Wednesday, 10 October 2007

Tuesday, 9 October 2007

Wit and Wisdom - Work

Work is the refuge of those who have nothing better to do.
Oscar Wilde

They were a people so primitive they did not know how to get money except by working for it.
Joseph Addison

Most people like hard work, particularly when they're paying for it.
Elbert Hubbard

My son has taken up meditation. At least it's better than sitting and doing nothing.
Max Kauffmann

I work for myself, which is fun. Except when I call in sick, I know I'm lying.
Rita Rudner

Sexual harassment at work: is it a problem for the self-employed?
Victoria Wood

If you really want something in this life, you have to work for it. Now, quiet! They're about to announce the lottery numbers...
Homer Simpson

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Source: The Funniest Thing You Never Said by Rosemarie Jarski
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Tuesday, 2 October 2007

Logic Puzzle: 3 Envelopes

There are three envelopes and exactly two statements are written on each of the envelopes. The statements on one of the envelopes are BOTH TRUE, the statements on the other envelope are BOTH FALSE and the remaining envelope has ONE TRUE and ONE FALSE statement.

Here is what is written on the three envelopes:
First Envelope:
(a)The formula is not in here.
(b)The formula is in Envelope 2.

Second Envelope:
(a)The formula is not in Envelope 1.
(b)The formula is in Envelope 3.

Third Envelope:
(a)The formula is not in here.
(b)The formula is in Envelope 1.

Which envelope contains the formula ?
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Monday, 1 October 2007

Einstein's Formula for Success

by Ron White
(excerpted from How to Develop the Mind of Einstein 6-CD/Workbook series)


Albert Einstein had a formula for success. Can you believe that? One of the greatest minds of all time developed a math formula for success! I suggest you read this carefully -- this may be the most important math equation that you will ever see.



Einstein said, "If A equals success, then the formula is: A=X+Y+Z.
X is work.
Y is play.
Z is keep your mouth shut."

Einstein no doubt had an excellent sense of humor. Let's look at the 3 variables in this equation. They are:
1. Work
2. Play
3. Keeping your mouth shut!

1. Work: Albert Einstein had a tremendous work ethic and because of that gave more to society and modern science than any person in recent times

2. Play: Einstein, however, did not work 24 hours a day and made time for fun and relaxation. His idea of fun may have been different than yours, but that doesn't mean it still wasn't play.

3. Keeping your mouth shut: Finally, my favorite part of his success formal is to keep your mouth shut. I genuinely believe that the person who talks the least says the most. A friend of mine complains that the woman he is dating talks too much. I don't know how to break the news to him; however, the problem is not that she talks too much. It simply is the fact that he is irritated that he isn't able to talk. Now, let me just say this is not a generic man and woman statement. I am speaking about a specific person that I know. His desire is to constantly talk and because he likes to talk so much, he will talk in circles. If you let him talk long enough he will repeat the same thing three times and then contradict himself. His desire is not to hear but to be heard.

Albert Einstein, on the other hand had nothing to prove. He felt no need to be the "Chatty Cathy" he could have been with his knowledge. It wasn't important to him to talk to everyone he met and talk over their heads to demonstrate his IQ. Instead, he learned the value of quietness and solitude.

Shift your mind set from being a talker to a listener. It has been said that you can make more friends in 5 minutes by becoming interested in others than you can make in 5 years of trying to get others interested in you! How do you become interested in others? You ask questions and then keep your mouth shut!

Dale Carnegie wrote a best selling book entitled 'How to Win Friends and Influence People.' One of the key premises of this book was that everyone's favorite subject is actually themselves and that the sweetest sound to their ears is the sound of their own name. Einstein knew this and realized he could influence others by choosing his spots to speak and validating others by extending them the courtesy of listening.

-- Ron White


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Ron White has spent over a decade training business professionals and students how to improve their memory, grades and income. He has appeared on FOX television, broken a Guinness Record by memorizing a 28-digit number in 75 seconds, been a guest on over 35 radio programs in the United States and Canada, and his articles have appeared in print across the country. Ron's live workshops sell out every time. For more information about Ron's program - How to Develop the Mind of Einstein, CLICK HERE

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Thursday, 27 September 2007

Wit and Wisdom - Truth

“If you tell the truth you don't have to remember anything.”
Mark Twain



“Never assume the obvious is true."
William Safire

“Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth.”
Oscar Wilde

“All truths are easy to understand once they are discovered; the point is to discover them.”
Galileo Galilei

“What you perceive, your observations, feelings, interpretations, are all your truth. Your truth is important. Yet it is not The Truth.”
Linda Ellinor

“Unthinking respect for authority is the greatest enemy of truth.”
Albert Einstein

“The belief that there is only one truth, and that oneself is in possession of it, is the root of all evil in the world”
Max Born
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Tuesday, 25 September 2007

Logic Puzzle: Pills

You've been placed on a course of expensive medication in which you are to take one tablet of medicine A and one tablet of medicine B daily.


