QUOTATIONS

Winifred Holtby was an early 20th century feminist poet who wrote and edited numerous newspaper and famously, the feminist magazine Time & Tide.  Her poem, Boats in the Bay puts forth, in very easily understood prose, a challenge we all face.  

Ansel Adams captured a sense of awe in all of his photographs that lives on to today.  His images captured both the sights and feelings of the moment and he took took them to compel others to protect the lands he held so dear.  We have him to thank, in part, for the more than 5 dozen natural parks and scores of monuments and other protected spaces in the United States today.  

Today I speak with author and philosopher, Jason Merchey, whose book Living a Life of Value is one of the very best modern-day collections of quotations.  This makes it and our interview instant favorites for me. 

When you're done listening, be sure to check out his website and quote database of more than 35,000 searchable quotes at www.valuesofthewise.com.  

If you'd like a copy of Living a Life of Value, reach out to Jason via the contact form at https://valuesofthewise.com/contact/.  

Admiral William McRaven (USN-Ret.) gave a wildly popular commencement address at the University of Texas in 2014.  In it, he laid out 10 edicts to the class so they (and we) can change the world.  While many of you are familiar with the "make your bed" edict, you may not know today's by heart.  McRaven advises the class of 2014 and all of us that we simply can't change the world alone...

Elon Musk is an entrepreneur and tackler of hard problems.  He aims to make electric vehicles affordable and ubiquitous, take human beings to Mars, and enable rapid subterranean transportation, among other things.  To solve these hard problems, he actively seeks and internalizes feedback.  So should we.  

Carl Rogers, father of Humanistic Psychology understood deeply that humans are good and unique.  He developed a complex theory on the subject that persists to today and influences therapists around the world.  His quote today compares people to sunsets and we'd be well-advised to remember it.  

Neil deGrasse Tyson is an astronomer, astrophysicist, author, and science educator.  He is truly one of the greats with a CV longer than some books.  He has written and spoken a lot and has documented opinions and statements about many things, most profound and easy to digest.  But he resists answering one question in the way many wish he would.  In today's quote, he cautions us to be careful in what we think we know of a person based on association.  

William George Jordan was a writer, editor, and speaker.  He recognized the importance of measured approaches to things, to remaining calm in the face of inflammatory things.  He published a book, available online in PDF for free, called The Majesty of Calmness.  In that book, he describes calmness as the ultimate goal and compares it to a Heron's calmness in the face of an attacking Eagle.  Be the Heron, not the Eagle.  

Clint Smith is a writer, author, father, and poet.  He is a staff writer at the Atlantic and a few years, he tweeted something that has stuck with me since then.  With his 240 characters, Clint described an interaction with a teacher that changed his perspective.  His tweet changed mine and hopefully this episode about that tweet about that interaction changes yours.  

Richard Dawkins is an accomplished scientist and author whose incredible book Unweaving the Rainbow provides a scientist's view of the world of art.  He writes of the improbability of our very existence and it is those words that are the source of today's episode.