Inspiration, Enthusiasm and Instruction

You cannot instruct a person to have enthusiasm any more than you can instruct them to give birth to a redheaded child.

The person must first be inspired.

Inspiration is what you give them.
Enthusiasm is what they give you.

People inhale inspiration and exhale enthusiasm.
They cannot give you enthusiasm until you give them inspiration.
Neither is a product of instruction.

There is a time to instruct and a time to inspire.
We often think we’re doing one when we’re doing the other.

Is your enthusiasm contagious or is it contained?
Are you inspiring those around you?

Never is this more important than when you’re working with artists.

Last week my sons decided to invest in a logo for the hardware and training division of their online video business.

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Japanese is particularly susceptible to discrepancy because it is at once so dense and complex and yet so full of subtlety. It has been suggested, in fact, that it was probably not possible to give accurate simultaneous Japanese – English translations because of the yawning disparity between how the two languages function. To take just one instance, in Japanese it is considered impolite to end a sentence with an unexpected flourish; in English it is a sign of oratorical dexterity of the first order. English speakers, particularly in the context of business or political negotiations, favor bluntness. The Japanese, by contrast, have a cultural aversion to directness and are often reluctant to give a simple yes or no answer. When a Japanese says “Kangae sasete kudasai” (“Let me think about it”) or “Zensho shimasu” (“I will do my best”) he actually means “no.” This has led many business people, and on at least one occasion the president of the United States, to go away thinking they had an agreement or understanding that did not actually exist.

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- Bill Bryson, "The Mother Tongue: English and How it Got That Way" p. 188-189

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