Truism of the week...

A friend of mine and i had a glorious breakfast the other day at this great little diner up the street -- sans chitlins and husbands.  What made it so glorious wasn't the fact that we were there "sans chitlins and husbands" but that we were able to carve out some time in our schedules to sit together and talk uninterrupted over food for well over an hour! And so we did: We talked and talked about all kinds of things including - but not necessarily in this order -- the recent election, personal aspirations, our wonderful husbands, our adorable children, life's challenges, schools, food, etc... It was one of those very easy flowing, engaging, and energetic conversations that made time fly by muy rapido! 

Anyway, on several occasions during our non-stop conversation across a multitude of topics, i was reminded of one of my favorite quotes or "Truisms":  

"Great minds discuss ideas; average people discuss events, small minds discuss people."

I love this quote.  It is short and succinct but speaks volumes about what should appeal to our better halves.

During our conversation about the recent election, this quote made me think of how "small minded" some of the campaign ads were...in particular, the ads that focused on so-called "friends/mentors/associations" of the candidates instead of their "ideas" or the issues.  The fact that these negatives ads have been influential and effective in swaying voters historically may also indicate the "small-mindedness" of the electorate.  It has been suggested by some folks on both sides of the isle that since the winner of the election made an issue out of not resorting to this type of negative campaigning (although no doubt there were exceptions to this rule) this may suggest that the electorate may have "evolved".

Anyway, as much as i would like to think of myself as a "great mind" that discusses ideas 24/7, i think reality is that i strive to be a great mind most of the time and hope that i am at least half the time! The other half of the time i am an average person (discussing events) and on occasion a small minded person that discusses people.  However, i have generally never been very comfortable or at ease discussing other people that i know when they are not around.  When i do it, i feel like i am doing something i know i should not be doing.  Most of the time these types of conversations are negative and can be unproductive.  Sometimes it may be positive and productive (e.g. office cooler kind of thing), but most of the time i think it is the former (negative, unproductive gossip).  

I think everyone knows at least one person (e.g. someone you work with, an acquaintance in the neighborhood, a client) that primarily talks about other people and in a negative/unproductive way.  I know several acquaintances that fall into this category and one thing i think these people have in common is that they are not very happy people...   

So anyway, I have penchant for quotes and write them down all the time in a notebook i have. Every once in awhile I pull out my notebook and read them.  It's an easy way for me to get instantly inspired.  So i am going to post one each week in hopes of inspiring you.  Do you have a quote or truism that you think of often or live by? If so, do tell!