Tag Archives: Courage

Roll the Dice

Posted on November 5, 2024 by N.S. Palmer

Common wisdom gives us a lot of contradictory advice. There’s: And there’s: But I think the best advice comes from the Bible: “The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, … Continue reading →

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We Are All Pythagoreans Now

Posted on October 31, 2024 by N.S. Palmer

“We are all Keynesians now.”— U.S. President Richard M. Nixon, 1971 If you took geometry in school, then you probably know the Pythagorean theorem: “in a right triangle, the square of the longest side equals the sum of the squares … Continue reading →

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Wisdom to Face Life’s Challenges

Posted on October 25, 2024 by N.S. Palmer

Stoicism is the belief that we should try to be serene and rational. It seems totally alien to our hyper-emotional culture, where people can get rich by crying and complaining without actually doing anything worthwhile. A crucial part of stoicism … Continue reading →

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You Can’t Idiot-Proof the World

Posted on August 31, 2021 by N.S. Palmer

There’s no way to make the world safe for idiots. No matter what you do, it can go wrong somehow. And then it won’t be safe, for idiots or anyone else. I thought of that while watching “Love Crossed,” a … Continue reading →

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Beware of “Exceptions” to Freedom

Posted on January 30, 2021 by N.S. Palmer

Yale University historian Timothy Snyder wrote a short book called On Tyranny that’s quite good. Each of its 20 chapters explains a way to preserve freedom and civilized society in the face of attacks by tyrannical government. The book came … Continue reading →

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Kathy Shaidle, R.I.P.

Posted on January 11, 2021 by N.S. Palmer

Blogger Kathy Shaidle died yesterday, but she lived long enough to write her own obituary. It’s a classic of class. R.I.P., Kathy. I hope to meet you someday (but not too soon): “Kathy Shaidle 1964 – 2021 Following a tedious … Continue reading →

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Be a Winner in 2021

Posted on December 31, 2020 by N.S. Palmer

Life is like a game of chess. I was going to say “life is like a box of chocolates,” but apparently someone else has used that already. In high school and college, I played a lot of chess. A chess … Continue reading →

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If You Have Courage

Posted on December 4, 2020 by N.S. Palmer

Rudyard Kipling was a Nobel prize-winning British writer. He is best known today for writing The Jungle Book. His poem “If” has been a source of strength and inspiration to many people around the world. I can’t improve on it, … Continue reading →

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Freedom Means Responsibility

Posted on November 20, 2020 by N.S. Palmer

My first summer job in high school was as a copy boy for The Indianapolis Star newspaper. Yes, it was so long ago that we were called copy “boys” and nobody got triggered about sexism or patriarchy. Every morning when … Continue reading →

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A Moment from the Middle Ages

Posted on October 19, 2020 by N.S. Palmer

Let’s consider a moment from the Middle Ages. Of course, people in the Middle Ages didn’t think they were living in “the Middle Ages.” That term was invented during the Renaissance to denote the era between Late Antiquity (after the … Continue reading →

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