Paul T. Cobbler - Quotations

Underlying all of our successes and failures -- individual, organizational, societal -- are the decisions we made. Improve decision making and improve the world.

How we decide is as important as what we decide.

Meaning is what we want. Choices are what we make. Relationships are what we have.

Making sense is what we do. We have to "make" it, because otherwise there isn't any.

The narcotic effect of internally reinforced, entrenched and unchangeable belief systems was captured by Karl Marx in his oft-quoted, "Religion is the opiate of the people." But Marx didn't have it quite right. It is not religion at fault, but the unquestioning reliance on a particular version of reality or brand of truth. Rather we should say, "Systems of knowledge and assumptions unquestioningly believed to be true are the opiate of the people," but for the sake of brevity we might say: "Answers are the opiate of the people!"

I myself don't see that as a fact; but I see that you do; so in that sense I see it as a fact too.

Just because you heard what I said doesn't mean you know what I meant.
Try to understand what I meant, not just what I said.

In this age of specialization we often hear that the aim of higher education is for us to "know more and more about less and less." I am a product of that educational system, but as I have grown older I have come to realize that I know less and less about more and more.

I suspect adversarial, polarized, divisive, exclusionary, competitive ways of working have a tenacious hold on our species. Nonetheless, and all the more, we work on together.

Stay away from man-made horrors. If everyone did, there wouldn't be any.

It's the ordinary, everyday stuff -- what we eat, when we use resources, how we treat our children -- that collectively makes a significant difference on a global scale. Eat low on the food chain, turn off the lights when you leave the room, treat your kids with respect. Little things are big things.

A good father helps his children learn what he can; a great father helps his children learn what he can't.

Before I was confused, but now I'm confused at a higher level.

All generalizations are questionable.

Forgive us Lord, for while we're smart enough to know what we're doing, we're stupid enough to keep doing it.