This site is dedicated to the memory of Dr. Alan William Smolowe who gave birth to the creation of this database.
James Baldwin, fully James Arthur Baldwin
Perhaps the whole root of our trouble, the human trouble, is that we will sacrifice all the beauty of our lives, will imprison ourselves in totems, taboos, crosses, blood sacrifices, steeples, mosques, races, armies, flags, nations, in order to deny the fact of death, the only fact we have. It seems to me that one ought to rejoice in the fact of death--ought to decide, indeed, to earn one's death by confronting with passion the conundrum of life.
Beauty | Death | Order | Passion | Sacrifice | Will | Beauty |
He who would accomplish little must sacrifice little; he who would achieve much must sacrifice much; he who would attain highly must sacrifice greatly.
The art of governing the passions is more useful, and more important, than many things in the search and pursuit of which we spend our days. Without this art, riches and health, and skill and knowledge, will give us little satisfaction; and whatsoever else we be, we can be neither happy, nor wise, nor good.
Art | Little | Riches | Search | Skill | Will | Riches | Art |
John Rawls, fully John Bordley Rawls
In constant pursuit of money to finance campaigns, the political system is simply unable to function. Its deliberative powers are paralyzed.
A successful future for America depends on the meaning we attach to being citizens of the same republic--a meaning shattered every time the left questions the intelligence of their opponents and the right questions the patriotism of those who don’t share their views. That success also will be measured by the depth of our commitment to each other—a commitment that begins in our neighborhoods and PTAs and town councils and swells upward from there. Our success rest on the shape and power of our vision--how can we pursue “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” when the nation is a battleground of uncompromising ideas and ideologies? We need to change what’s in our minds but above all we need to change what’s in our hearts.
Change | Commitment | Future | Ideas | Intelligence | Liberty | Meaning | Need | Patriotism | Power | Rest | Right | Success | Time | Will |
John Rawls, fully John Bordley Rawls
As free persons, citizens recognize one another as having the moral power to have a conception of the good. This means that they do not view themselves as inevitably tied to the pursuit of the particular conception of the good and its final ends which they espouse at any given time.
John Tillotson, Archbishop of Canterbury
In our pursuit of the things of this world, we usually prevent enjoyment by expectation; we anticipate our happiness, and eat out the heart and sweetness of worldly pleasures by delightful forethoughts of them; so that when we come to possess them, they do not answer the expectation, or satisfy the desires which were raised about them, and they vanish into nothing.
The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership THE LAW OF THE LID — Leadership Ability Determines a Person’s Level of Effectiveness. THE LAW OF INFLUENCE — The True Measure of Leadership is Influence — Nothing More, Nothing Less. THE LAW OF PROCESS — Leadership Develops Daily, Not in a Day. THE LAW OF NAVIGATION — Anyone Can Steer the Ship, But It Takes a Leader to Chart the Course.. THE LAW OF ADDITION — Leaders Add Value by Serving Others. THE LAW OF SOLID GROUND — Truth is the Foundation of Leadership. THE LAW OF RESPECT — People Naturally Follow Leaders Stronger Than Themselves. THE LAW OF INTUITION — Leaders Evaluate Everything with a Leadership Bias. THE LAW OF MAGNETISM – Who You Are is Who You Attract. THE LAW OF CONNECTION. – Leaders Touch a Heart Before They Ask for a Hand. THE LAW OF THE INNER CIRCLE – A Leader’s Potential is Determined by Those Closest to Him. THE LAW OF EMPOWERMENT – Only Secure Leaders Give Power to Others. THE LAW OF THE PICTURE – People Do What People See. THE LAW OF BUY-IN – People Buy into the Leader, Then the Vision. THE LAW OF VICTORY – Leaders Find a Way for the Team to Win. THE LAW OF THE BIG MO – Momentum is a Leader’s Best Friend. THE LAW OF PRIORITIES – Leaders Understand that Activity is Not Necessarily Accomplishment. THE LAW OF SACRIFICE – A Leader Must Give Up to Go Up. THE LAW OF TIMING – When to Lead is As Important as What to Do and Where to Go. THE LAW OF EXPLOSIVE GROWTH – To Add Growth, Lead Followers – To Multiply, Lead Leaders. THE LAW OF LEGACY – A Leader’s Lasting Value is Measured by Succession.
Ability | Growth | Heart | Important | Influence | Intuition | Law | Nothing | People | Power | Respect | Sacrifice | Truth | Respect | Leader | Leadership | Understand | Value |
John D. Rockefeller, fully John Davidson Rockefeller I
I believe in the supreme worth of the individual and in his right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
Individual | Liberty | Right | Worth |
John Wooden, fully John Robert Wooden
We should never let ambition cause us to sacrifice our integrity or diminish our efforts in other areas. However, we need to remember that we never reach a serious goal unless we have the intention of doing so.
Ambition | Cause | Integrity | Intention | Need | Sacrifice | Ambition |
Better to die in the pursuit of civilized values, we believed, than in a flight underground. We were offering a value system couched in the language of science.
John D. Rockefeller, fully John Davidson Rockefeller I
I believe that the rendering of useful service is the common duty of mankind and that only in the purifying fire of sacrifice is the dross of selfishness consumed and the greatness of the human soul set free.
Duty | Greatness | Mankind | Sacrifice | Selfishness | Service | Soul |
John F. Kennedy, fully John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy
Peace is a daily, a weekly, a monthly process, gradually changing opinions, slowly eroding old barriers, quietly building new structures. And however undramatic the pursuit of peace, that pursuit must go on.
Old |
Seven Steps to Success 1) Make a commitment to grow daily. 2) Value the process more than events. 3) Don't wait for inspiration. 4) Be willing to sacrifice pleasure for opportunity. 5) Dream big. 6) Plan your priorities. 7) Give up to go up.
Commitment | Plan | Pleasure | Sacrifice | Success | Value |
José Martí, fully José Julián Martí Pérez
An insatiable appetite for glory leads to sacrifice and death, but innate instinct leads to self-preservation and life.
Appetite | Glory | Instinct | Sacrifice | Self-preservation |
John Henry Newman, aka Cardinal Newman and Blessed John Henry Newman
One secret act of self-denial, one sacrifice of inclination to duty, is worth all the mere good thoughts, warm feelings, passionate prayers in which idle people indulge themselves.
Good | Inclination | People | Sacrifice | Worth |
Behavior now must be changed from within the new consciousness rather than from Mosaic laws carving behavior from without. Sin and desire are now within conscious desire and conscious contrition, rather than in the external behaviors of the decalogue and the penances of temple sacrifice and community punishment. The divine kingdom to be regained is psychological not physical. It is metaphorical not literal. It is "within" not in extenso.
Behavior | Consciousness | Desire | Sacrifice | Sin |
Our self-love can be resigned to the sacrifice of everything but itself.