The Personal Website of Mark W. Dawson

Principles, Truisms, Locutions, and Rules

The following are the Principles, Truisms, Locutions, and Rules that I have tried to apply to my life, and while I have not always succeeded, I have tried.

Principles

Below are some of my principles that I always keep in mind in my everyday dealings with people. Practice them regularly, and they become easier to practice.

• A smart person knows what to say, a wise person knows whether or not, and how to say it. Try to be a wise person.
• Always be careful with your non-verbal communication. It says much more about you than your words.
• Be careful in what you say to people, as most people are not interested in hearing the facts or truth, they are only interested in hearing their own opinions reinforced.
• Be careful what you ask for from others - you may get it.
• Be prepared for both the positives and negatives for anything that you say or do.
• Before speaking your mind always consider what is to be gained or lost.
• Comment only on those things you really know something about.
• If you are given the responsibility you must have the authority, for responsibility without authority is an illusion.
• Never ask a question unless you are prepared to deal with the answer.
• Polite and Respectful speech is the only form of acceptable communication.
• Self-deprecating humor is the best form of humor in dealing with others.
• The first step in solving a problem is for everyone to recognize that there is a problem.
• There are always unintended and unknown consequences for all we say and do. Be prepared to deal with these unintended and unknown consequences when they occur, and do not disclaim responsibility for them when they occur.
• There are three sides to every story; one side, the other side, and the truth. It is best to discover the truth before making up your mind.
• There are things that we know, things that we know we don't know, and things that we don't know that we don't know. Be aware of all these things in your dealings with others.
• You cannot control what others think, say, or do. You can only control what you think, say, or do.
• You may be the smartest person in the room, but you're not the only person in the room, and most times you are not the smartest person in the room.
• You should always mean what you say and say what you mean.

Truisms

A truism is a claim that is as obvious or self-evident as to be hardly worth mentioning, except as a reminder or as a rhetorical or literary device. The following are some of my favorite truisms.

“A cynic is 'a man who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing'.”
 - Oscar Wilde

“A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, while an entirely open mind can be the hobgoblin of irrationality.”
 - Mark Dawson

"A little learning is a dangerous thing; drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring: there shallow draughts intoxicate the brain, and drinking largely sobers us again."
- Alexander Pope - An Essay on Criticism 

“A mind is a terrible thing to waste, and a mind that is not fully utilized is a wasted mind.”
- Mark Dawson

"An understanding of the economics of a situation leads to a better and fuller understanding of the situation, or, as it has been said, 'follow the money' in any situation."
  - Mark Dawson

“Be careful in what you say to people, as most people are not interested in hearing the facts or truth, they are only interested in hearing their own opinions reinforced.”
  - Mark Dawson

"Better to remain quiet and thought the fool than open one’s mouth and remove all doubt."
 - Dr. Arthur Burns

"Control over others is illusionary, as the only control that you have is over yourself."
 - Mark Dawson

"Do not let fear control your actions, but let fear only guide your actions"
 - Mark Dawson

"Don't Let the Perfect Be the Enemy of the Good."
- Voltaire

“Doubt a little of your own infallibility.”
  - Benjamin Franklin”

“Educated Guesses always have the inherent questions as to the quality of the education and the accuracy of the guess.”
- Mark Dawson

“Everyone is entitled to their own opinions, but they are not entitled to their own facts.”
  -  New York Senator Danial Patrick Moynihan

“Explore beyond your boundaries. For the journey will expand your knowledge, and then perhaps lead you to wisdom.”
 - Mark Dawson

"Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence."
 - Carl Sagan

"Forethought is more desirable that afterthought, as forethought will often lead to better decisions while afterthought often engenders poor decisions and embarrassment."
  - Mark Dawson

“For having lived long, I have experienced many instances of being obliged by better information, or fuller consideration, to change opinions even on important subjects, which I once thought right, but found to be otherwise. It is therefore that the older I grow, the more apt I am to doubt my own judgment, and to pay more respect to the judgment of others.”
  - Benjamin Franklin”

