Antiquated Axioms

Antiquated Axioms

We often justify our action or inaction based on highly questionable axioms:

Beauty is only skin deep. But that seems more than deep enough for most, since virtually everyone in the media is good looking; we spend billions on hair dyes, exercise, cosmetic surgery, and air brushing; and people still stop and stare at beautiful women (and there are all those beauty contests).

Measure twice, cut once. Yes, unless you make sure you have more than enough material to cover errors, your want to get there first, and you have no trouble making corrections later.

Haste makes waste. Unless you’re a sprinter, and the next ten seconds is all that matters. Life is often looked upon as a marathon. It isn’t. It’s a continuing series of short sprints.

Money is the root of all evil. No, evil is the root of all evil. Oscar Wilde said that the only ones in the community who talk more about money than the rich are the poor. What you do with money is the point.

What goes around comes around. Not if you leave the spot you’re standing on and get on with your life.

If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Great, that means you’ll never raise a bar or create a higher standard in your life, but you will have the finest working abacus around. Henry Ford said his customers wanted faster horses, which is why he didn’t listen to them.

You can’t judge a book by it’s cover. If the cover is ripped and stained, then the book hasn’t been well cared for, and the same applies to people with dirty fingernails, yellowed teeth, and bad breath.

Curiosity killed the cat. Well, something killed the cat, perhaps, but its curiosity up to that point found it a mate, created a family and fed it. Lack of curiosity and stagnation are what kill most people, retired while they’re still at work.

No man is an island. A great many entrepreneurs, from Jobs to Branson, and Ted Turner to Coco Chanel, worked on a different planet, let alone island, from others around them. These days, boats, planes, and bridges can reach islands, and then there’s always the Internet.

Don’t count your chickens before they hatch. Listen, it’s helpful to know whether it’s likely you’re having eggs or chicken to eat tomorrow.

If you’re so smart, why aren’t you rich? It seems to me a better question is, “If you’re so rich, why aren’t you smart?” (Shirtsleeves-to-shirtsleeves: Without any increase in ability or intelligence, inherited wealth usually disappears by the third generation.)

© Alan Weiss 2012. All rights reserved.