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How can we expect a harvest of thought who have not had a seedtime of character?
-- Henry David Thoreau
 

 

Saturday, April 11, 2026

Beyond the numbers

What can be measured can be controlled, adjusted, expanded upon, and that’s all important. Yet many of the best aspects of life cannot be measured.

Quantification demands attention and often proscribes specific action. Though there is certainly significance in the numbers, there is also much meaning beyond them.

Life’s goodness and true richness can never be reduced to cells on a spreadsheet. Attempting to do so is sure to lead to disenchantment and regret.

Pay attention to the numbers, give them their due, make strategic use of them. But do not let them rule your life.

The vessel of reason, logic, measurement and calculation will take you far, but only so far. For the journey to have meaning, there must be someone with a genuine heart riding in that vessel.

Beyond the numbers there exist love, mystery, wonder, transcendence, and the irrational, irreplaceable experience of being you. Take care not to become so obsessed with those numbers that you miss out on everything else.

— Ralph Marston

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