Those who are celebrating the recent pro-gun victory are blinded by the reality of what it really means. It was, in fact, a sad day in the waning years of the American Empire when the Supreme Court voted 5-4 that the D.C. ban on handguns is unconstitutional. -- I say that because when the U.S. was still the home of the free, the vote would have been 9-0. Actually, there would not have been a vote, because there would not have been a ban in the first place. There was a time when government would not have dared to tell a person he didn’t have the right to protect his family. Robert Ringer quoted in an article by Bob Burg.

Just like John Galt and his terrific motor, Hank Rearden and his new and creative applications for metal, and Midas Mulligan and his ability to spot a financial winner, as a business person, you bring to the marketplace your expertise and the expertise embodied in your product or service. As such, you are paid, and deserve to be paid, a fee. You never need to justify a healthy fee - providing that you're providing an equal or greater value than the fee you are receiving.

Years ago, when I was just starting out in sales, a wise old man nearing the end of his career told me this: "Burg, if you want to make a lot of money, don't make money your goal. Make serving a lot of people your goal. If you hit that target enough times, you'll get your reward. That reward will be money, and you can do whatever you choose with that money. "But remember that money is only the reward for hitting your target - it's not the target itself. Always keep your priorities straight." I thought this was extremely cool advice then, and experience has only proven it cooler over time... - Read more in Serve People Well (and Be Served Well) by Bob Burg.

[B]efore I go running to our federal government to set things right for us ... I’ll check my premises. Before asking government to solve our “ills” — something they’ve proven not proficient at in most areas — I’ll first ask, “why are we in this position in the first place?”

The reason I know this is because I hear it constantly. I only wish that before people — especially influential ones — utter these conclusions, they would first take Ms. [Ayn] Rand’s advice and check their premises.

- Read more in Bob Burg's article - Socialized Medicine? Check Your Premises!

See also Michael Moore and Me by John Stossel: Private competitors innovate or die. Government workers do what they did last year.

Success [...] defined, for the sake of this series, [is] “the triumphant completion of a particular goal (or even continued growth toward the accomplishment of that goal).” , skriver Bob Burg i en artikelserie, hvor han diskuterer, hvordan man når de mål, man sætter sig - jf. fredagens kommentar.

- I sin konklusion når forfatteren blandt andet frem til at vedholdenhed/udholdenhed (eng. persistency/ perserverence) er en central del af svaret på ovenstående spørgsmål.

Journalisten Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936) fremsatte lignende synspunkter i et digt, der med rette er blevet et af Englands allermest populære, og som har titlen If. Det kan læses her.