Topic : Effort

The story is told of the big lumberjack who bought a brand new chainsaw and was told it could cut down at least 100 trees a day. But on the first day he only managed to cut down 25 trees. The next day he tried harder and finally cut down 33 trees. The third day he started early, worked late, and even cut his lunch break short, but he still managed to cut down only 48 trees.

He went back to the store and confronted the manager with his complaint. He told him of his efforts and of the results. The manager couldn’t quite understand what had gone wrong, so he asked to take a look. He grabbed the starter rope and pulled hard, and the motor started with a roar.

The lumberjack jumped back in alarm and yelled, “Hey, what’s that big noise?”

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• About the only thing that comes to us without effort is old age. - Gloria Pitzer

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In 1986, a group of researchers published a study of Japanese mothers and mothers in Minneapolis. The mothers were asked to rank the most important things that a child needs to succeed academically. The answers tell a lot about the difference in our two cultures today.

The mothers in Minneapolis chose “ability.”
The mothers in Japan said “effort.”

Richard H. Finan, State Senator from Ohio

The female steamer duck can fly, but only about 1/4 of the males are able, and only before they eat! The rest are too heavy to get airborne. They use their wings as paddles and beat furiously across the surface of the water, never quite able to break into flight.

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