“I believe each individual is naturally entitled to do as he pleases with himself and the fruit of his labor, so far as it in no wise interferes with any other man’s rights … and that the general government, upon principle, has no right to interfere with anything other than that general class of things that does concern the whole.”
- Abraham Lincoln

“I cannot and will not recant anything,
for to go against conscience is neither right nor safe.
Here I stand, I can do no other, so help me God. Amen.”
- Martin Luther

“I think we ought to exercise one of the sovereign prerogatives of philosophers— that of laughter”
 - Charles L. Black

“I'd rather be factually correct than politically correct.”
- Mark Dawson

“If you have to sneak to do it, lie to cover it up or delete it to avoid being seen, then you probably shouldn't be doing it!”
  - Anonymous

“In this world, as regards to reproduction, the male is the inseminator, and the female is the incubator. It is neither fair nor unfair that you are male or female. Rather it is by random chance you ended up male or female. “
   - Mark Dawson

“It always helps to know where you are going so that you may plan how to get there.”
  - Mark Dawson

"It is much more difficult to be virtuous than it is to virtue signal."
 - Unknown

“It is not possible to do the wrong thing rightly, as no wrong thing can be done rightly.”
 - Mark Dawson

“Just because you "believe" something to be true does not mean that you "know" something is true, and just because someone says it is true doesn’t make it true.”
   - Mark Dawson

“Just because you have committed an unlawful, immoral, unethical, or unwise act, and upon reflection determine that it is an unlawful, immoral, unethical, or unwise act, does not preclude you from speaking out against others committing that unlawful, immoral, unethical, or unwise act. It does not make you a hypocrite, it makes you repentant.”
  - Mark Dawson

"Knowing why is often more important than knowing how."
  - Mark Dawson

“Life is like a double entry ledger. For everything that happens there are both positives and negatives, especially for anything that you say or do. “
 - Mark Dawson

“Life is neither fair nor unfair. Life is what it is. To deal with life, other than for what it is, is foolhardy and wasteful. “
  - Mark Dawson

“Man is always prey to his truths. Once he has admitted them, he cannot free himself from them.”
  - Albert Camus

“Most people don't really think about what they think about. They bring their own viewpoints and prejudices to their thinking to reinforce what they already believe. They rarely consider alternate viewpoints, and almost never consider both the negative and positive consequences of what they think or believe. And it is the very rare person who looks for the unintended consequences of what they think or believe.”
- Mark Dawson

“Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.”
 - Hanlon’s Philosophical Razor

“Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted.”
 - Albert Einstein

“Nobody really knows politics, economics, and sociology, as those topics are often tied to human nature and the unpredictable reactions of people to circumstances.”
 - Mark Dawson

“Nothing is as good as it appears, or as bad as it seems. But on rare occasions, it can be better, or worse.”
  - Mark Dawson”

“Obtaining advice from a person who is neither knowledgeable nor experienced in that particular subject is obtaining worthless advice (i.e. don't ask an opinion of someone who does not know what they're talking about).”
  - Mark Dawson

“Oh what a tangled web we weave, When first we practise to deceive!”
 - Sir Walter Scott”

“Our character is what we do when we think no one is looking.”
  -  H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

“Patience is a virtue, possess it you can.
Seldom found in woman, never found in man.”
  - Anonymous

“Perfection is reserved for God; humans should strive to do their best. “
  - Mark Dawson

“Plurality should not be posited without necessity.”
- Occam's Philosophical Razor.

