The proposal Can you see dozens of these plaques through the school? Students might pass these statements every day… and then one day, perhaps when the student is bored or unhappy or uncertain… his or her eyes glance on one of the plaques and reads it carefully, looking at it closely for the first time…. PROPOSAL FOR INSPIRATIONAL PLAQUES This proposal can be used to raise funds for the building campaign. For example, if a building is 20,000 square feet and costs 7.5 million francs, that's about 7500 francs for 20 square feet or about 350 francs ($300) per square foot. A typical building could have space for 100 quotes or inspirational plaques or tributes (the outside walls of the building can be used in addition to selected spaces inside the classrooms). The inspirational plaques might cost $600 each... In the proposed performing arts center, a wall of inspiration could be populated with tributes to past meditations that have inspired students and staff. Quotations from the meditations could be etched into inspirational plaques and the inspirational plaques could be placed along the wall. Candidates include "Our Lives are What We Make of Them" by JC, "Whatsoever Things Are True" by Roy Watts, etc. and each plaque could have an image of the person with a quote and a web link for the full text of the meditation placed on the plaque. In the sports center, tips for health and posture can be placed on the exterior wall of the new building, as well as in strategically located walls inside the hall. A Wall of Yoga could have diagrams to guide the visitor in taking advantage of the floor space to do some yoga postures (called "asanas"). The mother of two of our alumni is a certified yoga instructor, who could guide the school in designing a set of basic postures that any student or staff member can learn to do in ten minutes and a longer set if desired. A set of quotations could be agreed upon by the staff to be placed on walls of classrooms. Let each blank wall in classrooms be allowed to "speak." Let the wandering eye of the student be inspired by a quotation or a set of precepts that could guide living. Kekule in the chemistry lab (describing his dream of a snake grabbing its tail, which inspired him to describe the circular nature of the benzene ring), quotes by Moliere and Voltaire to inspire A-level students of French, the list can expand. In other words, the capital campaign could improve not just the quantity of space but the quality of the spaces devoted to education. A donor could request that a favorite quote be considered. If the quote is rejected, then the donor could submit another quote for consideration. This web site (johncorlette.com) is offered as space for any donor to submit quotations... even those that the school rejects, so that your sentiments can be shared by other alumni. Perhaps a rejected quote can be reinstated by a petition of alumni. COSTS The inspirational quotes can include a "building premium." The cost of the inspirational plaque could be around $150 to make it, $25 to ship it, $50 for the artwork, $50 to install it, $25 to cover staff correspondence and filing costs, and another $300 is donated to the building fund to cover the cost of one square foot of space. $600 per quote inspirational plaque will cover $300 of building space. Schools and cities sometimes devote a space for bricks -- the brick costs $35 to etch with a message, but the brick is sold for $100, raising $65 for the project. In the same way, a inspirational plaque with a quote costs $300 but raises an additional $300. The numbers can be changed, but the concept is the same. Proposed set of 4 inspirational plaques JC quote "Our lives are what we make of them" JC quote "Evil" (see his meditation at www.johncorlette.com and a suitable quote can be selected from that meditation) RFWatts quote "Whatsoever Things Are True" Namaste quote (to be supplied) Proposed cost of inspirational plaques: $600 per inspirational plaque. Each inspirational plaque also pays for one square foot of the sports center. This "Phase One Inspirational Plaque donation" is 4 x $600 = $2400 ============================ One of the scourges of the modern school is the blank wall. It is blank in the name of multiculturalism. We don't want to offend anyone so we say nothing. A blank wall is like a group of good people who do nothing. What did Edmund Burke say? "All it takes for evil to succeed in the world is for a few good men to do nothing." Some schools and cities sell bricks and allow you to compose messages or tributes in three lines, (21 or fewer characters per line) Why not create a system of quotes and teachings that can be "bought" or "sponsored"? What teachings do we alumni and teachers want our students (and ourselves) to read to be inspired? I have taught in over 20 schools and visited