Ken Kesey on decisions

You can’t bomb for a humane reason. What we should do is just Mother Teresa them to death with love. It’s that old hippie nonsense but it’s still the best stuff there is.

The job of the writer is to kiss no ass, no matter how big and holy and white and tempting and powerful.

Doing magic, you not only have to be able to do a trick, you have to have a little story line to go with it. And writing is essentially a trick.

The time to take counsel of your fears is before you make an important battle decision. That’s the time to listen to every fear you can imagine! When you have collected all the facts and fears and made your decision, turn off all your fears and go ahead.

George S. Patton1885–1945

• Fear

When we are debating an issue, loyalty means giving me your honest opinion, whether you think I’ll like it or not. Disagreement, at this stage, stimulates me. But once a decision has been made, the debate ends. From that point on, loyalty means executing the decision as if it were your own.

Colin Powell1937–2021

Ever notice that ‘what the hell’ is always the right decision?

Marilyn Monroe1926–1962

• Risk