Quote of the Day Part 2

"If I am not for myself, who will be for me?"

Too often we spend so much time trying to please others that we fail to do what is best for ourselves. In both the business and personal world, we must take the initiative and move ahead, with all the self-confidence and self-respect that it necessitates, otherwise we will not progress on our own. In order to do this, you must believe that you deserve it.

"And if I am only for myself, then what am I?"

Of course, the former begs the latter, because you cannot have only one. We must also remember to assist those who cannot provide for themselves, whether it be clothing, food or advice. I'm not being ideally altruistic, just realistically sympathetic. We do not exist in a vaccum, rather the idea of society melds us together so that we have some degree of dependency on each other for comfort, love, coexistence, etc. You can help yourself and help others at the same time.

"And if not now, when?"

A powerful instigator of action. The personal motto of movers and shakers and go-getters around the world. The antithesis of procrastination. Jump!

Quote of the Day

Perhaps the best quote to come out of my religious schooling; stay tuned for my commentary. In the meantime, I just wanted to get it down "on paper" so I'd remember I wanted to talk about it.


If I am not for myself, then who will be for me?

And if I am only for myself, then what am I?

And if not now, when?

-Rabbi Hillel

Poor Cabbie

During my $50 cab ride from Tampa airport to my brother Scott's house, the Haitian cabbie proceeded to educate me about current Haitian music by blasting some fun and upbeat music from the latest local music festival.

As we neared my brother's house, he off-handedly asked me if I could bring him out some turkey, as it would be the only Thanksgiving dinner he would have that night. I kind of joked and said "You're not having any Turkey dinner?!"

When he dropped me off, there was kind of an awkward silence during which he was probably waiting for me to say something about the turkey and I was pretending to have forgotten. When I finally said "Happy Thanksgiving" and turned inside, I felt ashamed for having not brought him anything. It would have been awkward, but it would have been the right thing to do. I thought about it all during dinner and afterward.

Although the lessons we learn from every such incident will certainly make us better people, there is always that lingering regret for not having got it right the first time.

I'm sorry.

Have you seen our beautiful city lately? Perhaps experienced it in the golden light of the setting sun?

And did you enjoy it?

I hope you did.

Bloggare

Penso che questa sia la mia prima volta di bloggare in italiano. Mi e' venuto tante volte di farlo nel passato, pero' per una ragione o un'altra non sono mai riuscita. Non e' male, pero', come un mezzo di utilizare il mio italiano, anche se e' stanca e triste questa mia vecchia lingua.

Oggi ho ascoltato la canzone "Una Poesia Anche per Me" di Elisa...una di quelle canzoni con cui vuoi proprio chiudere gli occhi, concentrarti e semplicemente cantare con tutto il cuore. Questo l'ho fatto quando stavamo tornando da un buon ristorante nel South Boston, un ristorante che si chima "South". E' un po' lontano da casa, cosi' avevamo un bel po di tempo per guidare e ascoltare e cantare.