"Reasons are often not Reasoning, as reasons are generally emotionally based while reasoning is intellectually based."
  - Mark Dawson

“Remember to love people and use things, rather than to love things and use people.”
  - Anonymous

“Reputation is what men and women think of us; character is what God and angels know of us.”
  - Thomas Paine

“Responsibility is a unique concept... You may share it with others, but your portion is not diminished. You may delegate it, but it is still with you... If responsibility is rightfully yours, no evasion, or ignorance or passing the blame can shift the burden to someone else. Unless you can point your finger at the man who is responsible when something goes wrong, then you have never had anyone really responsible.”
  - Admiral Hyman G. Rickover

“Shit happens. Sometimes you shit on yourself, sometimes others shit on you,
and other times shit just happens.
It doesn't matter how shit happens, it only matters how you deal with the shit.
You can either clean yourself up and smell the roses,
Or you can wallow in the shit and everything stinks
And remember; It’s just as important to learn from the shit,
as it is to clean yourself up from the shit!”
   - Mark Dawson 

"The Burden of Proof always rests with the person who makes an assertion. To not do so is to ask the other person to prove a negative - which is impossible."
  - Mark Dawson

“The clock is running. Make the most of today. Time waits for no man. Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift. That's why it is called the present.”
  - Alice Morse Earle

“The greatest deception men suffer is from their own opinions.”
 - Leonardo da Vinci

“The harder I work, the luckier I get.”
- Samuel Goldwyn

"The most important knowledge is knowledge of one's own ignorance."
  - Socrates

“The Moving Finger writes; and, having writ,
Moves on: nor all thy Piety nor Wit
Shall lure it back to cancel half a Line,
Nor all thy Tears wash out a Word of it.”
  - The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyam

“The only real mistake is the one from which we learn nothing.”
  - Henry Ford

“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”
  - Edmund Burke

“The simplest explanation, that fits all the known facts, is most often the correct explanation.”
- Variation of Occam's Philosophical Razor.

“The world is full of quotes, but not so many quotes of wisdom.”
- Mark Dawson”

“There are some ideas so absurd that only an intellectual could believe them.”
- George Orwell

“There are things that we know, things that we know we don't know, and things that we don't know that we don't know. It is the things that we don't know that we don't know that often cause the most problems.”
 - Mark Dawson

“There is a big difference between be a smart person and being a wise person. The difference is often that a smart person knows what to say, while a wise person knows when to say it.”
 - Mark Dawson

“There is always an easy solution to every human problem—neat, plausible, and wrong.”
- H. L. Mencken

“To deny human nature, or to not acknowledge human nature, is foolish. To not do so will result in much effort, time, and monies being spent on a task that is doomed to failure.”
   - Mark Dawson

"To know what you know and what you do not know, that is true knowledge."
 - Confucius

“To understand well you must read; and read well, often, and on subjects on which you are unfamiliar.”
- Mark Dawson

“True Courage is doing the right thing, at the right time, regardless of personal consequences.”
   - Mark Dawson

“True Wisdom Most Often Comes from Bitter Experience... Considered!”
   - Mark Dawson

“Well done is better than well said.”
  - Benjamin Franklin”

“What can be asserted without evidence can be dismissed without evidence.”
- Hitchens Philosophical Razor

"What is best for you should be decided by you. If you let others decide what is best for you, it will often not be best for you, but it will often be best for them."
 - Mark Dawson

“Whether one believes that man was created by God or by evolutionary processes, the conclusion ends up being the same. Man has reason, individual and corporate dignity, individual and corporate value, and these are not subject to revision by any prince, power, or potentate.”
- Kevin D. Williamson

"With age comes wisdom, but sometimes age comes alone."
 - Oscar Wilde

“Without knowing the details, it is impossible to know the devils.”
- Mark Dawson

“You are free to choose, but you are not free from the consequence of your choice.”
  - Ezra Taft Benson

“You cannot implement a wrong social policy the right way. For if it is a wrong social policy it will always fail. While the goals of a social policy may be noble the details of its implementation will determine if the goal can be reached (i.e. the devil is in the details).”
  - Mark Dawson

"You may be the smartest person in the room, but you're not the only person in the room, and most times, you are not the smartest person in the room."
  - Mark Dawson

“You'll never get confused if you simply tell the truth. Then you don't have to remember what you have said, and you never forget what you have said. And you won't get in trouble for telling a lie if you have told the truth.”
  - Mark Dawson

Locutions

A word or phrase that is used in particular situations. While these locutions are generally true it does not mean that they are applicable to all situations. Therefore, be careful when you utilize or apply them. Some of these locutions may be quotes, but I cannot find the attribution. I hope I can be forgiven when this occurs. The following are some of my favorite locutions (in alphabetical order) that I have used throughout my life.

