Founding Fathers of USA (WIP) - Added on 10/9/2015

QUOTES

1. "Truth will ultimately prevail where there is pains to bring it to light." - George Washington

2. “It is better to be alone than in bad company” - George Washington

3. “Perseverance and spirit have done wonders in all ages” - George Washington

4. “The government of the United States is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion.” - George Washington

5. "I was bold in the pursuit of the knowledge, never fearing to follow truth and reason to whatever results they led" - Thomas Jefferson

6a. "Believing equal service ought to attract equal pay, the fact that local soldiers were paid less than those from the colonial power, caused the question ‘why the pay was Less than British’ to occupy Washington’s mind incessantly at this time. In fact, he stated that he preferred to render his own services ‘voluntary rather than on the present pay."

6b. "What seems to have been particularly appealing to the Founders was not the force of arms that contributed to the stability and welfare of the Roman Republic, but rather the benevolent character of its citizens. The shunning of excessive wealth, and the embracing of frugality, industry, generosity, and impartiality – these were the attributes of a yeoman citizen that kept the fabric of the nation together. Therefore, for those casting their eyes back for inspiration on matters of good governance, it was not the threat from outside, but rather the vices within that precipitated the fall of the ancient republics."

QUOTE 6

Extracted from the article titled, "George Washington & Classical Virtues" - http://arts.monash.edu.au/publications/eras/edition-12/articles/sykora.pdf
(Interesting and relevant article for everyone to read) - Unlike then when colonization was the reason for such pay differences, I am not sure why we are still hearing and seeing those issues in many countries even in the 21st century. 

- More such Quotes will be added over time

FOUNDING FATHER: GEORGE WASHINGTON

Instead of sharing my thoughts on George Washington, I would highly recommend to read the article cited part of "QUOTE 6" above. That article captures the essence of who George Washington was. I will also share some interesting videos soon.

FOUNDING FATHER: BENJAMIN FRANKLIN


Benjamin Franklin’s life story involved various interesting twists and turns, but if we were to capture key aspects of his life, his life showcased his self-belief, vision, intellectual curiosity, and continuous/quick learning.

If you were to watch the below YouTube videos, those videos show how one of the founding fathers of United States of America was constantly seeking to improve and invent processes and products, self-taught swimming by reading an instructional book, utilized his active and curious mind to understand electricity, and in turn figured out a way to ground lightning to protect people from electrocution. For some of his other inventions, check out the below references.

Note: Please remember that Founding Father, Benjamin Franklin's, family environment limited him from furthering his education otherwise, most probably, he would have gone further with his education.

The one common theme that comes out of various references in the literature is his curious, persistent, progressive thinking mind, and his indomitable will to implement his ideas into realistic solutions rather than paying or getting $100 for coming up with ideas. His story also shows the need for individuals with curious and thinking minds to take calculated risks to explore, and expand knowledge on top of investing time and efforts to further their ideas rather than getting $100 gift certificates from other sources.

On a side note, I read an interesting article about how one presidential candidate while in the role of an executive gave employees $100 for coming up with interesting ideas part of employee-based idea storming work environment, irrespective of how far-fetching those ideas were, and this reward system was appreciated in the same article by a fellow ex-employee. First of, this executive's thought process of engaging and recognizing employees is certainly one way to motivate employees. But, if the person were to be Benjamin Franklin, he would have explored those ideas on his own, and might have tried to create a new company. This thought aligns with what one of the experts in the below YouTube video had mentioned about Benjamin Franklin.