Straightforward Thoughts - Antonio Hallage

The lessons of the Titanic and of the Chinese bamboo Everybody knows the story of the Titanic, the transatlantic ship that was built with an excessive pride under the aura that it would never sink. It took three years to be built and a few minutes to be destroyed.

The first lesson we take from this incident is: It is easy to create but it it is easier to destroy, the difficulty is to maintain. This lesson is directly related to the reputation of Rotary and its Foundation in the community. To maintain it requires a lot of dedication and hard work and it is based on accomplishments.

The second lesson is related to the sometimes exaggerated pride with success, because without clarity of mind and without humbleness to admire it, success precedes the fall. To reach success in any humanitarian project, four actions are needed and are directly under our control: 1. Put on it the maximum of ourselves to build a strong foundation 2. Use the best instruments and resources, 3. Chose the best place for it to be applied and reach the best results and 4. The persistence and the quantity of effort These four factors are interrelated in the example of the necessary process to obtain the famous Chinese bamboo, from which a flute with refined sound is built. The seeds of the bamboo are sowed, 61