"I have offended God and man that my work did not rise to the level it should have."  -Leondardo Da Vinci's dying lament

What do Leonardo Da Vinci, Rush Limbaugh, and Medal of Honor recipient Dakota Meyer have in common?  Two things:  Unsurpassed success.  And the haunting feeling of being a failure.

That's not to say they're totally wrong.  Da Vinci didn't finish lots of paintings, including what was perhaps his finest Battle of Anghiari.

Rush didn't convince tens of millions of people to reject socialism and hyper-regulation.

Dakota Meyer didn't save the four men he promised to.

But I hope, particularly this time of year, that all of us who have failed are able to ask, "But was I good?"  And if the answer is yes, we should take a respite from guilt.  

Merry Christmas.

"The beauty of doing nothing is that you can do it perfectly. Only when you do something is it almost impossible to do it without mistakes. Therefore people who are contributing nothing to society except their constant criticisms can feel both intellectually and morally superior."  -Thomas Sowell

I didn't mention this on the show, but I once wrote an email to Walter Williams to let him know how moved I was by an interview I had watched.  And he responded very graciously to a high school me, all those years ago.

"If a private person took money from one person and gave it to another, we'd deem it theft and, as such, immoral. Does the same act become moral when Congress takes people's money to give to farmers, airline companies or an impoverished family?"

"The suggestion that Congress ought to take part of [Michael] Jordan's earnings and give it to someone else is the same as arrogantly saying, "I know better who ought to receive those dollars."

"It was practices like [the affirmative action practices] of the University of Michigan, but against blacks, that were the focal point of much of the civil rights movement."

"I say America's nearly 50 million smokers should not timidly comply with one attack after another. I doubt there's jail space to house all of us."

“When you read in the newspaper that the government has taken Walter Williams' guns, then you will know that Walter Williams is dead.”

-Walter Williams

“I was totally ignorant, so I said, ‘Why not give it a try?’” -Malcolm McLean

There are two traits present in virtually every world-altering innovative genius:  Confidence and obsession.  The man who saw to it that goods were shipped internationally primarily by container -- he might have been as confident as any innovator ever was.

"His idea for modernizing the loading and unloading of ships, which was previously conducted in much the same way the ancient Phoenicians did 3,000 years ago, has resulted in much safer and less-expensive transport of goods, faster delivery, and better service."  -Norman Mineta

The bulk of the information I used in this show comes from "They Made America" by Harold Evans.  You can find it here:  https://www.amazon.com/They-Made-America-Centuries-Innovators/dp/0316277665/ref=sr_1_1?crid=UHD9LLOV27FS&dchild=1&keywords=they+made+america+by+harold+evans&qid=1607073286&s=books&sprefix=they+made+america+%2Cstripbooks%2C148&sr=1-1