Quote Authors | The Napkin

Whiteness Attracts Blemishes

by Marty Coleman | Feb 18, 2011 | Bert Hellinger, Colors - 2011, Winter - 2009, 2011 | 0 comments

In snow and in life, purity is fleeting. It’s there and it’s good, but it doesn’t last. Those who try to remain and appear pure to others in all things, in spite of the truth being different, will start to draw attention to their blemishes.

How do you be who you really are, admitting to yourself your impurities, admitting them to others when appropriate, and still work to attain the good in yourself and in others. Maybe the act of confession is the freeing act that allows you to move towards the good. What do you think?

A shout out to the Napkin Kin in the Massachusetts (USA) towns of Chatham, Brewster, Hyannis, Foxboro, Newton and Allton who visited the blog this week. Thanks for the visit!

Quote by Bert Hellinger, 1925 – not dead yet, German Catholic priest (formerly) and psychotherapist.

Genius and Judgment – A Fish Tale

by Marty Coleman | Feb 17, 2011 | Albert Einstein, Judgment - 2013 | 0 comments

I am not a fan of the Tiger Mom (from the recent book ‘Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother’) and her ways. I know American moms and dads are wondering if they are too lenient, and maybe they are at times. But coercing your child into becoming an exact duplicate of you, with no understanding or care about why they are and what ‘genius’ they have is akin to kidnapping.

You kidnap your kid to fulfill your purposes, your needs. After a while, the kid goes along with it and becomes the hostage influenced by his or her captors to have sympathy and regard for the kidnapper. The Stockholm syndrome for families. The child believes the parent (kidnapper) did the right thing because now he or she is good at violin or very interested in science.

I am not dissing helping to direct your child, you can’t help but do that, and you are abrogating your duty if you do not do it to some degree. BUT, if you aren’t paying attention or you don’t care who the child is and is becoming, or you are so insecure you need a little mini-me around to validate yourself, then YOU are the problem, not the child.

Quote by Albert Einstein, 1879-1955, Austrian born Physicist

A thankful shout out to my Napkin Kin in Perth and Adelaide, Australia; Charlie, Margg, Amber, Ebony and others. They are faithful readers and I REALLY appreciate them!

Refusing Praise

by Marty Coleman | Feb 16, 2011 | Francois de La Rochefoucauld | 0 comments

For all you out there who dismiss praise and compliments, think about this one. You probably will say no, I really don’t want or like compliments. But then ask yourself what you get out of rejecting them. What you get is ego satisfaction perhaps. Satisfaction that you are being humble, fulfilling the edict to not be vain or filled with self. And in turn you probably wouldn’t mind being praised for that.

Quote by Francois de La Rochefoucauld, 1613-1680, French author

Truth and Beauty

by Marty Coleman | Feb 15, 2011 | Albert Einstein | 0 comments

Have you ever realized that without some of your faults you wouldn’t have developed some of your strengths? That’s how I feel about my pursuit of truth and beauty. I may not be the best business guy in the world, not high powered, not driven in that way, and it is a fault in some of my efforts. But that lack also has allowed the door to remain open for me in my other pursuits, those of beauty, truth and love. I am not making an excuse. I should, and will, be better about those other areas. I am working on them and want to work on them. But, nonetheless, it is true that lack in one area can be the cause of abundance in others.

What lacking in your makeup has allowed other strengths to come out, other doors to open?

Quote by Albert Einstein, Scientist.

children child desire dream hope drive want need

Valentine’s Day, 2011 –

by Marty Coleman | Feb 14, 2011 | Martina McBride, Valentine's Day | 3 comments

I don’t want to know how much you are loved, I want to know how much you love others.

I don’t want to know how many Valentine’s Day cards you got, I want to know how many you gave out.

I don’t want to know how long you have waited for love. I want to know who you decided to love today.

I don’t want to know how big your diamond is. I want to know how big your heart is.

I don’t want to know how much joy you have, I want to know how your joy touched others.

I want to know, I need to know, that our house, our common house of love, is big enough for all the pain in the world. Make it so today.

Drawing and commentary © 2019 Marty Coleman \ napkindad.com

Quote from the song ‘Love’s the Only House‘, written by Buzz Cason and Tom Douglas. Sung by Martina McBride

post updated 2019

Embarrassment #5 – Predicting Success

by Marty Coleman | Feb 11, 2011 | Scott Adams | 1 comment

I was thinking yesterday what keeps me from being more successful in my various efforts to create my Napkin Dad transnational mega global world dominating corporation and I think it’s because, cliche of all cliches, I am afraid of failure. What? who me? Not me. I try all sorts of things. I have done the most outrageous things to get jobs, publicity, girlfriends, wives, kids (well, ok, what I did to get kids wasn’t all that outrageous).

