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

481. DOGMA “However unwillingly a person who has a strong opinion may admit the possibility that his opinion may be false, he ought to be moved by the consideration that however true it may be, if it is not fully, frequently, and fearlessly discussed, it will be held as a dead dogma, not a living truth.”

Excerpt From: John Stuart Mill. “On Liberty.”

482. HUMILITY “Humility is “knowing who God is and knowing who I am.”

Excerpt From: Harris, Raymond. “The Heart of Business.”

483. VISION “Visions should be so God-sized that there is no way for them to be accomplished unless God intervenes. God sees us not so much for what we are now but for what we could be—if, that is, we receive a vision from Him for the work at hand.” “Where there is no vision, the people perish” (Proverbs 29:18 KJV)

Excerpt From: O. S. Hawkins. “The Joshua Code.”

484. LEGACY “If I have seen farther than others, it is because I was standing on the shoulders of giants.” —SIR ISAAC NEWTON

485. COMBAT “The unit that choreographs their actions best usually wins. . . . The choreography always requires that each man make decisions based not on what’s best for him, but on what’s best for the group. If everyone does that, most of the group survives. If no one does, most of the group dies. That, in essence, is combat.”

Excerpt From: Luntz, Frank. “Win.”

486. SPENDING OUR LIVES C. S. Lewis said, because we were not made for time but for eternity, which is outside of time. Thus time feels strange to us. The question then is this: What are we to do in the midst of this strange sojourn? We are to redeem the time we’ve been given. Every single day and everything we do counts because we are not our own. Our money, our families, our talents, and even our time are not our own. Because we’ve been bought with a price: The suffering and death of the perfect Son of God. — Eric Metaxas

487. ALWAYS DO YOUR BEST “DiMaggio was the greatest player I ever saw, and nobody looked more relaxed. He covered vast distances in the outfield, moving in graceful strides, always arriving ahead of the ball, making the hardest catch look routine, and even when he was at bat, hitting the ball with tremendous power, he didn’t appear to be exerting himself. I marveled at how effortless he looked because what he did could only be achieved by great daily effort. A reporter once asked him how he managed to play so well so consistently, and he said: “I always thought that there was at least one person in the stands who had never seen me play, and I didn’t want to let him down.”

Excerpt From: Zinsser, William. “On Writing Well, 30th Anniversary Edition.”

488. MODIFIED ABORTION STANCE “The modified pro-choice position is a politician’s favorite abortion doubletalk: “I’m personally against abortion, but I don’t believe in forcing my view on others.” “Let me see if I understand you,” I said. “You are convinced that abortion kills an innocent child, yet you think the law should allow women to do that to their own babies. Did I get that right?” The logic of the modified pro-choice position reduces to, “I think it’s wrong to kill my own children, but I don’t think we should stop other people from killing theirs.”

Excerpt From: Koukl, Gregory. “Tactics.”

489. GOD’S DISCIPLINE “When God is against you, He is for you.” — C. Seidman

490. ACTIONS “There is a difference in doing things right, and doing the right things.” — Peter Drucker