more than 85 schools and the best schools have posted quotations on the walls. I have been inspired by quotations carved into the sides of buildings in Washington DC. In this time of expansion and renovation and preparation for the next millennium, can we invest in the minds of our visitors? instead of blank walls, let's populate the walls of our school with quotations and instructions and tips. Let us recognize our mentors. Let there be a wall of inspiration a wall of remembrance a wall of gratitude | Do you have a favorite quote that you would like to see on a classroom wall in our school? What quotation or extract from a meditation would you like to sponsor? (Even if there isn't enough support for every quote, this web page can hold the rejects, too. There is a place for "the fringe") Send your suggestions to: SteveCongerAlpina@gmail.com COMMENTS Good to talk to you today. I like the “quote” sponsorship idea. I am also familiar with a “brick naming” strategy that is popular and can raise money. The idea is that the donors name can be imprinted/engraved in a brick which could be an entry to the new gyms or similar venue. Not unlike the sidewalk at Graumans in Hollywood where you can do ”hands” etc. -- Noel Thompson ===================================== Suggested quotes It seems that every time mankind is given a lot of energy, we go out and wreck something with it. “We don't inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children” David Brower Manners Maketh Men -- Quoted by R.F. Watts in several meditations Namaste' I honor the place in you in which the entire universe dwells. I honor the place in you which is of love, of truth, of light and of peace. When you are in that place in you, and I am in that place in me, then we are one. Andrew Caterton1988 Courage comes from the soul within The man must furnish the will to win So figure it our for yourself, my lad, You were born with all that the great have had. With your equipment they all began Get hold of yourself and say, "I can!" Edgar Guest Awake with a winged heart and give thanks for another day of loving. Kahlil Gabran “Listen to the Exhortation of the Dawn! Look to this Day! For it is Life, the very Life of Life. In its brief course lie all the Verities and Realities of your Existence. The Bliss of Growth, The Glory of Action, The Splendor of Beauty; For Yesterday is but a Dream, And To-morrow is only a Vision; But To-day well lived makes Every Yesterday a Dream of Happiness, And every Tomorrow a Vision of Hope. Look well therefore to this Day! Such is the Salutation of the Dawn!” Kalidasa
I wonder if 200 years ahead, if we will ride or if we'll stay in bed. If faith and freedom within die and then we hear that midnight cry and the hoofbeats across the moonlit sky Will we ride with Paul Revere? Up With People ============ A note sent to George Hartogensis (aphorism king): George, I'm looking for quotes to post on walls in Aiglon. Rana Sahni seems to like this idea (pay $xxx, get a quote on a wall) and I'm sure it will have to go through committees, but I want to start collecting quotes. Here's something that I found in your writing: Gordon Dyke The one piece of instruction that he gave me which has stuck in my mind more than any other; the one thing that is really metaphor for how to succeed in just about anything; the one phrase that can be recognized by anyone who knew him is: "You've got to get the spaces in-between." G. Hartogensis Class of 1976 What do you think? I also remember a terrific quote that I have forgotten. I asked you "What is the advice that you can give to teenagers?" As a mentor, what woudl you tell a kid? You had a great line and I've forgotten it. It's something about: "Respect your elders. You might have the latest information, but your bosses have age on their side. Guile and experience often beats the fast and the young." -- G. Hartogensis or maybe it was "never underestimate what guile and experience can do to beat youth and attitude." Anyway, that quote should be on a wall somewhere... ------------------------ How about some extracts from meditations? ================= "In order that Evil shall triumph, it is sufficient that Good Men do nothing." There are many more Good Men or Men of Goodwill in the worId than Bad Men, so why is it that the Bad Men, and Women, and Ideas, so often triumph? Why? Because the Good Men do nothing. Most of the Good Men are too self-centred or too afraid, to stand up for the right against the wrong, and you hear them make excuses. "It's none of my business," they say. "There's nothing I can do. Nothing I can do would make any difference." Feeble excuses. Everything you do makes a difference. Everything you do and say and think, makes a difference to everyone around you. You cannot escape from this. Whether you want to or not, you have an influence on those around you, and that influence will be either good or bad; it cannot be neutral. And you are responsible for it. The good things you do, you are responsible for. The bad things you do, you are responsible for, and you are responsible for the good things which you fail to do and which you ought to do. In order that Evil shall triumph, it is sufficient that good men do nothing. n John Corlette