You must be careful that you take just one of each because taking more of either can have serious side effects. Taking an A without taking a B, or vice versa, can also be very serious, because they must be taken together in order to be effective. In summary, you must take exactly one of the A pills and one of the B pills at one time.

Therefore, you open up the A bottle, and you tap one A pill into your hand. You put that bottle aside and you open the B bottle. You do the same, but by mistake, two Bs fall into your hand with the A pill.

Now, here's the problem. You weren't watching your hand as the pills fell into it, so you can't tell the A pill apart from the two B pills. The pills look identical. They are the same size, same weight, same color, same everything, and they are not marked differently in any way. What are you going to do? You cannot tell which pill is which, and you cannot afford to throw them away and start over again.

How do you get your daily dose of exactly one A and exactly one B without wasting any of the pills?
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Friday, 21 September 2007

QI is back!

QI, one of my absolutely favourite quizzes, is back (tonight 10.00 pm on BBC2) with the 5th series of its usual humorous misconception-dispersing squabble.

As a reminder, here are few episodes from the previous series...


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Tuesday, 18 September 2007

Word Puzzle: Stripping the Word

What English word is nine letters long, and can remain an English word at each step as you remove one letter at a time, right down to a single letter. List the letter you remove each time and the words that result at each step.



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Solution: see comment no.3
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Monday, 17 September 2007

Simply Solving the Puzzle

by Vic Johnson


When most young children are given a puzzle to solve or put together that is especially challenging, most will make a good effort at solving it, but if unsuccessful will soon lose interest and abandon it. Some will even become angry at their failure to solve it and may throw a tantrum.



Contrast that with the experienced puzzle player who proceeds to put the puzzle together with an air of certain confidence that they will complete it. They know that they have all of the pieces of the puzzle before them so it is only a matter of finding out which pieces work where and once that's done the puzzle will be complete. Putting a piece in the wrong place is not a cause for concern; it's simply another step toward putting all of the pieces in their proper place.

I think of all the times in my life when I acted like a young child in dealing with the current puzzle in my life. Instead of turning over and trying the next piece, I got angry and walked away from the puzzle, seeing the puzzle as a problem instead of as an opportunity.

Napoleon Hill, author of the classic Think and Grow Rich, knew Thomas Edison and Henry Ford personally. He said of both men that the ONLY thing that was different about them from everyone else was their persistence. Which gives rise to an interesting thought. Where would our civilization be today if either man had treated his puzzles like the impatient young child?

If you don't have all of the pieces of your puzzle on the table, then stop, identify them and get them on the table before proceeding. If, however, you've got them on the table, then take the approach of the experienced puzzle player. When they don't fit -- don't quit -- try another piece or move them to another place. While you're at it, learn another valuable lesson from great puzzle players. They don't just enjoy completing the puzzle; they delight in putting it together.

Napoleon Hill thought Persistence was a pretty important key to success -- he used the word 97 times in Think and Grow Rich and he devoted an entire chapter to it. Some of his wisdom includes, "The majority of people are ready to throw their aims and purposes overboard, and give up at the first sign of opposition or misfortune. A few carry on DESPITE all opposition, until they attain their goal. These few are the Fords, Carnegies, Rockefellers, and Edisons. There may be no heroic connotation to the word "persistence," but the quality is to the character of man what carbon is to steel."

And that's worth thinking about.
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To learn more, go to http://yoursuccessstore.com/ThinkandGrowRich

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Tuesday, 11 September 2007

Logic Puzzle: Yum, Arsenic!

In a far away land, it was known that if you drank poison, the only way to save yourself is to drink a stronger poison, which neutralizes the weaker poison.



The king that ruled the land wanted to make sure that he possessed the strongest poison in the kingdom, in order to ensure his survival, in any situation. So the king called the kingdom's pharmacist and the kingdom's treasurer, he gave each a week to make the strongest poison. Then, each would drink the other one's poison, then his own, and the one that will survive, will be the one that had the stronger potion.

The pharmacist went straight to work, but the treasurer knew he had no chance, for the pharmacist was much more experienced in this field, so instead, he made up a plan to survive and make sure the pharmacist dies. On the last day the pharmacist suddenly realized that the treasurer would know he had no chance, so he must have a plan. After a little thought, the pharmacist realized what the treasurer's plan must be, and he concocted a counter plan, to make sure he survives and the treasurer dies.

When the time came, they king summoned both of them. They drank the potions as planned, and the treasurer died, the pharmacist survived, and the king didn't get what he wanted.

What exactly happened?


The solution will be revealed in 24 hours.

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SOLUTION: The correct answer was sent by Kian, a 5-year-old child genius (comment no.2). Not only is he a mental wizzard, but also the author of these fantastic blogs:
Map The Famous
A Little Journey
Comedy Greats

Well done!

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