Thought For The Day

By HW Longfellow

The heights by great men reached and kept      Were not attained by sudden flight,But they, while their companions slept,      Were toiling upward in the night.

Henry Wadsworth LongfellowAuthor profileBorn in Portland, Maine, The United States February 27, 1807Died December 13, 1901About this author

edit dataHenry Wadsworth Longfellow was an American poet whose works include "Paul Revere's Ride", The Song of Hiawatha, and "Evangeline". He was also the first American to translate Dante Alighieri's The Divine Comedy and was one of the five members of the group known as the Fireside Poets.

Longfellow was born in Portland, Maine and studied at Bowdoin College. After spending time in Europe he became a professor at Bowdoin and, later, at Harvard College. His first major poetry collections were Voices of the Night (1839) and Ballads and Other Poems (1842). Longfellow retired from teaching in 1854 to focus on his writing, though he lived the remainder of his life in Cambridge, Massachusetts in a former headquarters of George Washington.

TELL me not, in mournful numbers,    Life is but an empty dream!—  For the soul is dead that slumbers,   And things are not what they seem.    Life is real! Life is earnest!          5  And the grave is not its goal;  Dust thou art, to dust returnest,    Was not spoken of the soul.

The Psalm of LifeBy HW Longfellow

Not enjoyment, and not sorrow,    Is our destined end or way;   10But to act, that each to-morrow    Find us farther than to-day.    Art is long, and Time is fleeting,    And our hearts, though stout and brave,Still, like muffled drums, are beating   15  Funeral marches to the grave.

In the world's broad field of battle,    In the bivouac of Life,  Be not like dumb, driven cattle!    Be a hero in the strife!   20  Trust no Future, howe'er pleasant!    Let the dead Past bury its dead!  Act,— act in the living Present!    Heart within, and God o'erhead!

Lives of great men all remind us   25  We can make our lives sublime,  And, departing, leave behind us    Footprints on the sands of time;

Footprints, that perhaps another,    Sailing o'er life's solemn main,   30A forlorn and shipwrecked brother,    Seeing, shall take heart again.

Let us, then, be up and doing,    With a heart for any fate;  Still achieving, still pursuing,   35  Learn to labor and to wait.

HW Longfellow

✓ Genius Like Truth Has A Shabby And Neglected Mien

✓ "Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far it is possible to go." - T.S.Elliot

"The difference between the impossible and the possible lies in a man's determination.”

….Tommy Lasorda

The first rule of any technology used in a business is that automation applied to an efficient operation will magnify the efficiency. The second is that automation applied to an inefficient operation will magnify the inefficiency.

……. Bill Gates

"There is no terror, Cassius, in your threats; For I am

armed so strong in honesty that they pass by me as the

idle wind” — William Shakespeare

There are 3 main factors creating economies of scale:1. Specialization:

Large companies are able to breakdown the production into smaller and separated tasks, employing the resources more efficiently. This efficiency comes both from the specialized

workforce and from the specialized equipment and manufacturing processes.2. Bargaining Power:

As organizations grow they gain bargaining power with suppliers. If a certain company doubles the amount of raw materials it is buying every month it will very likely be able

to negotiate better prices.3. Indivisibility of Resources:

Some resources are not divisible and can not be purchased or operated under certain thresholds. Research facilities and advertising campaigns, for instance, require a minimum size.

ECONOMIES OF SCALE !!!

"The whole idea is not to beat the other runners.    Eventually you learn that the competition is against    the little voice inside you that wants you to quit."          --- George Sheehan

 "I am learning all the time.  The tombstone will be my diploma.” Eartha Kitt   "The great awareness comes slowly, piece by piece.    The path of spiritual growth is a path of lifelong learning.” M. Scott Peck   "One of the secrets of life is to keep our intellectual curiosity acute.” William L. Phelps   "The wisest mind has something yet to learn."          George Santayana

On Learning as a Continuous Process

"While one finds company in himself and his pursuits,    he cannot feel old, no matter what his years may be."          A. Bronson Alcott   "The day you stop learning is the day you begin decaying."          Isaac Asimov   "If the soul has food for study and learning,    nothing is more delightful than an old age of leisure."          Marcus Tullius Cicero   "One's work may be finished someday but one's education, never."          Alexandre Dumas (the father)

 "Intellectual growth should commence at birth and cease only at death."          Albert Einstein

"Never become so much of an expert that you stop gaining expertise.    View life as a continuous learning experience."          Denis Waitley   "The excitement of learning separates youth from old age. As long as you're learning you're not old."      Dr. Rosalyn Yalow, 1977 Nobel laureate in Medicine

 "It is always in season for old men to learn."          Aeschylus

"The difference between the impossible and the possible lies in a man's determination.”

…..Tommy Lasorda

"Leaders aren't born, they are made. And they are made just like anything else, through hard work. And that's the price we'll have to pay to achieve that goal, or any goal.”

………Vince Lombardi

Muhammad Ali…….."Champions aren't made in the gyms. Champions are made from something they have deep inside them

—a desire, a dream, a vision."

It’s not whether you get knocked down, it’s whether you get up

……Vince Lombardi

Care More Than Others Think Wise. Risk More Than Others Think Safe. Dream More Than Others Think Practical. Expect More Than Others Think Possible.

– Howard Schultz

The three ordinary things that we often don’t pay enough attention to, but which I believe are the drivers of all success are hard work, perseverance and basic honesty.

Azim Premji

Try not to become a man of success, but rather try to become a man of value ……Albert Einstein

Promise yourself to be so strong that nothing can disturb your peace of mind

…. Christian LarsonTry not to become a man of success, but rather try to become a man of value ……Albert Einstein

A mediocre idea that generates enthusiasm will go further than a great idea that inspires no one

One of the most important rules is to never give

a person cause to say you did not tell the truth,

for, "Trust is like a thin thread. Once you break

it, it is almost impossible to put it together

again.”

• Owning integrity is owning a way of life:• i.e.: strong in moral principles- characteristics

such as sincerity, honesty, & straightforwardness in your daily living patterns.

• In the business world, ownership of such characteristics is the lifeblood of any long-term success.

History teaches wise men, to put trust in ideas, not circumstances. That’s a good way of saying you need to focus on your goals, not your problems.