Those people who think they know everything are a great annoyance to those of us who do. 

- Isaac Asimov

There’s a fine line between confidence and conceit and indecision and exploration. Knowing your boundaries is paramount to leading effectively. 

"There is no dignity quite so impressive, and no independence quite so important, as living within your means." -Calvin Coolidge

There Is Too Much At Stake

Society does not always value what you do. At times you may feel lonely or even strange, because you are going against the grain of a laid-back, permissive society. We cannot let the world’s values dictate your own, there is too much at stake for that.

Expectations.

I've found that whatever you expect, with confidence, becomes your own self-fulfilling prophecy. 

When you confidently expect good things to happen, good things usually happen to you. If you expect something negative to happen, you are usually not disappointed. 

Your expectations have an inordinate effect on the people around you as well. What you expect from people and situations determines your attitude toward them more than any other factor, and people reflect your attitude right back at you, like a mirror, whether positive or negative.

Active Citzizenship

The survival of a free society depends upon its citizens. Experience suggests that we make much more progress when we put aside the idea that people who don’t agree with us are ignorant of the facts, stupid, or evil and focus instead on what we have in common. Active citizens must strive to synthesize and reconcile conflicting views, values, and priorities. This is not easy to do.

One of the best examples of this type of deliberative process is the convention that produced the U.S. Constitution. The delegates came with strong and conflicting personal and regional interests. What they shared was a commitment to some very basic principles of freedom and governance. It took months of collaboration and, at times, contentious discussion, but the result has blessed the lives of millions.

When Abraham Lincoln dedicated the cemetery at Gettysburg, he spoke of “the great task remaining before us”—that of preserving a free and democratic government. This task is not finished, and it never will be. It will always require active citizens to maintain a “government of the people, by the people, for the people.”