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IMPRESSIONABLE --- IMPRESSIONS --- IMPROVEMENT
IMPULSIVE --- INACTION / INACTIVITY
INDECISION

.
.
.

IMPRESSIONABLE

see: "GULLIBLE"


A very weak-minded fellow, I am afraid, and,
like a feather pillow, bears the marks of the
last person who sat on him!
--Douglas Haig, 1st Earl Haig (1861—1928)
British soldier and senior commander during
World War I.
(Describing the 17th Earl of Derby.)



IMPRESSIONS

.
.

see: "APPEARANCE"
see: "FEELINGS"
see: "OBSERVATION"

Sometimes a neighbor whom we have disliked a
lifetime for his arrogance and conceit lets fall
a single commonplace remark that shows us another
side, another man really; a man uncertain, puzzled
and in the dark like ourselves.
--Willa Silbert Cather (1873—1947)
American novelist.
_Shadows on the Rock_ [1931]

Thou hast seen nothing yet.
--Miguel de Cervantes (1547—1616)
Spanish novelist.
_Don Quixote de la Mancha_ [1605—1615]
Pt. 1 [1605], bk. 3, ch. 9.

First impressions are the most lasting.
--Jonas Hanway (1712—1786)
English traveller and philanthropist.
_A Journal of Eight Days Journey_ [1756]

As pines
keep the shape of the wind
even when the wind has fled and is no longer there,
so words
guard the shape of man
even when the man has fled and is no longer there.
--George Seferis [Giorgios Stylianou Seferiades] (1900—1971)
Greek poet, essayist, and diplomat who won
the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1963.
_On Stage_ [1966]

^

From a 1984 edition of 'The Wall Street Journal.'
HOW TO GAIN STATUS AND INTIMIDATE PEOPLE

Are you losing the race to keep up with the Joneses? Or worse, do you feel
as if it just isn'tworth the effort anymore? Don't be discouraged. Confidence
is the key to success in any endeavor, but achieving just the right balance of
competitive desire and cool self-assurance can be tricky. So is projecting an
image that will awe your subordinates and mystify your rivals. It's especially
difficult when your personal budget demands that you exist on a diet of baked
beans and generic cola.

We think we've solved the problem with a list of tips that will get your confidence
level back up to par, at minimum personal expense. Just remember that moxie
can be as important as money when it comes to looking good.

1. Carry a foreign-language newspaper in your briefcase. When sitting at a bar,
take out the paper and scan the pages with a serious expression. It's important
to pick a difficult language for the gambit, something other than French, German
or Spanish. Those could get you in trouble if some exchange student calls your
bluff.

2. Keep an old telephone in your car under the front seat. When driving, hold the
receiver up to your ear and act as if you were talking to someone on the other
end. if stopped at a busy intersection, roll down your window so pedestrians
can hear the conversation. Then, in a loud, demanding voice, say things such
as, "Tell Harris we need that building! Tell him to offer 50 million, straight cash,
whatever it takes!"

3. Use expensive containers to dispose of household trash. When you visit a store
such as Neiman-Marcus (we buy all of our pencils there) pick up a couple of extra
shopping bags. Several times a month you should fill one with garbage and place
it on the curb with your other household rubbish. Make sure the name of the store
is clearly visible from the street.

4. Wear T-shirts commemorating fantastic events of physical endurance. Most towns
now have these stores where you can print messages on shirts. Simply order one up
with the inscription, "Snow Madness Run, Butte-Great Falls December 1981." When
people ask why they've never heard about such a grueling race, say, "Oh, we only
ran it once, 12 of us got together and just went for it. Never could get any sane
group to sanction it."

5. Mount extra clocks on your office walls. Label each one with the name of an
international capital (Lima, Bonn, Canberra) and check them periodically when
talking with a client.

6. Keep mysterious items in the glove compartment of your car. Instead of the
usual mess of tissues, loose change and old sunglasses, you should have at least
two of the following articles: a slide rule, a map of the London subway system,
an English-Swahili dictionary, a small jar of litmus paper or a prism. When a
passenger discovers the items, shrug and say something like, "Oh, just some
things for this project I'm thinking about..." and then close the compartment
smartly, to show the conversation is not going any further.

7. Print your own wine labels. This is fairly risky and is a ploy that should only be
used when you really want to play hardball. ...Grab a few bottles of your favorite
generic vintage from the local Econo-Mart, soak the labels off and paste on your
own. Getting them designed shouldn't be difficult. Chances are that you know of
a graphic artist who's struggling to the same degree as yourself. For a small fee
or a large lasagna, he or she can come up with a private reserve label just for
you, from folksy wine cellar to expensive foreign vineyards, to suit any occasion.




