Another Half Step Forward I tend to read books of quotes when I'm in trying times or in a conscious period of self-discovery as I am today. Advice columns often offer ambiguous solutions to petty difficulties, and no one is made the better, but a single quote of even moderate wisdom can change one's perspective on their problem, and therefore the way they feel about it, the way they think about it, and the way the approach the problem henceforth. It is the difference between chronic distress and the glory of steadfast resolve. Men and women are empowered when guided to a solution of their own formulation seeded by the wisdom of those who came before them, and insulted by those who hand them a solution, whose application is then a new and more perplexing problem. When dealing with our friends and colleagues, we should consider the best way to inspire them to their own ends, not to shove a means down their throat.

Luckily, my brother gave me several books of quotes distributed in his firm small enough to keep in my bag at all times. A few are helpful to me in the wake of my foolish behavior this past week:

"Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure or it is nothing." --Helen Keller

Speaks directly to my situation, but in the context of another, I probably would have done myself a favor putting sunscreen on sooner than I did yesterday at the Dragonboat Races.

"True friendship is a plant of slow growth, and must undergo and withstand the shocks of adversity before it is entitled to the appellation." -- George Washington

"What is a friend? A single soul dwelling in two bodies." -- Aristotle

"You may have to fight a battle more than once to win it." -- Margaret Thatcher  ¶ 11:17 AM