• A little learning is a dangerous thing, but a lot of ignorance is just as bad.
• A man has got to know his limitations.
• Absence of evidence is not necessarily evidence of absence.
• Be careful what you ask for as you may get it.
• Common sense is not so common, or not so sensible.
• Correlation does not imply causation.
• Do not lose sight of the forest by concentrating on the trees.
• Do what is right, not what is easy.
• Don't get depressed, get determined.
• Don't get paralysis from analysis.
• Don’t let the perfect get in the way of the good – and remember that Perfection is reserved for God; all others should just do their best.
• Engage your brain before your mouth.
• Every public policy problem has a simple solution – and it’s usually wrong.
• Everyone in life has a purpose, even if it's to serve as a bad example.
• Experts should be on tap, not on top.
• Failure isn't falling down; it's remaining where you've fallen.
• Figures can lie, and liars can figure. And most times people figure incorrectly.
• Follow the Money.
• Fools rush in where angels fear to tread.
• Getting old sure beats the alternative.
• Half of something is better than all of nothing.
• Hope springs eternal, but reality intervenes.
• I never lose nor fail ... Either I win, I succeed, or I learn.
• I was so much older then, I’m younger than that now.
• If a job is worth doing, it is worth doing well.
• If all you had was a hammer everything would begin to look like a nail.
• If it ain't broke don't fix it.
• If it is important to you, you will find a way. If not, you'll find an excuse.
• If you argue from a false premise, you will reach a false conclusion.
• If you can't read deeply, you will not be able to think deeply.
• If you caused a problem it is up to you to resolve the problem.
• If you do what you've always done, you'll get what you've always gotten (i.e. Insanity).
• If you want to improve your life improve yourself.
• Illegitimi Non-Carborundum (don't let the bastards wear you down).
• Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.
• It is easier to obtain forgiveness than permission.
• It takes a lot of truth to gain trust, but just one lie to lose it all.
• Just because you can doesn’t mean you should.
• KISS - Keep It Simple Stupid.
• Lack of planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part.
• Life is hard, then you die.
• Listening sure beats talking.
• Never judge a book by its cover.
• Never put off until tomorrow what you can do today.
• Never start a sentence until you know the finish.
• Ninety percent of everything is crap. It’s getting to that ten percent that makes wading through the ninety percent worthwhile.
• No good deed goes unpunished.
• Not every problem has, or needs, a solution – It’s called Life.
• Nothing so queer as folk.
• Perfection is not required, but incompetence or carelessness is not acceptable.
• People with good intentions make promises. People with good character keep their promises.
• Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely.
• Show respect even to people who don't deserve it. Not as a reflection of their character, but as a reflection of your character.
• Silence is agreement.
• Sometimes you get the bear, and sometimes the bear gets you.
• Sometimes the magic works, and sometimes it doesn't.
• Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. And most times you choose something between the two.
• Stupid is as stupid does.
• That's so convoluted that only a Ph.D. could believe it. (Remember - B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. stand for Bull Shit, More Shit, and Piled High and Deep).
• The best preparation for tomorrow is doing your best today.
• The devil is in the details.
• The difference between genius and stupidity is that stupidity knows no bounds.
• The first step in solving a problem is to recognize you have one.
• The more you know the narrower your focus becomes.
• The road to hell is paved with good intentions.
• There is no such thing as a free lunch.
• There’s no accounting for taste.
• They that have the authority have the responsibility.
• Those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything.
• To find yourself, think for yourself.
• Two wrongs don’t make a right.
• Well-meaning is not well doing.
• Whatever begins in anger ends in shame.
• When life hands you lemons . . . Make Lemonade!
• You can guard yourself against malicious attacks, but there is no protection from stupidity.
• You cannot protect yourself from sadness without protecting yourself from happiness.
• You pays your money and you take your chances.

