Saturday, December 27, 2025
Kind and Substantive
Nicholas Bate is going to have us up-and-running for the new year.
Current guidance:
Meanwhile, go walk, go read some fiction and go drop some thank you notes in the post.
Why History?
History shows us how to behave. History teaches, reinforces what we believe in, what we stand for, and what we ought to be willing to stand up for. History is - or should be - the bedrock of patriotism, not the chest-pounding kind of patriotism but the real thing, love of country.
- From David McCullough's acceptance speech upon receiving the National Book Foundation's Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters
The Stack Has Grown
My Christmas books are:
Shiloh by Shelby Foote
Appeasement by Tim Bouverie
Down Cemetery Road by Mick Herron
History Matters by David McCullough
Didion: The 1960s & 70s by Joan Didion
The Godfather by Mario Puzo
Lenin by Victor Sebestyen
[Photo by Tanya Barrow at Unsplash]
Friday, December 26, 2025
From an Execupundit.com post of December 24, 2011
Study yourself. It will be a life-long course. Don't let admirable long-term plans keep your focus so heavily on the horizon so that you trip over the immediate. Always know how much time you have. Count on a project taking at least three times longer than you originally planned. Don't be too quick to forgive yourself but be able to do so. Avoid haters. Try to have a good laugh at least once a day. Never quell on bad experiences. Move on from them. Become a gourmet of life's beauty. Don't rush; speed is often over-rated. Learn something unusual once a month. Look for the story behind the story. Recognize that "No" often has an expiration date. If something is too easy, there is a reason and it's usually not good news. Elude the cheap fashions of our times. Search for great people who are not celebrities and never confuse greatness with celebrity. Craft a philosophy. Don't assume that societal progress is ordained. Chop back the jungle every day. Know the symptoms of inertia. Watch out for once-impressive programs that have become skeletons in new suits. Never take your future for granted. Relax as seriously as you work. Cultivate courage and kindness. Be noble.
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