Defending our Constitution doesn’t necessarily mean fighting. The more citizens live according to its principles and speak up whenever they see the rights of others being threatened, the less actual fighting there will be.

 I have never known a mountain climber who has never slipped. I have never known a successful business or investor who has not lost money on at least one deal. The survivors are the people who recognize the risks and take precautions to limit their losses. The safety rope won’t prevent the climber from falling, but it ensure that a fall won’t be fatal.

 The balance of nature needed to sustain live over the long term involves an incredibly complex interaction among millions of components. Scientists spent years and millions of dollars trying to create a sealed Biosphere that could be built on another planet and support human life with a carefully selected collection of plants and animals. It failed badly.

Man's attempts to improve the world by eliminating nuisance animals like wolves or to convert forests to agriculture have led to seriou...

 It's time to act my age. The duties assigned to my position in a public school have grown so that if I stayed, I'd be instructing seven classes a day (to a total of around 850 students) plus helping maintain computers, software and student accounts. I've had to admit to myself that I don't have the energy to do a good job with that load.

My “Three years Before the Mast” experience has increased my appreciation of our public school teachers (and much more pleasurable than the life des...

      Progress takes time.  Trying to rush things often makes them take more time, just like picking at a scab makes it take longer for a wound to heal.

Fears are warning signs.  They alert you to possible dangers and should make you be cautious.  But fears should not be treated as stop signs.  Actions based on fears are strictly defensive; at best they help you minimize your losses, but they won’t help you accomplish your goals.

      The wise man doesn’t ignore his fears, but uses his hopes to guide him forward as he proceeds with caution.

Traditional machines, like this water powered mill, supply brute force for tasks like grinding corn and pulling heavy loads.  Each of these machines is much more powerful than any man.  They eliminated lots of jobs that involved life-shortening brutal labor for unskilled workers. 

Modern automated machines (like computers and telephones switches) can perform repetitive tasks much faster and with fewer mistakes than any human.  They are eliminating lots of boring jobs.

There are no machin...

As the family in this photograph was leaving their home in Ireland, the seven-year-old son said, “Good-bye God, we are going to Texas.”  Forced out of their home by the potato famine, they moved to a farm they bought in Texas.  The new land was suitable for grazing cattle, but not much good for farming.  The family lived in a tent for years, with sheets dividing the “living room” from the “bedroom.”  When he was eleven, the boy got a job as a water boy for a railroad constructio...

It doesn’t matter how talented and intelligent you are if you aren’t around when the opportunities occur.  The opportunities and promotions will go to the people who can be counted on to be there to complete the task.  There are some days that I show up and wonder if my presence has done any good and there are other days when I get a chance to really shine.  I never call be sure which kind of day tomorrow will be.  I come to school every day so I don’t miss out on the great days.