Quote of the day 14th December 2014

“There are no secrets to success: don’t waste time looking for them. Success is the result of perfection, hard work, learning from failure, loyalty to those for whom you work, and persistence.”
  
( Colin Powell )

Comments

Anonymous said…
That may be the case in America, it certainly isn't in Britain.
Chris Whiteside said…
As you have not signed your name it is impossible for me to even make a guess at what position or experiences you base that opinion on, and therefore it is difficult to give an intelligent response. But here goes.

I thought the quote was worth repeating because

1) Colin Powell is certainly right that there is no magic secret which guarantees success, and

2) Other things being equal, the qualities he praises, particularly hard work, learning from failure, and persistence, make you more likely to succeed at things.

Do those things guarantee success, in Britain or anywhere else? Of course not.

Do they improve your chances of success, in Britain or elsewhere? In my experience, they absolutely do.
Anonymous said…
How to Improve your chances of Success in Britain in the 21st century

1. Carefully select your parents.

2. Have your parents send you to the best school THEY can afford.

.
.

10. Join the Freemasons.

.
.




Chris Whiteside said…
So what do you imagine number three to nine are?

I went to a direct grant school which was and is one of the best schools in the country. It was then forced to go independent and now only those whose parents have money or who get a bursary can go there.

Some of the boys at that school followed pretty much the rules which Colin Powell suggested, took advantage of the opportunity and have mostly done very well over the subsequent thirty years.

Others larked around. They mostly have not.

Of course where you start in life makes a difference but so does what you do with it. John Major started his life in Brixton with very few opportunities.

Can't say I've noticed any difference in progress between those of my friends who are freemasons and those who are not, There are many good reasons to join but imagining that it will take you to the top of the tree is a very bad one, not least because it won't.
Anonymous said…
Joining the Freemasons "won't "take you to the top of the tree" but it will allow you to climb that tree that non-members are denied.
Chris Whiteside said…
If I understand what you are saying that would be true of any society. To advance in Labour politics you (usually) have to join the Labour party. To advance in UKIP you have to join UKIP.

I think perhaps the best answer to the point you make comes from a passage in one of the first things which is said to someone who has just joined the masons, a few minutes after they join.

(By the way I'm not breaking promises or exposing any secrets here, anyone can walk into the shop at Freemason's Hall and the organisation will happily sell you a book containing the words I am about to quote, whether or not the purchaser is a mason.)

"In a society so widely extended as Freemasonry, the branches of which are spread over the four quarters of the globe, it cannot be denied that we have many members of rank and opulence: neither can it be concealed that among the thousands who range under its' banners, there are some who, perhaps from circumstances of unavoidable calamity and misfortune, are reduced to the lowest ebb of poverty and distress."

There is no magic wand which guarantees worldly success, and no organisation which can guarantee that if you join it.
Chris Whiteside said…
BTW I'm still waiting for reasons three to nine - or are you going to do a Private Eye and say "Er - That's it.""
Anonymous said…
It's clearly acceptable to you that the Freemasons have such a grip on British society. It's common knowledge that to progress in the Civil Service and Police one has to join the Freemasons.
Chris Whiteside said…
What ludicrous paranoid nonsense.

There are some police officers who are also masons in the police but the proportion is not larger than a small minority at any rank or level. Most Chief Constables are not masons, so they obviously managed to get promoted without being members.

To the best of my knowledge the proportion of civil servants and of senior civil servants who are masons is much smaller still, and the same applies.

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