"On the back of the slip was written 'Read 5.25.34' and the signature of my father. The file -- indeed the whole "case" -- gave me a heavy sinking feeling. I kept leafing through the documents trying to understand. Shouldn't there have been some kind of logic to these stories? Did the Chekists' machinery really so senselessly gobble up people? Perhaps my life would have taken a different turn if been able to see my father's file earlier. If I could have been convince…

Talent requires Passion - Stanislas Dehaene Passion requires Temperament -  David M. Keirsey To shoot a basketball accurately under duress, to act in a play with flare, to climb Mt. Everest, to physically be the first in a contest: are all skills that need to be acquired.  Artisans with their ability to be in the moment are able to "practice" without the consciousness of "practicing": hence they tend to gather skills early. Acquirin…

“Don’t ever try to learn from other people’s mistakes.  Learn what other people do right.” If I am anything, I am a Viking traveler of books and of life.  So it is with Peter Drucker’s Adventures of a Bystander . I recently have been reading and rereading his delightful non-autobiography, autobiography.  According to Drucker, this is his readers’ favorite of all his books (29 by 1997).  It is obvious why – he has a clear …

"It is easy enough to be friendly to one's friends. But to befriend the one who regards himself as your enemy is the quintessence of true religion. The other is mere business." – Mohandas Gandhi Type bashing.   It happens.   I posit that one does not truly understand temperament fully until you are willing to accept an individual who you don’t like -- as being a “type” that you do like. Typically, it’s your own type that you like most.…