Observations about life

• Do the 'Right Thing'. If can't figure out what the 'right thing' is, pretend you had to tell your parents or your favorite teacher about your decision. If you would feel uncomfortable telling them, it is probably not the 'right thing'.
• Surround yourself with people that challenge you. Surround yourself with creative people.
• "You know what you know and you dont know what you dont know; that is knowledge" - Confucius. 
• "The true test of intelligence is not how much we know how to do, but how we behave when we dont know what to do," John Holt
• The person who doesnt know much , is usually not humble. The person who knows a lot, is always humble.
• Do what you love. Life is easier when you are doing what you are supposed to be doing.
• Change is good.
• The 2 biggest reasons that businesses(or any other endeavor for that matter) fail are ego and greed.
• The squeaky wheel gets the grease.
• You dont learn by talking; you learn by listening. Corollary 1: The meanest thing you can do to someone is to not listen when they talk. Corollary 2: There are at least 2 sides to every story. Don't react until you hear all sides. Corollary 3: Overreacting always causes mistakes.
• If you never consider failure, you will always succeed. Corollary: It is not a failure to not reach goals; it is a failure to give up on them. The biggest risk is not taking a risk.
• It is not the mistakes that define the person, but the recoveries.
• You are only as good as the pack you run with.
• Save 10% of your salary. If you can't, you are living beyond your means.
• Every successful person (regardless of how success is defined) has a mentor. Find a person that you respect and trust and emulate them.
• Life is journey marked by good and bad events. There are births, weddings and graduations, but there also deaths, divorces and job losses. We yearn to have period of relative calm and certainty, during which there is no change and we have the opportunity to get into a groove and enjoy life, concentrating on the here and now. But we dont get them. If all we got were good events, that would be fine, but we also get plenty of bad, and they rattle us, tire us and make us yearn for calm.
• The sky is not falling. "This is just a test; if this were a real emergency, you'd be dead." God.
• Most people are inherently good. If you look for the bad in people, you will surely find it, at the risk of never being able to - nor wanting to - see the good. It is a self - fulfilling prophecy.
• You can't automate a process you cant do manually.
• People will work harder to fix a problem if they take part in recommending and implementing a solution.
• Much of life is happenstance.
• Luck is the best thing you can have in a life. I'll take good luck over good management any day. The hard part is recognizing and taking advantage of good luck. Corollary: You make your own luck.
• Spread good karma. Greet all people with a cheerful face. Do good deeds for anyone and everyone.
• Be positive. Smile a lot - it makes everyone else around you feel better, and you'll feel better, too. Do good deeds for anyone and everyone.
• "Many persons have a wrong idea of what constitutes true happiness. It is not attained through self-gratification but through fidelity to a worthy purpose." - Hellen Keller
• "All happiness comes from the desire for others to be happy. All misery comes from the desire for oneself to be happy." - Shantideva, (7th Century), India.
• Visit other countries and cultures. It will increase your understanding of other people and yourself.
• "As you walk and eat and travel, be where you are. Otherwise you will miss most of your life." - Buddha
• "If you think too much, you get all mixed up," John W. Pratt, Harvard Business School Professor.
• Never work just for money or for power. They wont save your soul or help you sleep at night.
• You can't tell a book by its cover.
• Happiness is a butterfly, which, when pursued, is always just beyond your grasp, but which, if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you.
• The grand essentials of happiness are: something to do, something to love, and something to hope for.
• Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome.
• Work is either fun or drudgery. It depends on your attitude. I like fun.
• Always communicate.
• Confront conflicts (but rationally)
• Dont let money determine all of your life decisions
• Care about other people
• Give people the benefit of the doubt
• First impressions have the largest impacts
• No matter how many people agree on a solution, there is almost always a better alternative.
• You cant successfully sky dive without the support of a parachute
• Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit; wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
• Honesty is the best policy!
• Set expectations right(be it in personal life or professional). Know what you expect from others, from the job/relation and what others expect from you.
• When in doubt, be simple, frank and communicate.
• Do onto others what you would expect others to do unto you!
• Take care to be kind to those that are in positions supporting yours, i.e. secretaries, IT staff, doorman, valets etc.
• "I would prefer even to fail with honor than to win by cheating" is a quote by Sophocles which I think implies a lot.
• Creativity will always help in some way.