Business
HOMELESS
“He used to be an advocate.”
“Escaped the rate race,”
They say.
On the snow covered sidewalk,
Sitting cross legged
On a piece of cardboard,
With a kindly smile
On his stubbly face.
Homeless Old Joe
Swathed
In a tattered brown blanket,
Striped woollen hat pulled low
Onto grey shaggy eyebrows.
Alert
Intelligent blue eyes
Watch the street.
Policeman’s ally,
Photographic mind
Recording the beat of the world.
“Spare us something to eat,
If you please, mister,”
His voice unbeaten.
The loaf broken into three,
Shared with his dog,
And the beggar across the street.
A deserted ally,
Concrete mattress
A brazier at night,
Not a care in the world
Until tomorrow,
Old Joe –
He became a nice man.
Graham Lancaster
'Condifence on the outside begins by living with integrity on the inside.'
Brian Tracy
'Integrity is the essence of everything successful.'
R Buckminster-Fuller
“Ha, Ha” Said the Clown
Jumped up out of their depth
From somewhere poorly comfortable
Money powered judgemental masters,
Mastered by greed and arrogance
Of inferior superiority
Anticipating endless salad days,
Mortally wounded by their own
Poison arrows boomeranged
On changing winds;
With defeated refugee eyes
Early aged worry beaten faces,
How the mighty have fallen,
Misplaced poor cousins
Amongst auspicious occasion
Respectful suits and finery,
In an embarrassment
Of autumn season clothes
Barely with the cow shit
Washed from between their toes.
Graham Vivian Lancaster
I once worked for a man with angry curling lips,
who to the mammon gods his soul he sold.
With greedy itchy palms and unrestrainable tongue,
business at any price was his demand.
Volcanic in temperament he shouted the odds,
to drown the exposing voice of truth.
In his quest of insatiable greed,
he cared not who he compromised.
From the comfort of his pig trough he grunted and snorted,
and wallowed in the mess that he created.
His staff, like hyenas ripping at a carcass, he did like to see,
each frantic for a chunk of bloodied spoils.
Growling at one another they lost their possibility,
to be the best they could be.
Linda Smith
'A man without a smiling face must not open a shop'
Chinese Proverb
'Your profession is not what brings home your pay cheque. Your profession is what you were put on Earth to do with such passion and such intensity that it becomes spiritual in calling.'
Vincent Van Gogh
‘Exercise caution in your business affairs for the world is full of trickery. But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals; and everywhere life is full of heroism.’
Desiderata. (Desiderata – desired things.) Max Ehrmann
'Don’t associate with people you can’t trust.
Don’t cheat. Don’t lie. Don’t pretend.
Don’t dictate because you are smarter.
Don’t demand because you are stronger.'
The Purpose Driven Life. Nick Warren.
‘The problem with the rat race is that, even if you win, you’re still a rat.’
Lily Tomlin.
‘A customer is the most important visitor on our premises. He is not dependent on us. We are dependent on him. He is not an interruption in our work. He is the purpose of it. He is not an outsider on our business. He is part of it. We are not doing him a favour by serving him. He is doing us a favour by giving us an opportunity to do so.’
Mahatma Gandhi
‘Not the sweet smell of flowers, not even the fragrance of jasmine, blows against the wind. But the fragrance of virtuous people pervades all directions through the fragrance of their virtue.’
Buddha
‘The best, like water,
Benefit all and do not compete. …
They find themselves in the foremost place …
In their words, they love truth.
In their world, they love peace.
In personal affairs, they love what is right. …
It is because they do not compete with others
That they are beyond the reproach of the world.’
The Best. Lao Tzu
‘Example is not the main thing in influencing others, it is the only thing.’
Albert Schweitzer
‘For what are your possessions, but things you keep and guard for fear you may need them tomorrow?
And tomorrow, what shall tomorrow bring to the over-prudent dog burying bones in the trackless sand.’
The Prophet. Kahlil Gibran
‘We are poor in spirit, because, especially recently, mankind has concentrated too much on the materialistic side of life.’
Zulu Shaman.Dr Credo Mutwa
‘Do not allow Earthly wealth to take away your humanity. Do not allow riches to corrupt you.’
Dr Credo Mutwa
‘But the life that the rich man spends in heaping up gold is in truth the life of the worms in the ground. It is a sign of fear.’
The Voice of the Master. Kahlil Gibran
‘The rich man has cast off his Divinity, and has clung to his gold.’
Voice of the Master. Kahlil Gibran
In 1854, the ‘Great White Chief’ in Washington made an offer for a large area of Indian land, and in return promised a ‘reservation’ for the Suqamish Indian tribe.
‘How can you buy or sell the sky, the warmth of the land? The idea is strange to us.
If we do not own the freshness of the air and the sparkle of the water, how can you buy them?
Every part of the Earth is sacred to our people… holy in the memory and experience of my people...
We know the white man does not understand our ways… for he is a stranger who comes in the night and takes from the land whatever he needs. The Earth is not his brother, but his enemy and when he has conquered it he moves on.
…He kidnaps the Earth from his children, and he does not care.
…His appetite will devour the Earth and leave behind only a desert. …If the beasts are gone, man would die from a great loneliness of the spirit. For whatever befalls the Earth, befalls the children of the
Earth.’
Chief Seattle
The rich industrialist from the North was horrified to find the southern fisherman lying beside his boat and stumming a guitar. "Why aren't you out fishing?" asked the industrialist. "Because I have caught enough fish for the day" replied the fisherman. "Why don't you catch some more fish?" pursued the northerner. "What would I do with them?" asked the fisherman. "You could earn more" was the inudustrialist's reply. "With that you could have a motor fixed to your boat, and go into deeper waters and catch more fish. Then you would make enough to buy nylon nets. These would bring you more fish and more money. Soon you would have enought to own two boats ... maybe even a fleet of boats. Then you would be a rich man like me." "What would I do then?" enquired the fisherman. "Then you could really enjoy life" asserted the industrialist. Retorted the fisherman: "What do you think I am doing right now?"