The 10-80-10 Rule

In any field of human endeavor, whether it is professional, tradesmen, labor, clerical, etc. 10% of those involved in the endeavor are incompetent and should find another endeavor. 10% of those involved in the endeavor are superior and are those who you would want to do the endeavor. The other 80% of those involved are somewhere between those two extremes, usually graphed on a bell curve with the peak being around 50%. You can sometimes make some of the 80% better and shift the peak towards the 60%, but other times they can get worse and shift the peak to the 40%. People have different skills and abilities, and different motivations that place them on the bell curve. This is simply human nature. You should be cognizant of this fact in your dealings with others.

The 90/10 Rule

Isaac Asimov, a famous science fiction writer, had often told the story of a science fiction fan convention he attended in the mid-1960s. This convention was held in New York City and featured a guest speaker and panel of science fiction authors and editors, with a crowd of several hundred science fiction fans. In the mid-1960s science fiction fans were looked upon as very strange and different people. Being science fiction fans, with the large number of them from New York City, they were very opinionated, loud, and rowdy during the course of the convention.

The guest speaker at one convention, Robert Silverberg (another famous science fiction author), was preparing to give the keynote address. As he was standing at the lectern the audience was being their normal loud and rowdy self. After tapping on the microphone a few times, he realized he was not going to get the crowd’s attention without doing something drastic. He, therefore, bent over to the microphone, and in a very loud voice, said: “You know, 90% of science fiction is crap.” The crowd immediately went silent and began to glare at the stage. The science fiction authors and editors on the panel began to become worried about their safety and were looking over their shoulders for the nearest exit. Just as the silence of became almost unbearable Robert Silverberg leaned over to the microphone and said “but then again 90% of everything is crap. It's getting to that 10% that makes wading through the 90% worthwhile.” The crowd laughed, settled down, and Robert Silverberg give his keynote speech followed by the panel discussion, where everybody behaved in a civilized manner.

Upon hearing this story, from Isaac Asimov himself, I realized Robert Silverberg had spoken a truism, which I adopted as my 90/10 rule. I now expect in the normal course of life that 90% of everything will be crap, but that 10% will be worthwhile. Whenever I do something for myself or get involved in something with others, I apply the 90/10 rule. If whatever I did was 10% worthwhile, I think my effort has been successful. Getting more than 10% is a bonus. So, if I read a book, listen to music, watch television, go to the movies, visited museum, listen to a speech or lecture, attend a festival, visit a park, or any activity I look for the 10% to enjoy it, and consider the effort worthwhile and not a waste of my time or effort if I found the 10%.

It should be noted that this 90/10 Rule only applies to your personal life and decisions. For the actions of government and society, it is the reverse—10% crap is acceptable if you obtain 90% good. The difficult question is how to determine the percentages of the crap and good in any governmental or societal action? As always, you must consider the wisdom of Thomas Sowell when making this determination:

"The most basic question is not what is best, but who shall decide what is best?"
- Thomas Sowell

Ten Pretty Good Rules to Live By

1. Never wrestle with a pig: you both get dirty and the pig likes it!
2. Never argue with an idiot; people watching may not be able to tell the difference!
3. Observe everything, comment rarely!
4. It's easier to obtain forgiveness than it is permission!
5. Rarely resist the opportunity to keep your mouth shut!
6. Don't ask a question if you cannot live with the answer!
7. If you want a new idea, read an old book!
8. If you don't know where you are going, any road will get you there!
9. Never have a philosophy which supports a lack of courage!
10. Never look back unless you intend to go that way!