IMPROVEMENT

.
.

see: "CHANGE"
see: "PROGRESS"
see: "SELF-IMPROVEMENT"

He that wrestles with us strengthens our nerves and
sharpens our skill. Our antagonist is our helper.
--Edmund Burke (1729—1797)
Irish-born Whig politician and man of letters.
_Reflections on the Revolution in France_, p. 453.

I'll turn over a new leaf.
--Miguel de Cervantes (1547—1616)
Spanish novelist.
_Don Quixote de la Mancha_ [1605—1615]
Pt. 2 [1615], bk. 3, ch. 13.

It is better to light one candle than to curse the darkness.
--Chinese proverb

If man is not rising upwards to be an angel,
depend on it, he is sinking downwards to be
a devil. He cannot stop at the beast.
--Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772—1834)
English poet, critic, and philosopher.
_Table Talk_ [1835] "30 August 1833"

Every day, in every way, I am getting better and better.
--Ιmile Couι (1857—1926)
French psychologist and pharmacist.
_How to Practice Suggestion and Autosuggestion_ [1923]

He's turned his life around. He used to be depressed and
miserable. Now he's miserable and depressed.
--Sir David Paradine Frost (1939— )
British television host.

Most people are mirrors, reflecting the moods and
emotions of the times; few are windows, bringing
light to bear on the dark corners where troubles
fester. The whole purpose of education is to turn
mirrors into windows.
--Sydney J. Harris (1917—1986)
American journalist.

There are two kinds of fools: one says, 'This is old, therefore
it is good'; the other says, 'This is new, therefore it is better.'
--William Ralph Inge (1860—1954)
English writer and Dean of St. Paul's [1911—1934].

[Of Lord Mansfield, born in Scotland but educated in England:]
Much may be made of a Scotchman, if he be *caught* young.
--Samuel Johnson (1709—1784)
English poet, critic, and lexicographer.
In James Boswell _The Life of Samuel Johnson_
(Entry for Spring 1772) [1791].

We're going to turn this team around 360 degrees.
--Jason Kidd (1973— )
American professional basketball player.

-

God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.

Living one day at a time;
Enjoying one moment at a time;
Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;
Taking, as He did, this sinful world
as it is, not as I would have it;
Trusting that He will make all things right
if I surrender to His Will;
That I may be reasonably happy in this life
and supremely happy with Him
Forever in the next.
Amen.

--Reinhold Niebuhr (1892—1971)
American theologian.
"The Serenity Prayer" [1936]
With slightly different wording, the first four lines above were
attributed to Niebuhr in the "New York Times" on 2 August 1942.

-

Waldo is one ot those people who would
be enormously improved by death.
--Saki [Hector Hugh Munro] (1870—1916)
Scottish writer.
_Beasts and Super-Beasts_ [1914] "The Feast of Nemesis"

You see things; and you say, 'Why?' But I
dream things that never were; and I say,
'Why not?'"
--George Bernard Shaw (1856—1950)
Irish comic dramatist, literary critic, Socialist
propagandist, and winner of the Nobel Prize
for Literature in 1925.
"Back to Methuselah" [1921]

No matter how far you have gone
on the wrong road, turn back.
--Turkish proverb

-----

ameliorate [uh-MEEL-yuh-rayt], transitive verb:
To make better; to improve.

edification (noun)
Intellectual, moral, or spiritual improvement;
enlightenment.



IMPULSIVE

.
.

see: "HASTE"
see: "IMMATURITY"
see: "PASSION"


Women are far more impulsive than men; this is because
they are more influenced by the heart than the head.
--Madame Dorothιe Deluzy (1747—1830)
French actress.
Quoted in Maturin M. Ballou
_Notable Thoughts About Women_, p. 216 [1882].

Since the generality of persons act from impulse, much
more than from principle, men are neither so good nor
so bad as we are apt to think them.
--Augustus William Hare (1792—1834)
British biographer and compiler of travel books.
_Guesses at Truth_ [1827] (Co-written with brother Julian)

And once sent out a word takes wing beyond recall.
--Horace [Quintus Horatius Flaccus] (65—8 BC)
Roman poet.
_Epistles_, bk. I, # 18, l. 71

^

Walter Savage Landor (1775—1864)
British poet, essayist, and critic.

Landor's cook displeased his master one day
by serving an indifferent meal. Landor in a
passion threw him through an open window.
The cook landed awkwardly in the flower bed
below and broke a limb. Landor cried out,
'Good God, I forgot the violets!'

