James Richardson
James Richardson
Admiral in charge of Pearl Harbor prior to the Japanese attack.
ProfessionWar Hero
Date of Birth18 September 1878
CityParis, TX
abuse firsts realizing
The first abuse of power is not realizing that you have it.
smart stupid character
Think of all the smart people made stupid by flaws of character. The finest watch isn't fine long when used as a hammer.
intelligent pity deserve
Those who are too slow to be intelligent deserve our patience, those who are too quick, our pity.
attention vices morality
Any virtue systematically applied becomes a vice. Morality is attention, not system.
want currency share
If you do more than your share you'd better want to: otherwise, you're paying yourself in a currency recognized nowhere else.
used theory ifs
If it can be used again, it is not wisdom but theory.
opposites rivers smell
It is by now proverbial that every proverb has its opposite. For every Time is money there is a Stop and smell the roses. When someone says You never stand in the same river twice someone else has already replied There is nothing new under the sun. In the mind's arithmetic, 1 plus -1 equals 2. Truths are not quantities but scripts: Become for a moment the mind in which this is true.
empty empty-seats seats
It is the empty seats that listen most raptly.
silence harder
There are silences harder to take back than words.
harder avoidance
All work is the avoidance of harder work.
break thread
Who breaks the thread, the one who pulls, the one who holds on?
two secret kind
You have two kinds of secrets. The ones only you know. The ones only you don't.
conformity sophistication
Sophistication is upscale conformity.
ready has-beens angry
Anger has been ready to be angry.