Late Fragment by Raymond Carver

Late Fragment

by Raymond Carver

And did you get what
you wanted from this life, even so?

I did.

And what did you want?

To call myself beloved, to feel myself
beloved on the earth.

'How might you have changed that situation?'

 2-time CEO always asks this question in interviews: It shows if candidates ‘just want to complain’

Story by Gili Malinsky, 2/27/2025

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/careersandeducation/2-time-ceo-always-asks-this-question-in-interviews-it-shows-if-candidates-just-want-to-complain/ar-AA1zVcDW

quotes:

Serial entrepreneur David Royce has been building companies for years. . . .

In his decades building businesses, Royce has identified some immediate red flags when interviewing job candidates. One is negative talk about former employers. 

"It's totally okay to have both positive and negative things" to say about them, he says. But if a candidate focuses mostly on the negative, "then the problem is likely" that person.

As such, Royce has a question he likes to ask people he's interviewing to suss out their disposition.

'How might you have changed that situation?' . . .

"Tell me about your previous employer," he says. "What are some things that they could do to improve?" . . .

For any pitfalls they mention, he asks, "how might you have changed that situation?" . . .

"Are they constructive in the way they critique," giving examples of how they would've or could've solved the problem, or do they "just want to complain about it?" . . . [and] drag down the morale of the whole team.

"The No. 1 thing that makes A players want to leave is B players and certainly C players," he says. People who aren't focused on producing and creating a positive environment can "spoil your culture and then potentially force out the best talent."

When choosing who to hire, "I want to make sure somebody is generally positive and looking for opportunities to or ways to improve," he says.

"Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase."

"Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase."

~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

"'Aslan,' said Lucy, 'you're bigger.'"

quote: 

"'Aslan,' said Lucy, 'you're bigger.'

'That is because you are older, little one,' answered he.

'Not because you are?'

'I am not. But every year you grow, you will find me bigger.'"

~ C.S. Lewis, Prince Caspian, 1951.

“We may have as much of God as we will."

“We may have as much of God as we will. Christ puts the key of the treasure-chamber into our hand, and bids us take all that we want. If a man is admitted into the bullion vault of a bank and told to help himself, and comes out with one cent, whose fault is it that he is poor?”

Alexander MacLaren,
the great Scottish Bible expositor

"Their prison is only in their minds, yet they are in that prison; and . . . cannot be taken out.”"

“They have chosen cunning instead of belief. Their prison is only in their minds, yet they are in that prison; and so afraid of being taken in that they cannot be taken out.”

~ C.S. Lewis, The Last Battle

https://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/1059917-the-last-battle

"all find what they truly seek”

 quotes:

“Then I fell at his feet and thought, Surely this is the hour of death, for the Lion (who is worthy of all honour) will know that I have served Tash all my days and not him. Nevertheless, it is better to see the Lion and die than to be Tisroc of the world and live and not to have seen him. 

But the Glorious One bent down his golden head and touched my forehead with his tongue and said, Son, thou art welcome. 

But I said, Alas Lord, I am no son of thine but the servant of Tash. 

He answered, Child, all the service thou hast done to Tash, I account as service done to me. 

Then by reasons of my great desire for wisdom and understanding, I overcame my fear and questioned the Glorious One and said, Lord, is it then true, as the Ape said, that thou and Tash are one? 

The Lion growled so that the earth shook (but his wrath was not against me) and said, It is false. Not because he and I are one, but because we are opposites, I take to me the services which thou hast done to him. For I and he are of such different kinds that no service which is vile can be done to me, and none which is not vile can be done to him. Therefore if any man swear by Tash and keep his oath for the oath’s sake, it is by me that he has truly sworn, though he know it not, and it is I who reward him. And if any man do a cruelty in my name, then, though he says the name Aslan, it is Tash whom he serves and by Tash his deed is accepted. Dost thou understand, Child? 

