When I reflect that one man, armed only with his own physical and moral resources, was able to cause this land of Canaan to spring from the wasteland, I am convinced that in spite of everything, humanity is admirable. But when I compute the unfailing greatness of spirit and the tenacity of benevolence that it must have taken to achieve this result, I am taken with an immense respect for that old and unlearned peasant who was able to complete a work worthy of God. [A heartwarming story about the impact of one man, Elzeard Bonfire, who planted trees from 1900-1946, in the area where the Alps thrust down into Province, France.]
Mathematical economics is old enough to be respectable, but not all economists respect it. It has powerful supporters and impressive testimonials, yet many capable economists deny that mathematics, except as a shorthand or expository device, can be applied to economic reasoning. There have even been rumors that mathematics is used in economics (and in other social sciences) either for the deliberate purpose of mystification or to confer dignity upon common places as French was once used in diplomatic communications.
James R. Newman
Source: J. R. Newman (ed.) The World of Mathematics, New Yorl: Simon and Schuster, 1956.
There are times when each of us has to have some gumption to take a stand as to what we wish to preserve or change in order to maintain our self-respect and not be as "a reed shaken with the wind" (Matt. 11:7) . . . . We lose much credibility and strength, and we risk being weighed on an uneven balance, when, Don Quixote-like, we go around "tilting windmills". Ensign, Mar 2000, p. 2.
Citizenship comes first today in our crowded world. . . . No man can enjoy the privileges of education and thereafter with a clear conscience break his contract with society. To respect that contract is to be mature, to strengthen it is to be a good citizen, to do more than your share under it is to be noble.
All those among the Sufis who had no visible murshid (guide), that is, an earthly man like themselves and a contemporary, called themselves Uwaysis. One of the most famous was abu'l-Hasan Kharraqani (d. 425/1034), an Iranian Sufi, who left us the following saying: I am amazed at those disciples who declare that they require this or that master. You are perfectly well aware that I have never been taught by any man. God was my guide, though I have the greatest respect for all the masters.
Ibn al-'Arabi (1165 - 1240)
Source: Corbin, Henry. Creative Imagination in the Sufism of Ibn `Arabi, 1969. pp. 32-33
IBM'S Basic BELIEFS AND FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES Our beliefs, which should be well known to every IBMer, are: 1. Respect for the individual. 2. A desire to have the best customer service of any company in the world. 3. The conviction that an organization should pursue all tasks with the idea that they can be accomplished in a superior manner. In addition to these, there is a set of fundamental principles which guide IBM management in the conduct of the business. Each manager should consider them as a basis for his decisions. They are: 1. To provide intelligent, aggressive capable management. 2. To serve our customers as efficiently and effectively as possible. 3. To continually improve our products and our technology. 4. To provide a maximum degree of satisfaction on the part of our employees in their assigned tasks. 5. To recognize the obligation to our stockholders to provide an adequate return on their investment. 6. To play our part in furthering the progress of the communities in which our facilities are located.