But what I really mean is what this quote is saying. I don’t like being embarrassed. Now, that is funny because anyone who knows me will tell you I don’t get embarrassed easily. I was raised in a pretty immodest family so being naked never freaked me out. I can talk about any topic under the sun, in most any circumstances, and I won’t become embarrassed. I will try physical or mental challenges that I have no reason attempting. IN general, I don’t think about embarrassment.

But here is the key: I don’t know it’s embarrassment that I am feeling and fearing. All I know is I don’t want to do something. I avoid it. I distract myself. I do work-arounds. I do it myself instead of asking for help for fear of looking stupid in ways I think the person I am asking would never think I was.

There is one quote I didn’t use this week that I really liked. It’s by Lynn Swann, the famous football player for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Here it is: ‘Some people play very, very well just so they won’t get embarrassed.’ People tend to be one or the other, the high achiever to avoid embarrassment, or the non-achiever. But I am both, just depends what day it is.

Quote by Scott Adams, 1957 – not dead yet, American cartoonist, creator of Dilbert.

Embarrassment #4 – Predicting Failure

by Marty Coleman | Feb 10, 2011 | Sam Ewing | 5 comments

It’s easy to tell someone to avoid predicting failure. That’s the solution to the embarrassment above after all, right? Yes, maybe. But don’t you also abrogate your responsibility if you aren’t honest in your evaluation of someone else’s chances of success, if they ask you for your opinion?

All one has to do is look at all the poor schmucks who have auditioned on American Idol thinking they have great voices. Who gave them that idea? parents, friends, loved ones who were either tone deaf or unable to be honest in telling them the truth about their ability. Being a coward in communicating with a friend is being no friend at all.

On the other hand, what’s the point of making some ignorant or snap judgment about someone’s abilities? There is room for giving someone hope, for encouraging and believing they can accomplish what they are setting out to do. With me, if I am not completely sure, if there is any glimmer of hope, I always err on the side of ‘you can’ over ‘you can’t’.

Quote by Sam Ewing, 1920-2001, American writer and humorist

Embarrassment #3 – Poetry by Keats

by Marty Coleman | Feb 9, 2011 | John Keats | 0 comments

I like this drawing, it’s indicative of something important for girls (and women who didn’t learn it when they were girls) to remember. In general, men don’t have the guilt and embarrassment gene at the same level women do.

We have the gene, some more than others, but it’s my experience at least that women have it in a much larger dosage. So, girls, beware when you enter into a situation such as is illustrated above. The guy might be kind, nice, thoughtful, understanding, etc. But don’t expect him to feel or understand the level of embarrassment or guilt you feel in having done something you think is wrong. He might think it was wrong as well, but it is unlikely he is going to feel as strongly about it as you do.

Poem by John Keats, 1795-1821, English Romantic Poet

Embarrassment #2 – Being Born

by Marty Coleman | Feb 8, 2011 | Wilson Mizner | 0 comments

IF I were a comedian, this would be the title of Chapter #1 of my life story. If I were a scientist, it would not be.

(sung to the tune of ‘If I Were A Carpenter’)

Quote by Wilson Mizner

Compassion #4 – Feeling vs Meaning

by Marty Coleman | Feb 4, 2011 | Compassion - 2011, Thomas Aquinas | 2 comments

It’s pretty simple really. Compassion is like many other things, you might not be able to define it, but you know it when you see it. And you know it when you are doing it, and when you aren’t.

What keeps you from being compassionate?

Quote by Thomas Aquinas, 1225 – 1274, Italian Dominican Priest of the Catholic Church

Whiteness Attracts Blemishes

Like this:

Genius and Judgment – A Fish Tale

Like this:

Refusing Praise

Like this:

Truth and Beauty

Like this:

Valentine’s Day, 2011 –

Like this:

Embarrassment #5 – Predicting Success

Like this:

Embarrassment #4 – Predicting Failure

Like this:

Embarrassment #3 – Poetry by Keats

Like this:

Embarrassment #2 – Being Born

Like this:

Compassion #4 – Feeling vs Meaning

Like this:

Recent Posts

Get Connected!

Worth Sharing:

Like this:

Worth Sharing:

Like this:

Worth Sharing:

Like this:

Worth Sharing:

Like this:

Worth Sharing:

Like this:

Worth Sharing:

Like this:

Worth Sharing:

Like this:

Worth Sharing:

Like this:

Worth Sharing:

Like this:

Worth Sharing:

Like this:

Recent Posts

Get Connected!