f|back: when my friend oracle speaks ...

or types ... when i chat with my friend the oracle, i enjoy the intellectual banter that ensues. my friend earned the nickname from the oracle of delphi - he shared a series of different answers to his daughter's questions and/or quotes he spewed.

(image to right -
looking up a power plant stack)

i met oracle in late 2000 through my previous business and have stayed in on/off yippity-yap contact. here are the little tidbits the oracle has shared ...

• nothing is impossible for the person who does not have to do it.
  
  
• dream as if you'll live forever, live as if you'll die today.
  
  
• (in response to a colored spreadsheet) pay no attention to the man behind the curtain - uhm ... can you just tell me the answers?
  
  
• (quotes aldous huxley) actual happiness always looks pretty squalid in comparison with the over-compensations for misery.
  
  
• no one wins a race to the moral bottom.
  
  
• coincidence is a result assigned by those who failed to plan.
  
  
• (in response to a contact list i pulled together) nice work. get yourself a bucket of oats and hit the "turnout" for a rest under the apple tree. and, don't bother the geldings!
  
  
• high performers persevere. perseverance requires optimism. hope drives achievement.
  
  
• things of this world are neither inherently good nor evil, but it is Steve Jobs that makes them so.
  
  
• you are the sole architect of your fortune ... and misfortune.
  
  
• (in response to my leisurely tuesday routine in 2007 - yoga in the morn and kickboxing in the eve) meditate on this in your yoga class this afternoon, or whatever trending exercise class you San Francisco people do...
  
  • you achieve happiness by immersing yourself on working toward a goal.
  • when you stay focused on that goal and give it your all, happiness follows.
  • don't be in a rush to be the best, let it come from hard work.
  • develop the discipline and determination to focus on getting better, not being the best.
  (with a personal note of - "I just sent this to my daughter, and thought you could add it to your book. It is a paraphrased quote from an Indian philosopher (take note: very trendy and cosmopolitan of me), and I happen to completely agree and have been stressing this with daughter for years.")
  
  
• creativity is intrinsically hard to manage, but there is an essential paradox whereby enough process must be introduced so that creativity is balanced by a certain level of accountability.
  

and finally, oracle contributed a quote i've included in my mission, vision, values statements -

sometimes logic must give way to equity.