photo by Cameron Cassan

Sometimes the whole ‘wisdom’ thing is overblown – do a search on quotes and you’ll find more deep thoughts than you can shake a stick at, but sometimes those pithy ideas really have something to say!  I ran across this quote the other day and I was struck with how much it addresses a lot of things I see people struggling with:

“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.”    – Aristotle

There are a few things that really stand out to me on this particular quote.

First of all, Aristotle is a pretty influential guy in the grand scheme of things…student of Plato (who was a student of Socrates), and the teacher of Alexander the Great and responsible for all sorts of big ideas in western philosophy.

But from a more practical standpoint (as it applies to business) there are a couple of really important ideas here…

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I had a chance to re-watch The Shawshank Redemption recently and remembered why it’s one of my all time favorite movies. 

It’s got a compelling, gripping story that will stay with you long after the lights come up.  It’s got great acting and narration from the incomparable Morgan Freeman.  And it has lots of great messages – the importance of integrity and decency and hope, how having friends can make all the difference, the need to be driven by a dream and the importance of a sound financial education! 

For those that haven’t seen it – go out and buy the DVD today (don’t rent it – you’ll want to watch it more than once).  It’s story of a young man, Andy Dufresne, with a promising career who is accused and convicted of killing his wife and her lover.  Although Andy maintains his innocence throughout, he’s sent to Shawshank prison for a life sentence.  Despite his miserable surroundings, he stays true to his code of decency and continues to search for his own redemption.  It’s truly powerful.

On top of all that, there’s one idea that really stands out:

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