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QUOTABLE QUOTES
***ACTION
"The success of a plan or a project
Depends on just how well you do it;
But the doing depends
From beginning to end--
On the plain, simple fact, you got to it."     --Lewis A Kelley

***COMPROMISE 
"When one has so many different people with different opinions to deal with in a new affair, one is obliged sometimes to give up some smaller points in order to obtain greater."   --Benjamin Franklin

***NONVIOLENCE
"In our struggle against racial segregation in Montgomery, Alabama, I came to see at a very early stage that a synthesis of Gandhi’s method of nonviolence and the Christian ethic of love is the best weapon available to Negroes for this struggle for freedom and human dignity...His spirit is a continual reminder to oppressed people that it is possible to resist evil and yet not resort to violence.”   --Martin Luther King, Jr.

***BIG DECISIONS
"This ‘telephone’ has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a means of communication.   The device is inherently of no value to us.”  --Western Union president William Orton when offered the patents to Alexander Graham Bell’s telephone in 1876 for $100,000

***HEALTHY LIVING
“Be careful about reading health books. You may die of a misprint.”  -–Mark Twain

LEADERSHIP LESSONS
***PURE RESEARCH
Ideas that appear to have no immediate benefit often are worth exploring just because they are interesting.  Americans are known for being obsessed with the bottom-line.  But this attitude has grave limitations.  Benjamin Franklin believed that scientific research was worth doing just because it was fascinating.  Important consequences that no one can foresee can come from such study, he wrote.  When Franklin became excited about the hot-air balloon experiments that Joseph and Etienne Montgolfier were conducting in France while he was our ambassador in that country, someone asked him what possible use the balloons could have. Franklin famously replied:  “What use is a new-born baby?”

***PETER DRUCKER ON INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY  
Peter Drucker was asked by Fortune Magazine what is the most important impact of information technology on business. Drucker answered: “Information technology forces you to organize your processes more logically.”  He explained that the computer can handle only things to which the answer is yes or no, not maybe.  “You have to take the assumptions out of the mind of the decision-maker and put them explicitly into the process, along with a method to check them, and only then can a computer help you manage it.”   

***DAVID ROCKEFELLER ON MONEY MANAGEMENT
When I interviewed David Rockefeller for the TV program “Up Close,” one fascinating piece of information that he shared with me was how his father taught him to use money.  David, like other children, was given an allowance, but the Rockefeller children were required to keep an exact record of how they used every single penny in order to get their next week’s allowance.  David learned very early to keep a careful record of every cent that came into his possession.  Moreover, at least 10%--a tithe—-had to go to the church or philanthropy, so he was taught to be generous.  

Those two principles—strict accounting and generosity--were deeply held Rockefeller beliefs that went back to John David Rockefeller, his grandfather.   

If I had the early part of my life to live over, I would teach my children how to manage money just the way the Rockefellers did. Many parents make sure their children learn to swim or play tennis but never teach them how money works.  The result: many hard-working, bright young people get into serious trouble because they do not know how to manage money. 

One big troublemaker is credit card debt. 

Credit cards can be a wonderful resource if you use them correctly.  Here’s how:

One.  Pay the entire balance every single month.  This way you use their money and pay nothing for the privilege. 

Two, use a credit card to purchase airline and concert tickets, tours, etc.  This way if a concert is cancelled or the tour company goes belly-up, you are likely to get your money back. 

Three, use affinity cards to earn rebates, hotel stays, airline miles and all sorts of goodies. (To find affinity cards, watch your mail or advertisements or visit the Internet.  Several websites compare the benefits of credit cards.  Here are two:  www.creditcardcatalog.com and www.e-wizdom.com.) 

Why on earth would you use a credit card that gives you nothing in return when there are so many out there that will?

Four, use credit card perks.  Some offer free trip-cancellation insurance, free extended warranties on purchases, complimentary visits to airport lounges here and abroad, and complimentary concierge services. 

But credit card debt is a killer. Interest rates are at a level today that would have been illegal—usurious—just a few decades ago. (Usury laws were annulled during the Carter administration when the prime rate went into the stratosphere.  The prime rate dropped but usury laws have not been re-enacted.)

I know senior executives with hefty incomes who have dug deep holes for themselves with credit card debt. 

Interest rates on credit cards can be obscene, and if you are late, God help you.  Late charges will be tacked on and your already high interest rate will probably be increased.  Your debt can actually double in a matter of months.

