Through the Keyhole

Time to blossom

And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.

– Anaiis Nin

Stand for something

To really stand for something, you must make difficult decisions, mostly about what you don’t do.

– Seth Godin, When you stand for something

Counting heads

We do not count heads before enforcing the First Amendment.

– Sandra Day O’Connor

You're lovable just because you're here

A relationship built on real love feels good. It isn’t selfish; it doesn’t cause you anxiety. When someone really loves you, he understands that you’re lovable just because you’re here. How he treats you underscores that understanding. Yes, a relationship requires work. But if it’s healthy, it should bring you joy – not just some of the time but most of the time. It should never require losing your voice, your self-respect, or your dignity. And whether you are 25 or 65, it should involve bringing all of who you are to the table - and walking away with even more.

– Oprah Winfrey

Give a large part of one's self to others

The most satisfying thing in life is to have been able to give a large part of one’s self to others.

– Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

Consequences of no action

The consequences of no action will be far more painful than the consequences of change.

- Willard Daggett

Life is a hundred times too short

Is life not a hundred times too short to be bored?

- Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche

Success

Success is liking yourself, liking what you do, and liking how you do it.

– Maya Angelou

Never say no to adventures

Never say ‘no’ to adventures. Always say ‘yes’ otherwise you’ll lead a very dull life.

- Ian Fleming

Time has been transformed

Time has been transformed, and we have changed; it has advanced and set us in motion; it has unveiled its face, inspiring us with bewilderment and exhilaration.

- Kahlil Gibran

Love what you do

To love what you do and feel that it matters – how could anything be more fun?

- Katherine Graham

Give them freedom to use their intelligence

The hardest thing to copy at Google is not the free food or massages or parking, which anyone can do. The hardest thing to copy and for corporate leaders to get in their heads is that if you hire intelligent people you actually let them use their intelligence.

- Jeffrey Pfeffer, Stanford Business School

If you give them freedom, they will amaze you. They'll surprise you with what they come up with.

- Laszlo Bock, Vice President of Google

(both cited in Searching for the Best Place to Work?)

Teaching students how to do everything using technology

The digital revolution in schools is not about teaching students to use technology, it's about teaching students how to do everything using technology.

- Chris Dede, cited in Back to the Books (and Laptops)

A profound struggle

There is a profound struggle between two incompatible forms of instruction: passive teaching and active learning.

– Tadeusz Lemanczyk

Make it really easy

You can’t underestimate the miracle that happens when you make something really easy for people.

- Saul Hansell, The Lessons from the Kindle’s Success

 

Support the strong

Support the strong, give courage to the timid, remind the indifferent and warn the opposed.

– Whitney M. Young

This is no way to treat professionals

In the last 25 years, spending has risen 240% while performance has barely changed.

We recruit new teachers largely from the bottom 30% of entering college students, train them, and then assign them to the toughest jobs in the most challenging schools with very low pay. When the results fall short, we tell them, “You just have to work harder.” . . . This is no way to treat professionals.

– William Brock, New Commission on the Skills of the American Workforce (in Parade magazine, July 6, 2008)

We're not good at predicting the future

[As we try to plan for and retool for the future,] We’re going to get it wrong. We’re not good at predicting the future. Change is exponential, and our incorrect guesses are incrementally wrong.

– Cory Ondrjka, one of the founders of Second Life (quote courtesy of David Warlick)

Speak up

Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.

– Martin Luther King, Jr.

Would you like fries with that?

Uninformed in technology = illiterate in technology. Illiterate in technology = “Would you like fries with that?”

– Scott Floyd, Oh. no. he. didn’t.