Saturday Quotathon: Efficiency, Productivity and Work

So, I didn't have a particular theme in mind, so I scrolled down on my quotes list to the first "unused" quote and thought I'd cue in from that one. Here we go. Note that I reserve the right to be pretty sloppy with the characterization.

It's pretty hard to be efficient without being obnoxious.
--Kin Hubbard

Several excuses are always less convincing than one.
--Aldous Huxley

It has never been determined whether the early bird enjoys the worm as much as the late bird enjoys the extra sleep.
--Joe Moore

I read somewhere that 77 percent of all the mentally ill live in poverty. Actually, I'm more intrigued by the 23 per cent who are apparently doing quite well for themselves.
--Emo Phillips

A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort.
-- Herm Albright

A ship in harbor is safe, but that is not what ships are built for.
-- John A. Shedd

No thoroughly occupied man was ever yet very miserable.
-- Letitia E. Landon

Thunder is good, thunder is impressive; but it is the lightning that does the work.
-Mark Twain

And oftentimes excusing the fault
Doth make the fault the worse by excuse.
-King John, William Shakespeare

I wish I did not have to write the instruction manual on the uses of a new metal.
-The Instruction Manual, John Ashberry

When you get in situations where you cannot afford to make a mistake, it's very hard to do the right thing. So if you're trying to do the right thing, the right thing might be to eliminate the cost of making a mistake rather than try to guess what's right.
-Ward Cunningham

Kyo: Don't worry, I'll win next time just like I'll win against you.
Yuki: Wait, wait, I think I've heard this one.
Kyo: No joke, asshole. I'm going to beat you. That's a promise.
Yuki: I wish you'd stop making your inferiority complex my problem.
-From Fruits Basket anime

Tohru: (Admiringly) I’m surprised, Kyo. You don’t try to attack him when he’s asleep.
Kyo: Nah, he's even stronger when he's asleep.
Tohru: (Less admiringly) So you did try to attack him.
Kyo: Yea, I tried and I got beat worse than when he's awake, OK? Do you know what that means? It means that stupid dirty little sissy rat boy's always holding back on me!
-From Fruits Basket anime

"Do you want me to sit in a corner and rust or just fall apart where I'm standing?"
-From The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

Chief Karlin: What's your name?
Fletch: Fletch.
Chief Karlin: What's your full name?
Fletch: Fletch F. Fletch.
Chief Karlin: What do you do for a living, Mr. Fletch?
Fletch: I'm a shepherd.
-From Fletch

The more you strike (work) the steel, the more beautiful it becomes.
-Albanian Proverb

Dawn does not come twice to awaken a man.
-Arabic Proverb

The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man.
- George Bernard Shaw

The most dangerous phrase in the language is, "We've always done it this way."
- Grace Hopper

One man practicing sportsmanship is far better than fifty preaching it.
- Knute Rockne

Sir William Osler, the father of modern medicine, said that when there are many treatments for a single condition, it is because none of them work.

The best preparation for tomorrow is to do today's work superbly well.
-William Osler, M.D.

Never mistake knowledge for wisdom. One helps you make a living; the other helps you make a life.
-Sandra Carey

The highest reward for a person’s toil is not what they get for it but what they become by it.
-John Ruskin

Nothing makes a person more productive than the last minute.
-Unknown

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Thieving Thursday: Rose Colored Glasses

Wow, so many good comments this week. I was apparently on fire with brilliance in every direction. (As far as you know.)

I did have a great conversation with Relax Max on Russian and the US space race which reminds me I need to write up Russian space history which most people here in the US don't know as well as they know NASA's achievements. But that's going to take more than one blog post. I'll start that next week.

No, today I'm going to talk about something my husband read to me last night and Observations of a Nerd talked about today. Apparently, there was a study to compare how well happy and grumpy people really saw things (and if there were a difference). You can read the links to get all the cool and gory details but basically they found out that people who were happy saw more in the periphery, more of the details beyond what was focused on. So, one speculation one could draw from this is that happy people see the big picture a bit better than those grouches, the ones who claim to see reality and rain on your parade. You know the ones I mean. Many would say that's counter-intuitive.

Now we could talk all day about the implications. It puts a whole other spin to humoring a pilot or anyone else who needs to be alert and observant to protect others - keep 'em happy! And I can't help wondering if there are implications to other forms of observation. Do you not just literally see the big picture better, but do you figuratively see the big picture better as well?

What if people who aren't overtired or stressed have better judgment or logical ability than those who are all but burnt out? What if doctors that haven't been on call for three days before seeing you in the ER can listen, can notice, can evaluate better than someone who hasn't had but 30 minute's sleep in three days?

What if children that have good food and parents that can and do take the time to spend with them without violence or emotional battering can learn better in school than those that are neglected, undernourished or miserable?

What if people who were happy in their work, who had flexible hours and felt appreciated did better work and were more productive than people who were just counting the hours until they went home or overstressed workaholics who put in untold hours but produced very little?

What if being satisfied with your lot made you more sympathetic and understanding of others, more tolerant, more patient, more open to different ways of thinking and feeling than someone who felt the world had cheated them, who was suspicious and angry all the time?

That's odd. It doesn't seem so far-fetched now, does it?

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