Day: July 11, 2005

OK, I’m in a very contemplative mood here and NO I’m not about to give away all my possessions but sometimes it’s important to put material gain into perspective.

• “The ideals which have lighted my way, and time after time have given me new courage to face life cheerfully, have been Kindness, Beauty, and Truth. The trite subjects of human efforts, possessions, outward success, luxury have always seemed to me contemptible.”– Albert Einstein

People always talk about reputations…

• “Regard your good name as the richest jewel you can possibly be possessed of – for credit is like fire; when once you have kindled it you may easily preserve it, but if you once extinguish it, you will find it an arduous task to rekindle it again. The way to gain a good reputation is to endeavor to be what you desire to appear.” – Socrates

I’ll further Socrates point by saying that one way to preserve a good reputation is not to engage in any activity where you perceive that your reputation may be damaged regardless of your performance. In IT this is critical as there is often a huge mismatch between the expectations of customers/clients and developers.