--_Bartlett's Book of Anecdotes_
edited by Clifton Fadiman and Andrι Bernard [2000 ed.]

^

I could never tell where inspiration begins and impulse leaves off.
I suppose the answer is in the outcome. If your hunch proves a
good one, you were inspired; if it proves bad, you are guilty of
yielding to thoughtless impulse.
--Beryl Markham (1902—1986)
British-born Kenyan aviator.
_West with the Night_ [1942]

Das Alter wδgt, die Jugend wagt
(Age considers, youth ventures.)
--Ernst Benjamin Salomo Raupach (1784—1852)
German dramatist.
Quoted in James Wood
_Dictionary of Quotations from Ancient and Modern_, p.53 [1893].

Don't throw away the old bucket until you
know whether the new one holds water.
--Swedish Proverb

-----

impetuous (adj.) [im-'pech-oo-uh s]
Acting on impulse, making arbitrary decisions,
moving with force and violence.

quixotic [kwik-SAH-tik], adjective:
1. Caught up in the romance of noble deeds and the pursuit of
unreachable goals; foolishly impractical especially in the
pursuit of ideals.
2. Capricious; impulsive; unpredictable.
Ex.: He is buying up commercial buildings in his hometown of
Archer City and filling them with used books -- hundreds of
thousands of used books gathered from all over the country
-- as part of a quixotic scheme to turn this sleepy rural
community into a mecca for book lovers.
--Mark Horowitz, "Larry McMurtry's Dream Job,"
_New York Times_ [7 December 1997]
Quixotic refers to the eccentric, generous idealism of Don
Quixote, the hero of a satiric romance by Miguel de Cervantes.



Click picture to ZOOM
INACTION / INACTIVITY

.
.

see: "IDLENESS"
see: "INDIFFERENCE"
see: "LAZINESS"
see: "REST"


People have the illusion that all over the world, all the time, all kinds of
fantastic things are happening. When in fact, over most of the world,
most of the time, nothing is happening.
--David Brinkley (1920—2003)
American television newscaster.
Quoted in Sy Safransky (ed.) _Sunbeams: A Book of Quotations_ [1990].

The only thing necessary for evil to triumph
is for good men to do nothing.
--attributed to Edmund Burke (1729—1797)
Irish-born Whig politician and man of letters.

Throughout history, it has been the inaction
of those who could have acted, the indifference
of those who should have known better, the
silence of the voice of justice when it mattered
most, that has made it possible for evil to
triumph.
--Haile Selassie I [Tafari Makonnen] (1892—1975)
Emperor of Ethiopia [1930—1974].
In an address to the General Assembly, United Nations, N.Y.C..

Iron rusts from disuse; stagnant water loses its
purity and, in cold, water becomes frozen; even
so does inaction sap the vigor of the mind.
--Leonardo da Vinci (1452—1519)
Florentine painter, sculptor, musician, and scientist.
_The Notebooks_ [1508-1518], tr. Edward MacCurdy, vol 1, ch. 2

By too much sitting still, the body becomes
unhealthy; and soon the mind.
--Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807—1882)
American poet.
_Hyperion_ [1839]

-

Bad men need nothing more to compass their ends
than that good men should look on and do nothing.
--John Stuart Mill (1806—1873)
English philosopher and social reformer.
"On Education," inaugural address on being installed
as Rector, University of St. Andrews, Scotland [1 February 1867].


A person may cause evil to others not only by his actions but by
his inaction, and in either case he is justly accountable to them
for the injury.
--John Stuart Mill (1806—1873)
English philosopher and social reformer.
_On Liberty_, ch. I "Introductory" [1859]

-

It is not only what we do, but also what we
do not do, for which we are accountable.
--Jean Moliθre [Jean Baptiste Poquelin] (1622—1673)
French comic dramatist.
Quoted in Tryon Edwards _A Dictionary of Thoughts_, p. 528 [1908 ed.].


TOPICAL

German pundits and critics of the Bush administration may scream
and shout as they might about Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo: But had
the world continued on the course set out by them, Saddam Hussein's
regime of mass murder would still be in power and democracy would
still be but a distant dream to many in the Middle East for whom
freedom is now a tangible goal.

Certainly, the abuses at Abu Ghraib represent a moral setback
for the United States. Some critics of the Iraq war have even
called Abu Ghraib a moral "catastrophe." What these very critics
fail to see is that their own decades-long indifference to the
plight of the oppressed peoples of the Middle East, borne of a
convenient mix of knee-jerk pacifism and deep-seated economic
interests, represents a true moral catastrophe. European foreign
ministers and leaders comfortably sipping tea and brokering multi-
billion dollar business deals with dictators in expensive palaces
and then criticizing the US for its dealings in the Middle East is
hypocrisy of the highest degree.

