Editor’s Note: This week was the 50th anniversary of the fall of Vietnam. Take a moment to mention it to your kids. It was a big deal. I salute the many veterans who served and the memory of those who perished. I believe that Vietnam broke the connection between the government and the people of the United States, and we’ve struggled to get anywhere close to the FDR years of mutual growth and interest since. May we continue to study and learn from our past so we stop repeating bad behavior and develop better ones.

Meanwhile, around the world, the pushback from democracies to Trump autocracy continues. The Australians not only returned their version of democrats to power, the leader of the conservatives lost his seat. The same thing happened in Canada. This bodes well for us in the United States and those who understand the responsibility for protecting freedoms around the World.

On to the piece.

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“When you lie down with dogs, you get fleas.”
“Birds of a feather flock together.”
“Be not deceived. Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.”
“Actions speak louder than words.”
“Better safe than sorry.”
“Two wrongs don’t make a right.”
“Don’t bite the hand that feeds you.”
“Read between the lines.”
“Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.”

These aren’t just words. We hear them every day. They’re loaded with wisdom; small parables that flow beneath the surface to remind us of how to live. They have stood the test of time because they are the record of countless generations before us who learned by suffering and surviving.

We use them as shortcuts because we don’t have time to explain why. We also use them for the deeper meanings. Jesus was famous for doing this with parables and leaving many a listener either perplexed or enlightened (and sometimes misinterpreted). Other proverbs like “the pen is mightier than the sword” are clever reminders that history is full of violence but the written word is stronger. It has marked and recorded the beginning and end of civilizations. These sayings teach us to look past appearances (“all that glitters is not gold”), to value patience (“Rome wasn’t built in a day”), and to value self (“you can judge a person by the company they keep”).

Imagine a young man marching in protest for a cause he believes is just. He’s swept up in the chants, the banners, the sense of purpose. But then, as he looks around, he notices something a bit off: the people beside him are carrying flags with peculiar icons or making hand thrust salutes.

There is no proverb that says, Don’t march with Nazis. Instead, wisdom expects us to learn how to read between the lines, to judge a person by the company they keep, to understand that “when you lie down with dogs, you get fleas.” Wisdom is not the product of a script but a lifetime of learning. They prepare you for times when you only have your brain to depend on. It is to train you to make the right decision, not to tell you exact steps, not to give you specific direction, but to discern how not to be an idiot.

We might ask if wisdom is so available, why do we so often reject it? Why do entire societies, at times, throw away everything they know for the comfort of a lie?

The answer is as old as humanity itself. Lies offer comfort, certainty, and belonging, when the truth can be cold, lonely, and painful. Psychologists call this “cognitive dissonance”. When reality clashes with what we want to believe, we often double down on the comforting fiction rather than face the discomfort of change.

History is littered with examples. In pre-World War II Italy and Germany, entire nations embraced false narratives—of ethnic superiority (even within “white” communities), national destiny over neighboring lands (Canada and Greenland?), or even a sense of victimhood because it soothed wounded pride and ego instead of recognizing past mistakes. In 1950s America, Senator Joseph McCarthy’s wild accusations of Communist infiltration spread because they played to the nation’s fears about the success of Sputnik and the rise of the Soviet Union. McCarthy used that anxiety to draw attention to himself and scapegoat individuals and agencies as the problem when they weren’t (sound familiar?).

Even in the face of overwhelming evidence, people cling to false beliefs because they offer psychological safety, social validation, and the illusion of control. As the saying goes, “Ignorance is bliss”—but only until reality comes crashing in.

When we disregard the wisdom passed down to us, we become vulnerable to false prophets and charlatans. American history is rife with such examples: ministers and those in authority positions accused women of being witches when crops failed or disease ran rampant. Homegrown cults have caused family members to disown loved ones and even commit crimes. Conspiracy theories have multiplied in the digital age. Social media and for-profit news outlets like Fox work to reinforce our biases and blind spots and not ask questions.

The story is always the same: a seductive narrative offers momentary comfort, belonging, or superiority. The old wisdom—“if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is”—is cast aside. The results are predictable: division, disillusionment, and, too often, disaster.

But sometimes, wisdom reasserts itself in a single, searing moment. In 1954, during one of the many McCarthy hearings, Senator Joseph McCarthy’s reign of fear and accusation was finally brought to a halt by a simple question. As McCarthy smeared a young lawyer by association, it was an Army counselor named Joseph Welch who interrupted him. Watch it here:

Don’t let it be lost on viewers that the Roy Cohn in the documentary, the attorney who aided the dark tactics of Joseph McCarthy, is the very same Roy Cohn who was the well-known mentor of Donald Trump.

