In my experience... by Robert A. Hall

In my experience, moral courage is as important as physical courage, and is needed by everyone. It’s also in much shorter supply.

In my experience, women can be beautiful, pretty or cute. A pretty woman can also be cute, and a beautiful woman would likely qualify as pretty, but not necessarily the other way around. I don’t know how to define these states of being, but I know it when I see it. And on the whole, I prefer cute.

In my experience, when someone says, “It’s not the money, it’s the principle”—it’s the money.

In my experience, the more focused on self a person is, the less happy that person is.

In my experience, bad politicians get elected because we like the bad policies they promise us for our own short term gain.

In my experience, voters want lower taxes, but they also want more spending in any area they care about, especially if it benefits them personally. Which is why government is frequently in fiscal crisis.

In my experience, un-earned self esteem does more harm than good. It creates “praise junkies,” who expect endless compliments on the flimsiest of pretexts. “Good boy, John—you got your socks on the right feet.” “Nice outfit, Mary—it almost matches.”

In my experience, parents, teachers and bosses who praise mediocre performance get more mediocre performance.

Mr. Hall has much more experience to share - read the rest of it at "The Old Jarhead" blog.