Above all, European indifference and inaction in the face of mass
murder and genocide represent the greatest "moral catastrophe"
of recent times in the democratic West. Nothing, not historic pacifism
nor economic interests can justify the collective inaction on the part
of Europe's elites when confronted with mass graves and genocide
in Iraq, Rwanda, the Balkans or Sudan. Until Europeans come to
terms with the very real consequences of their own stifling
indifference and inaction, it will be difficult for Americans to take
seriously the endless litany of protest, derision and criticism echoing
from across the Atlantic.

--Claus Christian Malzahn,
"Terminator? Demokrator!" in _Der Spiegel_ [March 2005]

-----

abeyance (noun) [κ-'bey-κnts]
Suspension, temporary inactivity.

gongoozler (noun) ['gahng-guz-lκ(r)]
An idle on-looker, a kibbitzer; someone
who stares protractedly at anything.

moribund [MOR-uh-bund], adjective:
1. In a dying state; dying; at the point of death.
2. Becoming obsolete or inactive.

otiose (adj.) ['o-tee-os or 'o-dee-os (US)]
Serving no useful purpose; being at leisure
or ease, idle, inactive, unemployed.

torpor [AWR-per], noun:
1. Lacking in vitality or interest.
2. A state of mental or physical inactivity or insensibility.
3. Lethargy; apathy.




INDECISION

.
.

see: "CHOICES"
see: "DECISIONS"
see: "PROCRASTINATION"


People say I'm indecisive, but I don't know
about that.
--George H. W. Bush (1924— )
American Republican statesman and President [1989—1993].
(Tongue-in-cheek remark before the Gridiron Club, Washington [1 April 1989]).

A very weak-minded fellow I am afraid,
and, like the feather pillow, bears
the marks of the last person who has
sat on him!
(Of Lord Derby.)
--Douglas Haig, 1st Earl Haig (1861—1928)
British soldier and senior commander during World War I.
Letter to Lady Haig [14 January 1918].

Hesitation increases in relation to risk in equal proportion to age.
--Ernest Hemingway (1889—1961)
American novelist.
Quoted in A. E. Hotchner
_Papa Hemingway: A Personal Memoir_, pt. I, ch. 3 [1966].

There is no more miserable human being than one
in whom nothing is habitual but indecision.
--William James (1842—1910)
American philosopher.
_The Principles of Psychology_ [1890]

A lobster, when left high and dry among the rock, does not have the
sense enough to work his way back to the sea, but waits for the sea
to come to him. If it does not come, he remains where he is and dies,
although the slightest effort would enable him to reach the waves,
which are perhaps within a yard of him. The world is full of human
lobsters; people stranded on the rocks of indecision and
procrastination, who, instead of putting forth their own energies,
are waiting for some grand billow of good fortune to set them afloat.
--Orison Swett Marden (1848—1924)
Editor, Success Magazine.

The man I worry about is the man who
hasn't taken any position.
--Ross Perot (1930— )
American businessman, philanthropist, and independent
candidate for U.S. president in 1992 and 1996.
In "Personality: The Odyssey of Ross Perot"
_Time_ [12 January 1970].

Nothing is so exhausting as indecision, and nothing is so futile.
--Bertrand Russell (1872—1970)
British philosopher, mathematician, and Nobel laureate.
_The Conquest of Happiness_ [1930]

Standing in the middle of the road is very dangerous;
you get knocked down by traffic from both sides.
--Margaret Thatcher (1925— )
British conservative stateswoman and Prime Minister [1979—1990].

In matters of great concern, and which must be done, there
is no surer argument of a weak mind than irresolution; to be
undetermined, where the case is so plain, and the necessity
so urgent; to be always intending to live a new life, but never
to find time to set about it: this is as if a man should put off
eating, and drinking, and sleeping, from one day and night
to another, till he is starved and destroyed.
--John Tillotson (1630—1694)
Archbishop of Canterbury [1691-1694].
Quoted in S. Austin Allibone
_Prose Quotations from Socrates to Macaulay_, p. 366 [1876]

I must have a prodigious quantity of mind;
it takes me as much as a week, sometimes,
to make it up.
--Mark Twain [Samuel Langhorne Clemens] (1835—1910)
American humorist, novelist, journalist, and river pilot.
_The Innocents Abroad_ [1869]

-----

quandary (noun)
Dilemma: a state of uncertainty or indecision
as to what to do in a particular situation


end page



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