I said, Lord, though knowest how much I understand. But I said also (for the truth constrained me), Yet I have been seeking Tash all my days. 

Beloved, said the Glorious One, unless thy desire had been for me thou wouldst not have sought so long and so truly. For all find what they truly seek.”

~ C.S. Lewis, The Last Battle

https://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/1059917-the-last-battle

“Emeth came walking forward into the open strip of grass between the bonfire and the Stable. His eyes were shining, his face was solemn, his hand was on his sword-hilt, and he carried his head high. Jill felt like crying when she looked at his face. 

And Jewel whispered in the King's ear, "By the Lion's Mane, I almost love this young warrior, Calormene though he be. He is worthy of a better god than Tash.”

~ C.S. Lewis, The Last Battle

https://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/1059917-the-last-battle

“Those who are hurt … will eventually strike back.”

“Those who are hurt …

will eventually strike back.”

~ W.H. Auden

“You want me to commit some great folly.”

“You want me to commit some great folly.”

~ Isabel Archer, protagonist in the novel The Portrait of a Lady (1881) by Henry James,
played by Nicole Kidman in John Malkovich's movie (1996)

The Portrait of a Lady (1881) by Henry James:
https://www.gutenberg.org/files/2834/2834-h/2834-h.htm 

Osmond turned slightly pale; he gave a cold smile. “That’s why you must go then? Not to see your cousin, but to take a revenge on me.”

“I know nothing about revenge.”

“I do,” said Osmond. “Don’t give me an occasion.”

“You’re only too eager to take one. You wish immensely that I would commit some folly.”

“I should be gratified in that case if you disobeyed me.”

"Joy is the most infallible sign of the Presence of God." Teilhard de Chardin

"Joy is the most infallible sign of the Presence of God."

~ Teilhard de Chardin
French Jesuit, Catholic priest, scientist, paleontologist, theologian, philosopher, and teacher.

“Music is the ultimate in safe sex."

“Music is the ultimate in safe sex.
You get all of the passion
and none of the guilt.”

Susan Werner in concert, 1-22-99

Forgiveness - President Bill Clinton

President Bill Clinton, after the acquittal verdict:

“I want to say again … how profoundly sorry I am for what I said and did to trigger these events and the great burden they have imposed on the Congress and the American people …”

Reporter’s question:
“In your heart, sir, can you forgive and forget?”

Clinton:
“I believe any person who asks for forgiveness has to be prepared to give it.”

Philadelphia Inquirer, February 13, 1999

Making Peace with your Enemies

Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, thinking of the difficulty of shaking Palestinian leader Yasir Arafat’s hand to seal their peace accord on Sept. 19, 1993:

“You do not make peace with your friends, but friendship can come with time and trust and humility, when we do not pretend that our willfulness is an expressions of God’s will.”

Philadelphia Inquirer, February 5, 1999

Walking Away from Genuine Grievances

“Remember that all the great peacemakers in the world,
in the end, have to let go and walk away, 
like Christ, not from apparent, 
but from genuine, grievances.”

President Bill Clinton, at the National Prayer Breakfast
Philadelphia Inquirer, February 5, 1999

Approaching Alzheimer’s Persons

Approaching Alzheimer’s Persons

•  Use a calming tone of voice.

•  Try to maintain eye contact.

•  Identify yourself.

•  Ask “yes” or “no” questions.

•  Speak slowly, and not too loudly.

•  Allow plenty of time for a response.

•  Stay calm.

•  Be supportive and reassuring.

Alzheimer’s Association, April 12, 1995

"the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being"

"If only there were evil people somewhere insidiously committing evil deeds, and it were necessary only to separate them from the rest of us and destroy them.  But the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being.  And who is willing to cut out a piece of his own heart?"

~ Alexander Solzhenitsyn

Leadership Magazine, 1983

The Secrets of Consulting

"It may look like a crisis, but it's only the end of an illusion."

