Thought Tweet #747 "Other people's mistakes? Leave them to their makers." Marcus Aurelius 

The Thinking Behind The Tweet

Marcus Aurelius is one of my heroes. 

Over 1800 years ago, the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius wrote those words in what was later [much later] published as 'Meditations'. While nobody knows exactly why he wrote several short `books`, it certainly appears he wrote them as a self-help exercise...to keep his thoughts focused and his spirits up when times were tough. The 'books' were written late in Marcus Aurelius' life...likely during the 160`s AD. 

I re-read 'Meditations' in Italy while on my way to Rome last week. The above quote can be found at book 7, section 29.

Clear, concise & nicely-worded wisdom.

Constructive criticism is definitely an oxymoron.

Thought Tweet #746 Wisdom, defined: removing things that are wrong from your 'To Do' & 'To Think' lists.

The Thinking Behind The Tweet

"Experience guides intelligent people as they think and act."

Edward de Bono

'Six Action Shoes', (1991)

(That's another definition of 'Wisdom'.) 

Thought Tweet #745 The question shouldn't be, Is the glass half-full or half-empty? It should be, Is the glass half-full and half-empty?

The Thinking Behind The Tweet

Actually, the question should be - 

Is the glass at least both half-full and half-empty?

Rather than limit people to 2 ways of thinking and claiming one is optimistic and the other pessimistic, we ought to encourage people to view Situations and People's actions from multiple perspectives...by, for example, encouraging people to use tools like Edward de Bono's 'Six Thinking Hats'.

In some Situations, it is appropriate to consider what has been added while in others it is appropriate to consider what has been subtracted. Sometimes we need to consider possibilities. Other times we need to identify the need for urgent action. 

This goes beyond optimism, pessimism, and realism. While that 'mindset' differentiation may be important, with people or with situations, it also may not be important.

Situations & People deserve a lot more thinking than optimism/pessimism tests.

PS: That glass-half-full-glass-half-empty saying has always annoyed me. It is too cliché and it puts people into a 2-dimensional box when all of us know we live in at least a 3-dimensional world.