ON WRONG AND WORST

A fist-fight is the first fight virtue forsakes, especially when cowardice provokes.

It's better to do the wrong thing than the worst thing, especially if the right thing eludes. Ask any husband who killed his wife because he couldn't leave her. (www.joelbryant1.com)

THE POINT

Missing the point imperils truth.

People have opinions but lack convictions. They discuss virtue but don't practice it. Like ancient sophists, they explore the great questions but don't answer them. Most require a good disaster or a great tragedy to stir. Yet after these pass complacency consumes. Virtue again eludes. Without tragedy some people would never know their capacity for kindness.

ON DESTINY

Destiny is the choice we make about ourselves and our potential. We don't have to know what it is to believe that it is. (www.joelbryant1.com )

ON MINORITIES

I'm at a diversity workshop learning how to be sensitive to minorities. Being black it's easy to forget that their are others.

ON PRECEDENTS

Too much wonder makes us wobble.

Sometimes we must be the precedents we envision or seek for confirmation, affirmation too. Doing so is hard, lonely and unlikely. Not because of its difficulty, but because of our passivity.

WIND FALLS

When the wind falls, the woe flees.

On what are you waiting? How long have you waited? Are you still waiting or have you resigned? If so, why not resume your wait, knowing that it only takes a second to experience the super? But you must be ready. So, go ahead and resume your wait. In doing so, you vanquish the woe of resignation. (www.joelbryant1.com)

HELPING OTHERS

Helping others nurtures success. You must be able to this or your influence will fade. It's not enough to impress others with your knowledge. You must help them benefit from this. If you can show them how to achieve their greatness, you secure your own. Unfortunately, however, most people are merely consumed with themselves and their ideas. (www.joelbryant1.com)