Tact is the ability to tell someone to go to hell in such a way that they look forward to the trip.

Tact, diplomacy, and salesmanship are inextricably intertwined.

Winston Churchill was unquestionably an extraordinary man during extraordinary times and were it not for his unparalleled skills, the likelihood of the UK succumbing to Hitler was most probable.

Yet, Winston Churchill was neither a paragon of virtue nor an example of good health and good form, but his mind and his statesman potential for taking the truth and conveying it in the most persuasive ways possible are potentially unparalleled.

In moments in my life when things have felt overwhelming and were reducing me to almost mental paralysis, I have often contemplated Winston Churchill walking the streets of London after it had been bombed. Churchill suffered from extreme depression, and the horrors that he must have witnessed in these moments would unquestionably dwarf anything that I was ever trying to endure. I would ask myself, “what mental regimen was he using to get through that and continue with every bit as much energy as he could summon?”

The best answer that I have been capable of producing to that question is that he clearly must have mastered the art of linguistic persuasion (not only to others, but to himself as well. )

How else does one transcend intense depression and return promptly to indomitable resolve?

If there is anything that my journey in collecting aphorisms from others has given me, it is the opportunity to time travel into the minds of the people whom I am quoting. If you take the time to read 50 or 60 quotations from one individual, you start to get a sense of the way they think, what their value systems were, how they approached certain issues that were most prevalent in their lifetime, and so much more. It truly is a time travel experience.

So the next time a timeshare salesman is offering you a wonderful very warm holiday vacay, take a tip from dear Winston and consider whether or not the location they are excitedly promising you might not be a bit hotter than promised🤣

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Written by Brian Weiner
When I was 5 years old, I discovered that the lemon tree in the backyard + dixie cups + water and sugar and I was in business. I have been hooked on that ever since. In 1979, I borrowed $14,000 to create a brand new product... photographic greeting cards with no text on the inside, called Paradise Photography. That was the start of The Illusion Factory. Since then, The Illusion Factory has been entrusted by all of the major studios and broadcasters with the advertising and marketing of over $7 billion in filmed, live, broadcast, gaming, AR, VR and regulated gaming forms of entertainment, generating more than $100 Billion in revenue and 265 awards for creativity and technology for our clients. When I took a break from film school at UCLA to move to Hawaii, my mother did not lecture me. Instead, she took 150 of her favorite aphorisms and in her beautiful calligraphy, wrote them artistically throughout a blank journal. That is the origin of the Lessons from the Mountain series. Since then, on my journeys to the top of a mountain to watch the sunrise, I have spent countless hours contemplating words of wisdom from the sages of all races, genders and political persuasions, constantly accumulating the thoughts to guide me on my life path. I hope you enjoy my books. Please let me know your thoughts, as I highly value your feedback!