A Few Mid-Day Quotes

"There is nothing noble about being superior to some other man. The true nobility is in being superior to your previous self." - Hindu Proverb. A student shared with me today that this is his yearbook quote. It reminds me of something Colonel Potter once said on M*A*S*H, to the effect of, "The only man I compete with is the one I am today." I googled the quote about your previous self and found it attributed to Hemingway. The student wondered aloud if anyone will consider it wrong for him to quote a Hindu saying. I was confident that if I searched it I'd find another attribution. You never know about the sources of these quotes; you only know that they are true.

One of my favorite yearbook quotes ever was the one used by my friend Seth Berman, “Talent is G-d given; be humble. Fame is man-given; be grateful. Conceit is self-given; be careful.” - John Wooden. My friend Scott Gordon went with, "There is a light in the darkness of everybody's life," which he credited to the Rocky Horror Picture Show. Mine was from Osh Sebrow - "What will you give me, there's nothing I need. When I gained understanding I lost all my greed."