Michael Josephson Commentary

Michael Josephson Commentary

What do I owe to my times, to my country, to my neighbors, to my friends? Such are the questions which a virtuous man ought to ask himself often. Johann Kaspar Lavater, Swiss poet (1741-1801)

Deference is the most complicated, the most indirect, and the most elegant of all compliments. William Shenstone, British poet (1714-1763)

Grace is the outcome of inward harmony. Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach, Austrian writer (1830-1916)

Pardon is voluntary forgetfulness while forgetfulness is involuntary pardon. Pierre-Jules Hetzel, French editor, publisher (1814-1886)

A person of character has strong convictions, yet avoids self-righteousness. Michael Josephson

Michael Josephson Commentary

He that honoureth his father shall have a long life.
– Bible
I haven’t taught people in 50 years what my father taught by example in one week.
– Mario Cuomo, governor of New York
You don’t have to deserve your mother’s love. You have to deserve your father’s.
– Robert Lee Frost, poet (1874-1963)
To you your father should be as a god;
One that compos’d your beauties; yea, and one,
To whom you are but as a form in wax,
By him imprinted, and within his power
To leave the figure, or disfigure it.
– William Shakespeare, British poet, playwright (1564-1616)
Nobody ever asks a father how he manages to combine marriage and a career.
– Sam Ewing, baseball player
Expressions of fatherly love are the essence of what it is to be a dad. Our reward is not that our children will remember them but that we do.
– Michael Josephson


Michael Josephson Commentary

Michael Josephson Commentary

Michael Josephson Commentary

Put more trust in nobility of character than in an oath. – Solon, Greek statesman, poet (638-558 BC)

Thou shalt not be a victim. Thou shalt not be a perpetrator. Above all, thou shalt not be a bystander. – Holocaust Museum

For those who are always courteous and respectful of elders, four things increase: life, beauty, happiness, and strength. – Gautama Buddha, founder of Buddhism (563-483 BC)

Every right implies a responsibility; every opportunity an obligation; every possession a duty. – John D. Rockefeller, industrialist, philanthropist (1839-1937)

A person of character plays fair even when others don’t and values no achievement unless it was attained with honor. – Michael Josephson

Michael Josephson Commentary: The Illusion of Success 621.2

Michael Josephson Commentary: The Illusion of Success 621.2

I am different from Washington. I have a higher, grander standard of principle. Washington could not lie. I can lie, but I won’t. – Mark Twain, author, humorist (1835-1910)

If there is light in the soul,
There will be beauty in the person.
If there is beauty in the person,
There will be harmony in the house.
If there is harmony in the house,
There will be order in the nation.
If there is order in the nation,
There will be peace in the world.
– Chinese proverb

Once you label me, you negate me.
– Soren Kierkegaard, Danish philosopher, theologian (1813-1855)

Little boldness is needed to assail the opinions and practices of notoriously wicked men, but to rebuke great and good men for their conduct and impeach their discernment is the highest effort of moral courage.
– William Lloyd Garrison, journalist, abolitionist (1805-1879)

A person of character values honesty and integrity and pays whatever price is needed to be worthy of trust.
– Michael Josephson