A fine old negotiation that turned out to be, didn’t it? Brexit, I’m talking about. Not heard? I expect you have. Perhaps you preferred to turn a blind ear. Understandable if you did. Anyway, the long and short of it is that for all the time spent negotiating with the EU, the tables have been…
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To know that you have as much as a fleeting thought in common with Michelangelo is to lift your spirit above the clouds to the sunshine of eternity. For me – a creator of a very much humbler level than the Maestro – to learn that he worked until he dropped at 89 is magic.…
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A Daily Paradox ‘Sensible Politics’ Special It’s not as if we are operating among politicians of much integrity and honesty. But it is as if Jo Swinson is missing the biggest opportunity of her life. Uninformed dogma about ‘remain’ is as bad as uninformed dogma about ‘leave’. There is a huge number of people wanting…
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The oath you take in a dock or witness box in a British (or almost any other) Court commits you to tell ‘the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth’. At the end of the proceedings you will be found guilty or innocent. If guilty of a serious crime you will be sentenced…
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We review our investments regularly, at least monthly if we are sensible. We review our business almost daily with a variety of reports and meetings to ensure it is not going off the rails. We review our children’s education at least three times a year. We review our parents’ old age arrangements as often as…
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Age does not define us, we define ourselves. Ages are to life as punctuation marks are to a story. They are a time to reflect, to plan the next decade, to see how orderly our life is and to assess whether we are making progress and having fun. Each seventh age seems to be more…
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Readers of the Daily Paradox will know that I return to the subject of confidence from time to time. It is such a vital element in personal success and sustainable self-image. And yet, people ignore it, often for the whole of their lives. Certainly, we have come across many who, even if they appeared confident,…
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The plight of America is a matter of concern for us all. After WWII the US created the Marshall Plan – officially the European Recovery Program. It also supported NATO as a key balustrade of world peace and played a leading role in harmony between competing nations and enterprise-driven growth. The accession of President Trump…
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The worldwide discontent among ordinary people has serious implications for countries and regimes that are authoritarian. Power is maintained partly by agreement of those over whom it is exercised. That agreement may be obtained by coercion or by the threat of punishment for disobeying. Democratic systems understand this, if not always brilliantly. Totalitarian systems on…
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If someone whose judgment we trust recommends a dentist, a plumber or a visit to the Eden Project we take them seriously and do something about it. Similarly, if we are pointed to a product or service by a reliable source, we explore it for fitness of purpose and price. Thirty years ago these casual…
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