I Like The Cut Of His Jib !!

Musings, leadership tidbits and quotes posted by a retired Navy Captain (really just a high performing 2nd Class Petty Officer) who hung up his uniform a bit too early. He still wears his Navy service on his sleeve. He needs to get over that. "ADVANCE WARNING - NO ORIGINAL THOUGHT!" A "self-appointed" lead EVANGELIST for the "cryptologic community". Keeping CRYPTOLOGY alive-one day and Sailor at a time. 2015 is 80th Anniversary of the Naval Security Group.

Saturday, August 13, 2011

Bias for action - essential in today's Navy

No matter how full a reservoir of maxims one may possess, and no matter how good one's sentiments may be, if one has not taken advantage of every concrete opportunity to act, one's character may remain entirely unaffected for the better. With mere good intentions, hell is proverbially paved. A character is a completely fashioned will.

A tendency to act only becomes effectively ingrained in us in proportion to the uninterrupted frequency with which the actions actually occur and the brain "grows" to their use. When a resolve or a fine glow of feeling is allowed to evaporate without bearing fruit, it is worse than a chance lost; it works so as positively to hinder future resolutions and emotions from taking the normal path of discharge.

- JAMES
USNI Proceedings
Vol. 58 August, 1932 No. 354

1 comment:

Anonymous said...: Captain Lambert,

JAMES speaks in the absolute, I have known a lot of good Sailors, and never knew a perfect one, but I have great faith that most dispensed the burden of their decisions in order to benefit their subordinates and peers as they were all Shipmates.

Very Respectfully,
Navyman834; August 18, 2011 at 12:35 AM