Prescott's Pickle Principle:
"Cucumbers get more pickled than brine gets cucumbered.
(A small system that tries to change a big system through long and continued contact is more likely to be changed itself.)"

The Secrets of Consulting: A Guide to Giving and Getting Advice, by Gerald Weinberg, 1986

"Love is best when it’s aged to perfection."

 "Love is best when it’s aged to perfection."

~ Author Unknown

Letting Things Speak About Themselves

Letting Things Speak About Themselves

Human knowledge about Jesus results from God’s revelation, not from conclusions drawn by seminars of self-appointed experts.

Speaking of Peter’s confession “You are the Christ,” Gillespie declared, “It is God who knows who Jesus is.  And in that knowledge God identifies who Jesus is. ... Peter is one of the ways through whom this knowledge is revealed.”

In contemporary society this approach makes some people very nervous.  In response to these concerns he cited Thomas Torrance, who points out that this is how all knowledge is attained — letting things speak about themselves to us.  In science it is called “discovery.”  In theology we call this mode of knowing “revelation.”

Peter did not tell Jesus who he was, he acknowledged who Jesus is, through the knowledge revealed by God.”

Thomas Gillespie, President, Princeton Seminary
“We Believe In One Lord Jesus Christ” theological convocation
Pittsburgh, April 19-22, 1995

King Arthur's Prayer

King Arthur's Prayer

Give us the wisdom to know what is right,
The will to choose it,
And the strength to make it endure.

First Knight
1995

Bigot: “A person of strong conviction who is intolerant of those who differ.”

Bigot: “A person of strong conviction who is intolerant of those who differ.”

American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language

The Criminal Mentality

“It’s not just winning the game that counts,
but making sure everyone else loses.”

quote on being arrested from
John “Corrupt” Lee
Master of Destruction gang
Bedford-Stuyvesant, NY

SCIENCE OF CHARACTER BUILDING - from Grandmother P.M.

SCIENCE OF CHARACTER BUILDING

POSITIVE               NEGATIVE

Politeness               Incivility

Ambition                  Apathy

Cheerfulness           Despondency

Diligence                 Slothfulness

Endurance              Weakness

Hope                       Despair

Industriousness       Idleness

Optimism                 Pessimism

Purpose                  Indecision

Self-Confidence      Dependency

Success                  Failure

Vigor                       Feebleness

Influence of C.S. Lewis’ Parents

Surprised by Joy The Shape of My Early Life, by C.S. Lewis, page 3

Influence of Lewis’ Parents

Lewis begins his journey of faith describing his parents:

“I was born in the winter of 1898 at Belfast, the son of solicitor and of a clergyman’s daughter… The two families from which I spring were as different in temperament as in origin. My father’s people were true Welshmen, sentimental, passionate, and rhetorical, easily moved both to anger and to tenderness; men who laughed and cried a great deal and who had not much of the talent for happiness. The Hamiltons were a cooler race. Their minds were critical and ironic and they had a talent for happiness in a high degree—went straight for it as experienced travelers go for the best seat in a train. From my earliest years I was aware of the vivid contrast between my mother's cheerful and tranquil affection and the ups and downs of my father's emotional life, and this bred in me long before I was old enough to give it a name a certain distrust or dislike of emotion as something uncomfortable and embarrassing and even dangerous." 

"to touch the human soul, to fully reveal the author's intention"

"No competition cancels the tasks of the day that the performer sets for himself at every performance - to touch the human soul, to fully reveal the author's intention."

~ Alexander Malofeev (2016)
Russian pianist

https://youtu.be/F3oN2IQAMo8?si=yE7Fbw3U1VkhIuyF

those to whom God says, 'All right, then, have it your way.' C.S. Lewis

There are two kinds of people:
those who say to God, 'Thy will be done,'
and those to whom God says,
'All right, then, have it your way.'

