Quotes that inspire me.
Men imagine that they communicate their virtue or vice only by overt actions, and do not see that virtue or vice emit a breath every moment.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
This quote is a good reminder of how every thing we do, especially the small things, show our true character and what we actually believe. What does your life (and my life) say?
Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us,
Psalm 90:17 ESV
and establish the work of our hands upon us;
yes, establish the work of our hands!
Establish comes from the Latin word meaning “to make firm” – and as I read this prayer, it resonated deeply with me. It feels like so much of the work I do is ephemeral or fleeting. What is important today is forgotten tomorrow, and even the “good” things I have built are mostly digital, simply 0’s and 1’s that could be erased and never seen again.
I long to have the work I do make a meaningful impact, or at the very least, not be a total waste of time and effort that could have been better spent. The truth that God will establish our work, he will make it solid and of lasting value, is so encouraging, even when it doesn’t feel significant.
CS Lewis captured an aspect of this idea well in The Great Divorce, when he pictured the good work we do here on earth reflecting the heavenly truth that is so much better. So yes, our work here is just a reflection, but when done well, it reflects heaven to those around us.
When you painted on earth – at least in your earlier days – it was because you caught glimpses of Heaven in the earthly landscape. The success of your painting was that it enabled others to see the glimpses too. But here you are having the thing itself.
CS Lewis, The Great Divorce
Although I believe the computer to be a vastly overrated technology, I mention it here because, clearly, American have accorded it their customary mindless inattention; which means they will use it as they are told, without a whimper. Thus, a central thesis of computer technology – that the principal difficulty we have in solving problems stems from insufficient data – will go unexamined. Until, years from now, when it will be noticed that the massive collection of data have been of great value to large-scale organizations but have solved very little of importance to most people and have created at least as many problems for them as they may have solved.
Neil Postman, Amusing Ourselves to Death
This quote is from Neil Postman’s book Amusing Ourselves to Death, a prescient look at technology (mostly TV at that point) – and how the form or medium of a technology significantly impacts how it is used. As a whole, our culture sees technology as a good thing and we adopt it without enough critical thought as to the dangers or downsides.
Reading this today in light of the massive data collection by tech platforms, and the use of this data to monetize and manipulate, should cause us to seriously consider when a technology has greater downsides than upsides, and how to prevent misuse at the hands of bad actors or powerful entities.
Measure success not by what a man achieves, but by how he achieves it.
Lawrence O Richards
In the world of business (and probably most spheres of life) it seems that the end trumps the process. Sure, we talk about celebrating failure and doing the right thing – but you are ultimately judged on the result. And those with the best results are the winners.
Now, that doesn’t mean how you got there won’t be discovered and evaluated; just look at all the downfall stories in books and on TV. Yet, despite the joy we take in seeing justice, the truth is that how you work may never be recognized. But it matters, as our true character is shown in those difficult times, when we choose the right way even when it might cost our success.
We should no longer think of work as something that we hastened to get through in order to enjoy our leisure; we should look on our leisure as the period of changed rhythm that refreshed us for the delightful purpose of getting on with our work.
Dorothy Sayers, Why Work?
This is such a refreshing view of work, and one that challenges me personally. It isn’t something merely to be dutifully completed so we can do the things we like, but an opportunity to give of ourselves to make a positive impact here.
Read Dorothy Sayers full essay called Why Work? for a great perspective on the value of work.
A wealth of information creates a poverty of attention.
Herbert Simon
We are living out the fulfillment of this quote today. We have more information than ever before, but we’re losing our ability to actually focus, and think critically.
This can be seen in the adoption of AI to do work that normally requires deep attention – writing, coding, designing. Yes we can have it done for us, but at what cost?
Additionally, as attention decreases, commanding that attention requires ever greater provocation; no longer can we read and evaluate long form content, but we are swayed by the most shocking soundbites, leading to … even more shocking soundbites. How do we regain our ability to focus and think when every platform is designed to consume us?
Science finds, industry applies, man conforms.
Chicago World Fair motto (1933)
The motto for the Chicago World Fair sums up how backwards our approach to technological development is.
We leverage science to make new discoveries, which is great, but then let the application of these technologies be led by industry (aka business), which means profit first and people be damned.
Vehicles lead to unwalkable neighbourhoods – man conforms.
New machines replace thousands of skilled artisans – man conforms.
Pesticides poison water sources – man conforms.
But it doesn’t have to be this way. We can use technology to make life better for people, and if it causes serious harm or unintended damages, we can even choose not to pursue that technology, or place limits on its use.
As technologies like AI get rammed into every aspect of life by businesses seeking to grow revenue, thinking critically about how we apply and adopt new innovations is more important than ever; individually, as business leaders, and at a macro level (politically) too.
You have to be happy in those quiet moments when you remember that you are alive; not in those noisy moments when you forget.
GK Chesterton
However formidably automatic the machine may look, there is always a man lurking in the background, adjusting it, correcting it, nursing it; and the machine itself is half slave, half god.
Lewis Mumford, Art and technics