The Wisdom Chronicle is designed to bring nuggets of wisdom from the dozens of books I read every year. I endeavor to share the best of what I have gleaned. The determination of relevance lies with you. Blessings, J. Whiddon
- TRUST & MONEY “While trust permits many mutually beneficial forms of cooperation, trust without trustworthiness is a formula for disaster. The level of honesty in a given society limits the radius of trust in that society, and this can have an economic impact that outweighs many tangible advantages of a given society. The Soviet Union, for example, was one of the most richly endowed nations on earth, if not the most richly endowed, in natural resources. Yet, the standard of living of the Russian people was significantly lower than that in Western Europe, the United States or Japan—even though Japan is one of the most poorly endowed nations when it comes to natural resources.
The cost of corruption in an economy does not consist solely, or even primarily, of the bribes paid, the money stolen or the goods pilfered. The main costs consist of the things that are not done—the businesses that are not started, the investments that are not made and the loans that are not granted, because the rate of return on such economic activities would have to be much higher to make such activities worthwhile in a very corrupt economy than in an economy in which the risks of being deprived of the fruits of one’s efforts were much lower.”
Excerpt From: Sowell, Thomas. “Wealth, Poverty and Politics.”
- MANMADE? Two scientists excitedly exclaimed to God, “We can make a man now. We don’t need you anymore God. We can make one just like you did!”
“Oh really”, said God. ” Show me more.”
“Ok. Well first, we take some dirt….”
God interrupts, “No, no… I’m afraid you’ll have to get your own dirt.”
–C. Seidman
- GAMBLERS “Gamblers often up their bets when luck isn’t going their way; they’re willing to take a bigger risk to avoid losing money. IN the same way, stock prices bounce up and down more drastically during falling markets than during rising ones: If you’re a stock trader who’s lost a lot, the temptation to gamble big in the hopes of recouping money is very powerful.”
Excerpt From: Belsky, Gary. “Why Smart People Make Big Money Mistakes and How to Correct Them.”
- PIZZA, PIZZA Once asked into how many slices he wanted his pizza cut. Yogi Berra said, “Better make it four; I’m not hungry enough to eat eight.”
- WORD COUNT “A study found that American children in families where the parents are in professional occupations hear 2,100 words an hour, on average. Children whose parents are working class hear an average of 1,200 words an hour—and children whose family is on welfare hear 600 words an hour.13 What this means is that, over the years, a ten-year-old child from a family on welfare will have heard not quite as many words at home as a three-year-old child whose parents are professionals.
It is painful to contemplate what that means cumulatively over the years, as poor children are handicapped from their earliest childhood. It is not just in the quantity of words they hear that they are handicapped. They are also handicapped in both the quantity and the quality of their parents. Only 9 percent of American women with college degrees who gave birth in 2013 were unmarried. But 61 percent of women who were high school dropouts and gave birth that year were unmarried.”
Excerpt From: Sowell, Thomas. “Wealth, Poverty and Politics.”
- ALL BELONGS TO GOD “God let Abraham go through with it up to the point where He knew there would be no retreat, and then forbade him to lay a hand upon the boy. He said in effect, “It’s all right, Abraham. I never intended that you should actually slay the lad. I only wanted to remove him from the temple of your heart that I might reign unchallenged there. I wanted to correct the perversion that existed in your love. Now you may have the boy, sound and well. Take him and go back to your tent. Now I know that thou fearest God, seeing that thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son, from me.”
We are often hindered from giving up our treasures to the Lord out of fear for their safety; this is especially true when those treasures are loved relatives and friends. But we need have no such fears. Our Lord came not to destroy but to save. Everything is safe which we commit to Him, and nothing is really safe which is not so committed.
Our gifts and talents should also be turned over to Him. They should be recognized for what they are, God’s loan to us, and should never be considered in any sense our own. We have no more right to claim credit for special abilities than for blue eyes or strong muscles. “For who maketh thee to differ from another? and what hast thou that thou didst not receive?”
Excerpt From: A. W. Tozer. “The Pursuit of God.”
- TRUTH? “A woman and her husband were invited to her rich aunt’s home for dinner. The wife insisted that the husband treat the aunt politely. Her dessert was an original recipe. It was terrible. The husband responded, “I must say this is the best cake I have ever tasted.”
On the way home his wife told him that she had not meant that he had to lie to her aunt.
The husband replied, “I told the truth; I said, I must say this is the best cake I ever tasted.”
Excerpt From: Hodgin, Michael. “1001 Humorous Illustrations for Public Speaking.”
- GOSPEL MOVEMENT Launched by business leaders:
A BUILDING CONTRACTOR from Nazareth.
Four FISHERMEN from Galilee.
A TAX COLLECTOR from Judea.
A TENT MAKER from Tarsus.
A PHYSICIAN from Troas.
From: The Masters Program
- HISTORICAL BLUNDER “The worst political blunder in the history of civilization was probably the decision of the emperor of China in the year 1433 to stop exploring the oceans and to destroy the ships capable of exploration and the written records of their voyages. The decision was the result of powerful people pursuing partisan squabbles and neglecting the long-range interests of the empire. This is a disease to which governments of all kinds, including democracies, are fatally susceptible.”–Freeman Dyson
- PRESENT FUTURE “We worry about the future at the expense of the present.” –Cicero
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