~ C. S. Lewis

Trinity Cross

Trinity Cross

Words of Encouragement in Challenging and Fearful Times

Words of Encouragement in Challenging and Fearful Times

Joshua 1:1-9 ^NRSV

After the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, the Lord spoke to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’ assistant, saying, ²"My servant Moses is dead. Now proceed to cross the Jordan, you and all this people, into the land that I am giving to them, to the Israelites. ³Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given to you, as I promised to Moses. ⁴From the wilderness and the Lebanon as far as the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, to the Great Sea in the west shall be your territory. 

⁵No one shall be able to stand against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will not fail you or forsake you. ⁶Be strong and courageous; for you shall put this people in possession of the land that I swore to their ancestors to give them. 

⁷Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to act in accordance with all the law that my servant Moses commanded you; do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, so that you may be successful wherever you go. ⁸This book of the law shall not depart out of your mouth; you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to act in accordance with all that is written in it. For then you shall make your way prosperous, and then you shall be successful. 

⁹I hereby command you: Be strong and courageous; do not be frightened or dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go."

 

From "Lord of the Rings", inspired by author J.R. Tolkein's experiences facing battles in the British army during World War I:

 J. R. Tolkein

Lord of the Rings, The Two Towers, movie version of Samwise Gamgee's speech

FRODO: I can’t do this, Sam.

SAM: I know. It’s all wrong. By rights we shouldn’t even be here. But we are. 
It’s like in the great stories, Mr. Frodo. The ones that really mattered. Full of darkness and danger they were. 
And sometimes you didn’t want to know the end. Because how could the end be happy. How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad had happened. 
But in the end, it’s only a passing thing, this shadow. Even darkness must pass. 
A new day will come. And when the sun shines it will shine out the clearer. 
Those were the stories that stayed with you. That meant something. Even if you were too small to understand why. 
But I think, Mr. Frodo, I do understand. I know now. Folk in those stories had lots of chances of turning back, only they didn’t. Because they were holding on to something.

FRODO: What are we holding on to, Sam?

SAM: That there’s some good in this world, Mr. Frodo. And it’s worth fighting for.

https://thetolkien.forum/wiki/Sams-Speech 

 

Lord of the Rings, The Two Towers film: Aragorn's Speech before the battle defending Helm's Deep

Theoden:  So much death. What can men do against such reckless hate?

Aragorn:  Ride out with me. Ride out and meet them.

Theoden:  For death and glory.

Aragorn:  For Rohan. For your people.

https://www.quotes.net/mquote/56716

 

Lord of the Rings, Return of the King Film: Aragorn's Speech before the battle at the Black Gate

Aragorn: Sons of Gondor! Of Rohan! My brothers. 
I see in your eyes the same fear that would take the heart of me. 
A day may come when the courage of Men fails, when we forsake our friends and break all bonds of fellowship, but it is not this day. 
An hour of wolves and shattered shields when the Age of Men comes crashing down, but it is not this day! 
This day we fight!
By all that you hold dear on this good earth, I bid you stand, Men of the West!

https://shalafitnhs.tripod.com/returnoftheking.htm

 

Eleanor Roosevelt

"You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You must do the thing you think you cannot do."

~ Eleanor Roosevelt

Eleanor Roosevelt (October 11, 1884—November 7, 1962) was an American first lady (1933–45), the wife of Franklin D. Roosevelt, 32nd president of the United States, and a United Nations diplomat and humanitarian. She was, in her time, one of the world’s most widely admired and powerful women.
She lived during World War II.
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Eleanor-Roosevelt

 

Jane Austen

“My courage always rises with every attempt to intimidate me.”
― Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice, Elizabeth Bennet

 

Joseph to his brothers, after they sold him into slavery and then found themselves under his power in Egypt:

Genesis 50:20-21 ^ESV

"As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good,
to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.
So do not fear; I will provide for you and your little ones.” 
Thus he comforted them and spoke kindly to them.