Richard Galbraith

The kind of attention that leads to excellence comes out of caring.  The internal result of caring about the task of hand is equally valuable.  Caring turns tedious chores into prideful accomplishments.

When it comes to dealing with other people, I can't always tell how smart or honest they are, but somehow I sense whether or not they really care about the subject and about me.  That recognition of caring makes all the difference in how I react to them.

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The issue of whether the basic nature of homo sapiens is cooperative or combative remains the subject of philosophical debate.  Even if there is no answer to this theoretical question, there can be great practical advantage to assuming that the individuals we deal with are naturally loving and caring.  If they are not acting that way, I assume that something is bothering them and if I can help them find a way out of their painful situation then they will become less combative in their treat...

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I knew a prison warden who took great pride in his record in catching escapees.  Part of the reason he was good at catching them was because he had lots of practice.  His facility had the highest rate of attempted escapes in the state.  After a while, he was replaced by a new warden who had his priorities straight.

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Thoughts stemming from the commemortation of 9/11:
                     

“America the Beautiful” celebrates the ideal of our nation that inspired Heroes “who more than self their country loved.”  A key to bringing our reality close to our ideal is that we good citizen be crowned with brotherhood.

Crowns are usually associated with monarchies, not democracies, so think about checkers, where crowns are earned by good plays.  The crown bestows each king with increased power and flexibi...

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What is the difference between pain and suffering?  There have been times when I feel really good even though my body aches.  If I think that I have gained something from the experience, then the pain doesn't turn into suffering.  I suffer most when I think of myself as the victim of an unfair world.  When I change my focus to improving my future, my suffering ends.

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Often the first question that is asked when something goes wrong is, “Whose fault was it?”  That might be appropriate when searching for a murderer or other criminal, but most of the problems in business and our daily lives are not caused by intentional acts.  If our response is focused on blaming the person who made the mistake we will not gain an understanding of WHY the mistake occurred and what can be done to keep it from happening again.
    
    The temptation to blame is especially s...

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Think of anger as a smoke detector going off.  It is an irritating signal that something as gone wrong.  I want to have a smoke detector to prevent me from sleeping through real dangers.  My smoke detector is pretty sensitive; sometimes it goes off when there is no real danger – just a side effect of something I’m cooking or starting a fire in the fireplace.  Even when I know th...

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Friendship is both important and complex.  It can bring pleasure to almost any activity.  One crucial factor is trust.  Getting buried in the sand is fun only if you trust your friend and your friend proves trustworthy.

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When I have something to say, that thought becomes the center of my attention, making it extremely hard for me to really listen to what someone else is saying.  Really listening requires that I make the other person’s ideas the center of my attention – that is the only way I have a chance of making the best part of his knowledge become part of my own mental map of the universe.  My own idea is already in my head, so I can come back to it later – though writing a quick note to myself m...

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