The spell of aggression and pomposity was broken. Overnight, McCarthy’s popularity collapsed, and the Senate, once cowed into silence for self-preservation, censured him. The nation, shamed into its senses, remembered what it had always known: that truth matters, that character counts, that wisdom endures when lies fall away.

Words matter. More than that, the wisdom of words matter.

Proverbs and idioms are the living memory of our species. They remind us to look past an appearance of monetary wealth as a sign of greatness, to be wary of easy answers to hard questions, to judge the actions of an individual, and not just what they say. They urge us to “read between the lines.”

When we ignore this wisdom—when we trade uncomfortable truths for comforting lies—we do so at our peril. History, again and again, shows us the cost: lost innocence, shattered trust, and a slow, painful return to reality.

When your moments come in life to speak truth to power, to turn the page, to regain a sense of decency, our ancestors will celebrate. You will have rediscovered the wisdom that has always been ours, waiting to be heeded, waiting to save us from the comfort of lies.

And if you ignore it?

You already know the saying.

Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.

There is something synchronistic about life. I can’t prove it. It’s only a perception. Like this story. I watched this little two-minute clip months ago and kept it for a future post, which I decided to run this week. Out of nowhere, my youngest son mentioned to me a LEGO artist set he was interested in purchasing. He has a Van Gogh and a Hiroshige. I asked him what it was. He said, this one was by an artist named Haring.

I was floored, since we’ve never had a conversation about Haring before.

Keith Haring is one of those artists who died too young. His work, however, has lived on and is quite recognizable. It is innocent and joyful and sparks a sense of peace. It is simply fun to view them.

And now you can get his work as a LEGO set.

This is a video from one of the many protests that are happening daily around the country. It’s a reminder that millions understand what is happening and the greater threat of being idle and doing nothing. In a healthy democracy, everyone has a role, whether to vote, advocate, protest, or cause good trouble. There’s a sense of discomfort being felt by many, and that discomfort needs to be shared. No matter your age or ability, there is always something to do. This American proves it.

Think getting any child educated should be a political issue? Shame on my state of ancestry.

This is the read of the week. It encompasses so much about the need to protect basic freedoms and how quickly things occur when you don’t stand on principles of freedom. The writer has become a well-known advocate for reading and the practice and study of Stoicism. His regular engagement at the Naval Academy became problematic when the current administration wanted no mention of the books that were removed from their libraries. The author does a good job of presenting, without directly saying it, how dumb a decision this is. It reminds me of an old saying, “Know Thy Enemy,” and you do that through study, not simply by listening to what someone tells you. It also reminds me that education is not to be compartmentalized, but to broaden young minds to handle and adapt to changes.

This is one of those stories where I learned something. I was unaware that McDonald’s used to give out certain items when milestones were reached. This appears to be a McDonald’s ring that was awarded after a year of service. If internet sleuths are correct, this went out decades ago. The comments are interesting to read because there was some genuine pride of work at one time, something that has been in decline across the United States for some time.

There is always a mixed opinion on why that is, but two reasons are hard to ignore. One reason is that wages have remained stagnant since this ring was part of a company program, and employers increasingly expect employees not to stick around. Where there’s no investment in humans, there’s detachment from normal social constructs. You can see it almost everywhere you go nowadays. Money has shifted to marketing and liability defense over employee satisfaction. The rise of agentic abilities in AI is going to make this a more severe problem. When we can’t find good jobs and good human relationships in the workplace, strife isn’t far behind.

The best leaders are the ones who see in multiples. It’s not just a building, a road, a field. It’s a dwelling, an energy producer, a land of milk and honey. Single-purpose thinking is prehistoric. It’s why we have so much waste where there is no reason for it. Our whole concept of getting rid of garbage is out of sight, out of mind. We pay someone to remove it from our thoughts, but when we throw things away, there is no “away”. It’s just somewhere else for someone else to deal with. If we can get to more of the thinking like this article, it will be more conservative in our approach with all our resources and make and save money. Each generation is responsible for solving its own problems, rather than passing them on.

Getting kids “grounded in good.” Wonderful short piece. Elementary school is the best place to let kids explore, to expose them to human stories, and build up that vessel of empathy. And research shows that one stable adult can be the key difference for kids going through a lot of pain. A reminder to thank and support your teachers for the whole-person construction they are doing.

And Now….

Across the nation, semesters are coming to a close. Lots of hopes and dreams. Our responsibility is always to do better, be better, and pass things on the best we can.

Get your summer reading prepared, continue to practice your gratefulness, and remember: Be a good human.