Aphorisms

Here are a bunch of aphorisms that I've come across over the years, and an occasional one that I've come up with myself. Guess which is which! (Better yet, take a fairly long search string from one of these aphorisms -- or even the entire aphorism -- and see what shows up on your favorite Internet search engine.)

1. Anyone can be brilliant after the fact, but it is very difficult to read tea leaves in real-time.

2. Just because one knows that the long-term penalty of inaction is death does not mean there is no hesitancy about trying experimental cures.

3. Success rarely lies in unchanging predictions of coming doom. Some may be motivated -- for a while -- to take action, but over time, a sense of being overwhelmed in the face of such enormous need tends to push many toward disaffection, if not despair. The risk is just as great for the activists leading the charge as for those who follow behind them.

4. The rules are simple: to live instead of devising a lingering death, and to indulge untrammeled desire.

5. When you look at contingencies, you don’t focus only on the likelihood of the contingency but also on the severity of its consequences.

6. If you ever write a line that you think can be quoted, change it.

7. The key to interpersonal harmony is not communication, but validation.

8. Carter's Stance (named after Don Carter, owner of the Dallas Mavericks basketball team, after a disastrous first season): My wife is not for sale; everything else is negotiable.

9. Over-motivated, Willy was pushing himself beyond his limits. He realized that he could easily overdo it, like a husky dog with a bad master that will keep going until it drops. He decided that he must discipline himself if he was to succeed. He must force himself to follow a schedule, get sufficient sleep, prepare adequate meals, keep the boat in order, and do repairs as required - and above all, to navigate with extreme care.

10. I dislike doing things poorly, and there is not enough time in life to get good at everything.

11. There were many reasons for the fall of the Soviet Union, but at the core, the fact that mere survival had become its highest aim was what killed it.

12. A good example of bad thinking: “We must do something; this is something; therefore, we must do this.”

13. A gambit does not become optimal simply by being obvious.

14. If Russia delivers advanced surface-to-air missiles to Iran, this would present significant challenges for U.S. air operation over that nation. The Russians would find this particularly advantageous, as the Iranians would absorb U.S. attentions -- and, as in Vietnam, the Russians would benefit from extended, fruitless commitments of U.S. military forces in regions not vital to Russia.

15. The fault belongs to practically everyone in any stressful situation.

16. When events need to be understood, the fact that they remain opaque is revealing.

17. Rejection is part of success.

18. If you want to show off, go with a sure thing.

19. The moral dilemmas and downfalls of people in situations I will never be in don't get me nearly as hot as the ones of people in situation I have been in, or have managed to avoid.

20. You can't think globally when you are commanded locally.

21.