“Failing to prepare is preparing to fail.” - Benjamin Franklin This quote has made itself evident in all aspects of my life, and I wholeheartedly agree with it. Everything I try to do requires preparation, and I rarely do not prepare for something because I know that if I do not prepare, and I just try to wing it, I will not do as well as I could have. During my term as a Patrol Leader in my boy scout troop, when I was, among other things, sometimes in charge of the programs for the troop meetings, the ones that I did do a lot of work for in preparation turned out much better than the ones that I didn’t prepare for as much. I could tell the difference both by the fluidity with which my programs moved and by others’ reactions to my programs.
0 Comments
“‘I need not remind you of their appearance and conduct on the stand -- you saw them for yourselves. The witnesses for the state, with the exception of the sheriff of Maycomb County, have presented themselves to you gentlemen, to their court, in the cynical confidence that their testimony would not be doubted, confident that you gentlemen would go along with them on the assumption - the evil assumption - that all Negroes lie, that all Negroes are basically immoral beings, that all Negro men are not to be trusted around out women, an assumption one associates with minds of their caliber. ‘Which, gentlemen, we know is itself a lie as black as Tom Robinson’s skin (Lee 232), ...’” - Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird This quote is a part of Atticus' closing speech to the jury of the Maycomb County courtroom. In this quote, he is attempting to underline the fact that the prosecutors' case is no more than, "Convict him. He is African, and therefore incapable of more than lies and deceit." This is obviously not true, and Atticus is appealing to the jury to remain impartial when they make their decision. They have the opportunity to save a human life which shouldn't have been in danger in the first place; this is why Atticus ends his speech with, "In the name of God, do your duty." (click below to read more)
“Honesty is the best policy.” - Benjamin Franklin I have a lot of philosophies and a lot of principles; honesty is one of my principles. I do not lie; I figure that if I do lie, the truth will just be found out eventually, and then I will be in an even larger pitfall than I would have been. If I refrain from lying, the consequences can be bad, but I will have avoided a lot of trouble. There are some harmless cases where it can be good to make a “white lie,” like a compliment that the situation calls for but that you secretly might not agree with, but ultimately, I have found that honesty is indeed a policy that will rarely fail to make the best of a situation.
“‘Your father’s right,’ she said. ‘Mockingbirds don’t do one thing but make music for us to enjoy. They don’t eat up people’s gardens, don’t nest in corncribs, they don’t do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That’s why it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird (Lee 103).’” - Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird I really love this quote because of the symbolism. One cannot be justified in killing something that doesn't do any harm. It would be like throwing your sibling's favorite trinket in the trash; it didn't do any harm, but you destroyed it anyway just to spite it, or just to spite your sibling. Now, if it were like the blue jay, and it annoyed everyone, constantly pestering people, then you might have some defense, tiny though it may be in this example. A mockingbird, which doesn't do anything to irritate anyone, and which has no real defense against you, does not have a justifiable reason for being killed. (click below to read more)
“You can’t always get what you want, but if you try sometimes, you just might find, you get what you need.” - The Rolling Stones This quote is from one of my dad's favorite music artists, and even though I don't listen to this song much I agree with him that it is "one of the best rock-and-roll quotes ever!" I like this quote because it takes a quote that everyone knows and likes and adds to it in a way that only enhances it. You can't always get what you want, it's true - especially if someone else wants something different - but you can almost always get what you need. This doesn't necessary mean that you need a project to be two days behind schedule, or that you need to have forgotten something. I take it to mean that if you try sometimes, you can usually find a way to make the best out of a situation, even if it isn't what you were looking for or even was what you hoped wouldn't happen. Isn't that going off of my first philosophy in life: being able to adapt to different scenarios? (Please see one of my previous posts, "I Can't Change the Direction of the Wind . . ., for more information on my first philosophy.)
An excellent question. When we learn about social justice, prejudice, or the Civil Rights Movement, isn’t this the question we all ask ourselves? Why? Why do people hate others just because of superficial reasons? Why can’t we all just get along? The answer is a complex one, and it probably started for superficial reasons. (click below to read more)
This is probably my number-one philosophy in life. One could also say that I like to go with the flow, or that I adapt to different scenarios, but I absolutely love this quote because I have never heard it put so well before; this quote is beautifully poetic, yet it states my philosophy better than I ever could. Obviously, this quote is literally talking about sailing, and probably a maneuver called tacking, but I chose to represent it with a picture of a checkerboard. This is because my philosophy is brought out in everything I do, but especially when I strategize in games such as checkers or chess. I will start out with only a tentative strategy that would do something on its own, but the ultimate purpose of my starting moves are to see how my opponent reacts. I will play through the game with goals in mind, but I will adapt my opponents' strategies to attain those goals. (click below to read more)
“I am prepared for the worst, but hope for the best.” -Benjamin Disraeli I have a few major philosophies in life; two of them are in these first five Moral Compass quotes. This quote is my second. I generally think it best to err on the side of caution, and to look before you leap; that way, if something goes drastically wrong, or it turns out that something won't work after all, you will have taken preventative measures against it and you will have a good chance of fixing it, or you will have a back-up plan. Also, leaders usually take the blame for problems, and if something goes drastically wrong and you can't fix it, you will have at least been trying to prevent accidents, and people will have less of an excuse to use you as a fall-guy. (click below to read more)
I love this quote because I think that Confucius was completely correct. When you love what you do every day, you don't need to work. To understand this quote, though, you need to know that Confucius defines work a bit differently than many of us do today. We think of work as what you do in your job or career, and you leave home every day to go and do work. Confucius is not saying that you don't need to do your job; he defines work as something dull and unenjoyable, that you do only because you have . He means that if you find a career that you really enjoy doing, you won't be doing work; rather, you can have fun with your job.
His message strikes me as especially true. Some people hate school, but I have found a school where I can learn the content in the curriculum through projects, and play around with my learning. I have fun, and therefore I enjoy going every day, because there's always something new in store. I know that if I can find a profession that I can complete projects in that are a bit more hands-on, I will be able to enjoy doing my job every day, and I will never really need to do any work. |
Author My name is Peter Fisher. I am a freshman at High Tech High North County, and this page is for the Moral Compass project that we are currently working on in my Humanities class. Archives
April 2014
Categories |