Lennart Thornros <lenn...@thornros.com> wrote:
> I think you guys are on to what I call the difference between an > entrepreneur (a very misused word) and not an entrepreneur. Entrepreneurs > are fearless about new things. However to be a successful entrepreneur you > need to be logical and the hardest . . . > Yeah. One caution though. A personality is not unified. A person can boldly accept change in one aspect of life, but reject it in another. Perhaps the best example of that was Franklin Roosevelt. He was conservative and he loved traditions, yet he was also innovative, bold and willing to try anything. Martin Fleischmann used to say, "Stan and I are painfully conventional people." He meant it. In many ways, they were. Oliver Heaviside was one of the boldest and most unconventional physicists in history. His personal life was the opposite. He held one job for a few years, and then spent the rest of his life at home. He was a recluse, following routines, never marrying. Perhaps he needed to hang on to dull routine to counterbalance his bold exploration of the unknown. I myself like to do the same thing every day, like clockwork, living a bit like a monk. I eat pretty much the same foods, and go to the same places for vacation. Quiet and boring places. I would make a good teacher because I do not mind repeating myself. I loathe taking any kind of unnecessary risk, such as driving faster than the speed limit. On the other hand, I have spent decades and hundreds of thousands of dollars on cold fusion and I have absolutely nothing to show for it -- not a milligram of success! But no regrets. I would do it again without hesitation. If I live another 20 years still capable of it, I will be doing it the last day of my life, even if I am certain there is no hope of success. I am with Winston Churchill on this. As he said in 1941: ". . . never give in, never give in, never, never, never -- in nothing, great or small, large or petty -- never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense." http://www.winstonchurchill.org/learn/speeches/speeches-of-winston-churchill/103-never-give-in And Édith Piaf: "Non, je ne regrette rien." Regarding life's Important Decisions and Turning Points, I agree with Satchel Paige: "Don't look back; something might be gaining on you." - Jed