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Plaque 2
Our lives are what we make of them It is no good blaming those mysterious people 'they' at whose door we like to lay so many of our misfortunes. It is no good blaming God, who is only too ready to help us to put our lives in order and to see us enjoying them if we will let Him. As Shakespeare says in Julius Caesar, 'the fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves, that we are underlings.' What then must we do to lead full and fruitful lives about which we will not wish to complain? The first thing (and this is the first step in being really grown-up) is to understand that our lives are what we make them, and the credit for a good life is ours, just as the blame for a bad one is ours also. The second thing is to know ourselves. We are not all the same, we are all different. We have not all got it in us to be leaders, nor should we have. Most of us will be followers of one sort or another, and to be a good follower takes just as much character and courage as to be a leader. We have not all got the kind of mind that makes a scientist, the sensitivity which makes an artist, or the co-ordination and quick reactions which make a sportsman. But there is no one who has not got qualities, gifts and talents of one sort or another, and we must find out and know what our own talents are. The third thing we must do is be ourselves. It is astonishing how few people have the courage and self-confidence really to be themselves. Yet, unless they are, they can never have full, fruitful and happy lives; for a full, fruitful and happy life is a life of self-fulfillment, a life in which the qualities, gifts and talents we possess are developed and used by us to the full. So many people spend most of their time and energy trying to be somebody else, trying to keep up with the Joneses. You can never be like them. Do not try. Be yourself, and you will be a much better person than you will ever be by trying to be like someone else. Know yourself, and, with God's help, fulfill the nature of your own being; be yourself. Our lives are what we make of them. n John Corlette
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Plaque 3 Whatsoever…. It is not what is said during a Meditation that matters. It is the use you make of the time available. Meditation is a time to stabilize yourselves It is a period to adjust your direction. I want to share with you these lines, which I hope may echo and re-echo in your minds: Whatsoever things are true Whatsoever things are honest Whatsoever things are just Whatsoever things are pure Whatsoever things are lovely Whatsoever things are of good report Think on these things.
n R. F. Watts
================ Plaque 4 Carter in Corsica The housemaster expressed his disapproval at my taking Carter on a mountaineering expedition to Corsica. “He’s lazy around the house and he’s a funk at rugby. Hel’l be off drinking and smoking whenever he can. Candidly, I wouldn’t take him on an afternoon’s trip to the next village.” But I took Carter along anyway. The real surprise came when a blizzard hit us on the second day of the trip in the mountains and we were pinned down in our tents. “Sir,” we heard. “What is it, Carter?” I sneered. “Would you care for some hot soup, sir?” “We most certainly would,” I replied, with a change of voice. He opened the tent flap and pushed through two billies of soup. When dinner-time came, we found that he’d discovered a lean-to shack with an open front in the woods below our campsite. He’d stored all the food and surplus equipment in it and had arranged cooking facilities. While the rest of us were taking refuge from the blizzard, he’d built an enormous fire which dried out our wet togs immediately. Carter, in fact, had come into his own and was superb. In life you may not make your mark on the games field or in the house. Your better qualities will not always merge on the games field or in the house. Your better qualities will not always emerge in the school environment, nor will they always be observed by the weary administrator. But, be yourself at all times and rest assured that deep down you will have a character that will shine in the right environment. Leaders emerge. They cannot be made or created by man, but the situation which dictates the need for leadership will find the leader. -- Gordon Dyke
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