Apply the Rockefeller test.   Know exactly how much it’s costing you per day, per month, and per year.   You’ll be astonished if you do the math.

Use credit cards as a source of funds only as a last resort. 

Xavier Roberts, who made many millions of dollars with his Cabbage Patch children, told me that he launched his business with credit cards.  Nobody else would loan him money. But he is the exception.  More people have been ruined by credit cards than have made fortunes with them. 

The rule is, pay off your credit card debt first. 

And be wary of those offers to transfer your credit card debt to another credit card company.  If you do, read the fine print.  The new company may charge low interest or no interest for a few months.  But they may charge a hefty transfer fee. Even if they don’t, you must be scrupulously careful to pay off your new loan within the specified time.  Otherwise you will be charged late fees and high interest rates.  In other words, you’ll be back in that deep hole again.

Remember the Rockefeller principles.  Pay attention to every penny.  Spend less than you make. Give all that you can. 

***THE GIFT OF SIGHT
In a recent issue of TAD—and in my seminar MACROFORCES AND THE 21^st CENTURY—I discuss tell-tale statistics that can provide clues about trends and shifts in society and business.

One TAD reader asked me to provide another example.  

Here’s one. It is widely believed that labor costs are so great in the U.S. that the only way for a manufacturer to survive is to outsource.  Consider this.  According to a recent report in Fortune Magazine, all the desktop computers that Dell sells in the U.S. are assembled in the U.S.  “Dell is so efficient that it takes only one worker to build a P.C. in five minutes and labor accounts for 2 percent of the cost of a typical Dell P.C.  (Italics mine)

LINCOLN'S LOG
***Diligence
The care that Lincoln consistently applied to his work can be seen even in his handwriting.  Researchers have discovered thousands of meticulously written legal documents filed away in dusty courthouse records.

In notes that he prepared for lawyers, Lincoln recommended forming the habit of diligence: “The leading rule for the lawyer, as for the man of every calling, is diligence.  Leave nothing for to-morrow which can be done today.”    Adapted for TAD from The Words Lincoln Lived By, p. 31

TRAVEL NOTES FROM A ROAD WARRIOR
***MADISON, WISCONSIN
Basie’s Restaurant in the Radisson Hotel looks like a plain vanilla hotel restaurant, but they serve the most delicious chicken pot pie that I have ever tasted—-a breast of chicken surrounded by savory vegetables, all nestled in a flaky bed of puff pastry.  The price at lunch, less than $10.  (517 Grand Canyon Rd. Madison, WI 53719,    608-833-0110)

***CHARLESTON, S.C.
In a town noted for excellent restaurants, Blossom is one of the best.  Their Carolina crab ravioli is delectable. The filling consists of mayonnaise, basil, bread crumbs, onions, salt, parmesan cheese, white pepper, and, of course, fresh crab meat.  Onions, porcinis, shitakes, and crimini mushrooms are sautéed in a canola/olive oil blend.  Just before mixture reaches sauce consistency, spinach is added along with fresh basil.  It’s served in a shallow 12" bowl.  (Blossom, 171 E Bay St.,Charleston, SC, 29401 (843) 722-9200)

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Click below for:

Time Management:  How To Create A Time-Effective Organization
Abraham Lincoln: quotes
More About Abraham Lincoln: Resources For Further Study
Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt quotes and commentary on leadership style
The Lincoln-Roosevelt Connection
War quotes
Ronald Reagan quotes; exclusive interview: his big break
"The Diversity Creed"; Why I Wrote "The Diversity Creed"
Remarkable Similarities Between President Abraham Lincoln And  Benjamin Franklin
Civil War Quotes: U.S. Grant's Leadership Style
How To Do Business With Americans:  Forgive Their Blunders
The Americans:  Who Are They And How Did They Get This Way?  

Books and Videos By Gene Griessman
The Inspirational Lincoln Quote Book.  "If you can purchase just one book of Lincoln quotations, this is the one to get."
 THE WORDS LINCOLN LIVED BY.  CLICK HERE TO ORDER

Gene Griessman's Lincoln Live performance before an audience of over 20,000 at the Georgia Dome. More...        CLICK HERE TO ORDER

Over 200 time-saving tips from very successful people
Time Tactics Of Very Successful People.  More...
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