On My Mind

Today's Inspirational Quote:

"As I grow older,  I pay less attention to what men say. I just watch what they do."

-- Andrew Carnegie

I could have left this blog post with only these words of Andrew Carnegie but something I just read about E.B. White and dogs in The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) Saturday edition has compelled me expand upon this entry.

First of all, the (WSJ) Saturday edition has come a long way in a short time. It has sections of general interest that rival my long time favorite, The New York Times Sunday edition. I don't want to start a polemic debate here, only offer up the news that this isn't my father's WSJ.

My Dad's WSJ, which I began reading in High School while taking a brand new course on the Stock Market, was filled with pages of stock prices. Today, nobody would think to look at the WSJ for the prices of any stocks they own as that is what the Internet is all about.

The old WSJ my Dad read in the morning on the train to New York and his corner office at 40 Wall Street. He would bring it home each night and my class would discuss it the next day. We were just newbies so the timeliness of the stock quotes were of little interest.

Today's WSJ had an article about E.B White and his affection for dogs. You know his work but maybe not his name. Here is the Wikipadia on him:

Elwyn Brooks White (July 11, 1899 – October 1, 1985),[1] usually known as E. B. White, was an American writer. He was a contributor to The New Yorker magazine and a co-author of the English language style guide, The Elements of Style, which is commonly known as "Strunk & White." He also wrote books for children, including Charlotte's Web, Stuart Little and The Trumpet of the Swan.

E.B. White owned dogs all his life. He wrote:

"A really companionable and indispensable dog is an accident of nature. You can't get it by breeding for it, and you can't buy it with money. It just happens along."

This is the truth as I have seen it play out all my life.