Quotations

• A little learning is a dangerous thing; drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring: there shallow draughts intoxicate the brain, and drinking largely sobers us again. Alexander Pope (1688 - 1744) in An Essay on Criticism [The Pierian Spring, in Greek Mythology, fives knowledge and inspiration]
• For everyone there is a first time. Kaldhen Sherpa, Sherpa Trekking Service, Kathmandu, Nepal www.sts.com.np
• If you want to learn how to ski, watch the bad skiers then don’t do what they do. You will never see what makes a good skier good. Rod Terasaki, MD, Bellevue, WA
• Never use malice if ignorance will explain the member’s behavior. Joe Martin, Batt. Chief, LAFD, (ret.) quoting a chief fire officer
• Synergy, from syn which means together and erg which means work. We do more when we work together.  William J. “Bill” Corr, Capt. II, LAFD (1915-2005) on taking command of a new firehouse
• Don’t run. You will never help anybody with a broken ankle. William J. “Bill” Corr, Capt. II, LAFD (1915-2005) to a rookie rescue ambulance driver running to his rig.
• If you feel your eyes glaze over or your body moving faster than you can think, then stop and breathe.  William J. “Bill” Corr, Capt. II, LAFD (1915-2005)
• We don’t fight fires. What the fire department does is solve problems the public cannot or will not solve themselves. William J. “Bill” Corr, Capt. II, LAFD (1915-2005)
• What you do every day is what you do in an emergency. Joe Martin, Battalion Chief, Los Angeles City Fire Department, Retired
• There are a thousand things happening on scene; you can only see a hundred and act on ten. I will see a different hundred and act on a different ten. It doesn’t mean I am right or that you are wrong. It only means we are different. LAFD Fire Captain, FS 11
• In the presence of a void move forward. James "Jim" Denney, Captain, Los Angeles Fire Department (Retired) and OSS Group (1947- 2006)
• After all, an earthquake is just a big victim generator.  James "Jim" Denney, Captain, Los Angeles Fire Department (Retired) and OSS Group (1947- 2006)
• It's in their inherent nature that people are drawn to a problem and, while around the problem, they begin to solve it. Gary Provansal, Division Chief, San Bernardino County Fire Department
• HRO is just problem solving. Racquel Calderon, BS, RRCP [with Karlene Roberts addendum, “The organization must let you problem solve.]
• Sometimes the most effective use of overwhelming force is the conspicuous decision not to use it. Tony Hare, PhD, Oakland PD (ret)
• Are policies a concrete wall that keeps reality out or a picket fence that lets reality through? Joe Martin, Battalion Chief, Los Angeles City Fire Department, Retired
• They push you until you pop your cork [become angry]. That way they know how much it takes to make you angry and what you look like when you get angry. After that, they leave you alone at a fire but watch for the signs. When they see them they step in to help you. Jerry Goens, Rescue Ambulance Attendant, LAFD
• Your success is my success and your failure is my failure. Dywane Thomas, RCP, and Chief Warrant Officer, US Marine Corps, retired
• When a fire captain picks up a firehose he is no longer a fire captain, he is a firefighter. Randy Ammons, Capt., Rialto (CA) Fire Department
• Do you want to feel right or be right? