“Divide and rule is a sound motto. Unite and lead is a better one.” (Goethe) Goethe is one of the most quotable authors in my stack of “good quotes.” His education included the study of six languages, besides lessons in dancing. He read a lot and learned to put his thoughts into words, becoming one of the greatest writers of the modern era. I Googled “Information” about today’s quote and up popped, Jack’s Winning Words 2007. I’m a source. WOW! ;-) Jack
FROM VW MARY: from vw mary: 😊If only our leaders would heed Goethe, by way of Jack! ====JACK: I read this Salman Rushdie quote this morning: "Democracy is not polite. It's often a shouting match in a public square." Maybe frustration is the price that we have to pay to be able to have democracy. It allows change by the voting process.
FROM WALMART REV: "...always has been a 'winner' in my book since coming across him in the mid to late 1980's!" 0;-)===JACK: I met him in my college philosophy class, but had trouble with the guttural pronunciation of his name. At first, I spoke it like the Chicago streetcar conductor: "Next stop, GOthy Street!"===REV: I was speaking of that dynamic Holy Spirit Lutheran pastor of West Bloomfield, MI!! 0;-) ===JACK: I'm not in the same league as the Great Goethe.
FROM HONEST JOHN: You are a font of wisdom!===JACK: Have you ever sung the hymn, "Come, thou fount of every blessing?" I like the line..."Here, I raise my Ebenezer." I wonder how many in the congregation (including the pastor) know what that means.
FROM CARRIE: I hope you are doing well. I still read you every morning – thanks for inspiring me.===JACK: You are an important member of my Winning Words family. Today, I'm asking G-d to especially watch over you.
FROM FACEBOOK LIZ: 😎 ===JACK: Thanks for your unspoken support. May today be a good one for you ===LIZ: 😉
FROM LS: You are a source to me. Thank you. I am glad that your recognition is apparently global. Hope for all the world to be a better place because of your commitment to writing WINNING WORDS. ===JACK: You can find lots of stuff on the internet if you push the right key. Sometimes the right key is, Delete! At other times, it's, Save!
FROM LBP: Cool! 😊===JACK: Yes, it is cooler today that it was recently.===LBP: Ha ha. I’m a child of the 80s. “Cool” is still in my vocabulary ;) Though happy for the milder weather too ===JACK: My stepfather was in a restaurant once, and the waitress asked, "How's your dessert?" He responded, "It's cool!" She said, "I can put it in the microwave for you."
FROM ST PAUL IN ST PAUL: congrats! 😀===JACK: Wolfgang should get all of the credit.
FROM HY YO SILVER: Wow. That is very impressive.===JACK: What's impressive is the "new" work that you are doing for the Jewish Federation in reaching out to donors for the Foundation!
FROM RI IN BOSTON: Indeed, you are. Thumbs up on that! Goethe's gone but you're still with us and enlightening us.===JACK: Yes, Goethe's gone (heart attach at age 82), but he's not forgotten: He left behind...four novels; epic and lyric poetry; prose and verse dramas; an autobiography; literary and aesthetic criticism; memoirs, and treatises on botany, anatomy, and color. In addition...numerous literary and scientific fragments, more than 10,000 letters, and nearly 3,000 drawings by him...and lots and lots of quotable quotes.===RI: I knew Goethe was erudite, but I didn't realize he was so prolific. Thanks to you for continuing to educate me.
FROM VOLUNTEER JIM: You are a much greater source than you will ever know.===JACK: I meant this to be about Goethe's quote on leadership.===JB: I got your quote loud and clear and agree. I frequently fail to tell the important people in my life how much they mean to me and didn't want to miss this chance to let you know you have a great positive impact on my life and how I live it.===JACK: It works both ways.
FROM OUTHOUSE JUDY: Wow, now that is special! You not only enlighten your readers but the whole world!!! I’m honored to be your friend!===JACK: I was just surprised...at how the internet is able to pick up stuff.
FROM SG: Yay, you're famous!!===JACK: This has backfired. I meant the emphasis to be on the quote.
FROM RS IN TEXAS: You are that and a lot more, Jack. Your ability to make us take pause and think is so important. Thank you.===JACK: I have to pause and think before I write...like with preparing a sermon.
FROM DR JUDY: Congratulations on becoming a source!!! :)===JACK: I was warned by the professors in college, "Check your sources, check your sources!"
FROM ST PAUL IN ST PAUL: you are way too modest, Jack! but that is also why people love you too!===JACK: Like the guy said, "In my humble opinion..." Someone whispered, "His opinions have plenty to be humble about."
FROM TAMPA SHIRL: WOW is a very appropriate reaction!===JACK: Do you remember the expression, "You could have knocked me over with a feather?" It wasn't quote like that.
FROM DAZ IN COLORADO: I always knew you were a source. Google is just catching up.===JACK: You were my first computer teacher.
FROM TRIHARDER: Agreed! Who in our midst had tried to do that over the last 60 years? ===JACK: When I was choosing the quote, I was thinking within 2 rather than 60.===TH: Yes, I know. W was supposed to be the uniter. He failed. Too much hatred and distrust for Obama who also did a poor job of reaching out, despite his inviting rhetoric. I just don't know of anyone since, possibly, Eisenhower (who was fighting "commies" in a post war America) when views weren't so extremely divergent and society had not yet progressed toward accommodating minorities (race, sexual orientation and inc. women) which seems to be basis of much of our current discord. ===JACK: The phrase..."East is East and West is West and never the twain shall meet." Rudyard Kipling had a way putting situations into words. In the quote he is lamenting the gulf between the British and India that existed. Although the twain did meet in that case, it was not a happy meeting. In the present american political situation, the gulf seems to have become a chasm.
DROM SHALOM JAN: You are a lot more famous than you realized in this technical age! Good for you!===JACK: What if I were on Facebook and Tweeted, too?
FROM JT IN SJ: WOW is right. Maybe you should author a book with the contents being your winning words and the thoughts you share about those words!! I think it is a great idea!!===JACK: Once, someone did put together a book of Jack's Winning Words. Maybe 250 copies were printed and sold on Amazon. They were gone before I even got a copy. I had thought of doing one of those daily tear-off calendars. Someone even offered to help. BTW, I once preached a funeral sermon in which I mentioned sending out Winning Words each day. After the service, a stranger came up and asked, "Are you Jack from Jack's Winning Words? I'm so glad to meet you." Maybe I should write a book!
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