Today I would like to honor fathers and especially my father, Keith, with a quote from Mark Twain:

When I was a boy of fourteen, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be twenty-one, I was astonished at how much he had learned in seven years.

I love this quote because it captures the feelings I think most sons have about their fathers. During adolescence we tend to think our father don’t really know what they are talking about and certainly they don’t know what is best for us. After a few years we realize how much our father’s do know and how prescient was their earlier advice.

Now this doesn’t quite apply to my relationship with my father. As I grow older my respect and love for my father’s advice grows and as an adolescent, I didn’t always give his advice the weight it deserved. But, and this is where the quote doens’t apply to our relationship, I have always known and respected his broad, worldly and practical knowledge.

Happy Father’s Day Dad! Thanks for all your love, support and wisdom.

Love
Scott
Download the Happy Father’s Day Podcast

Today we have a quote sent in by a listener. It is a quote I really appreciate because I am guilty of the behavior described. The words are from John Kenneth Galbraith a Canadian economist just like me.
Here is the quote:

Faced with the choice between changing one’s mind and proving that there is no need to do so, almost everyone gets busy on the proof.
-John Kenneth Galbraith

I doubt I am the only soul guilty of this tendency. Hopefully this quote will make us more aware of our stubbornness and more willing to forego the proof.

As I write this I am reminded of an entertaining Galbarith story I heard earlier this year. Galbraith earned is undergraduate degree from a small Canadian agricultural school that he described as “probably the worst college in the English-speaking world.” He went on to be one of the most influential economists of the 20th century. He helped President Roosevelt manage the war economy, advised Presidents Kennedy and Johnson, wrote for Fortune magazine and was a Harvard professor. Later in his career he apologized to his alma mater for his derogatory comment saying he was wrong, Arkansas A & M is the worst school in the English speaking world. He just wasn’t aware at the time Arkansas was teaching in English. That is harsh.

I would like to thank Dave Goodman for sending me those fine words from from Dr. Galbraith. Dave has an interesting blog over at DKGoodman.com/blog.html. He also has a nice sidebar full of quotes and several words of the day.

I apologize for the shortage of posts this week I am experiencing some distracting technical difficulties.

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Happy Independence Day!

A few word from the founding fathers of the United States.

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one
people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with
another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and
equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle
them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they
should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created
equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable
Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of
Happiness.

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Today’s word is a request from a long time ago and country far away- Germany. Lockstep was requested by Nicole from Useful Sounds.

Lockstep is a noun. It can be a way of acting in complete uniformity with someone or something else. A boy who follows his older brother around and imitates everything the brother does could be describe as being in lockstep with his brother. It can also be an specific inflexible process. Such as the rules for arming a nuclear weapon. I don’t know the rules but I suspect they must be followed to the letter.

Although I couldn’t find an etymology of lockstep I will hazard a guess. I think it comes from military training were solider must march so close together their steps and legs appear locked together.

An idiom with a presumably similar etymology but opposite meaning is “to march to a different drum.” For more information on this idiom and many others check out Robert Diem’s The Daily Idiom podcast.

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Today we have a quote from Bobby Knight the famous or perhaps infamous coach of the legendary Indiana University basketball team. No it is not the one about losing to Purdue.

In 1976 his Hossiers were undefeated, winning 32 games. No NCAA team has repeated that feat. He also coached the 1984 US Olympic team to a Gold. In short Bobby Knight is a winner.

Here are his words:

Most people have the will to win, few have the will to prepare to win.

Bobby Knight

This quote reminds me that most of the work and the pain comes before the game, both in basketball and in life.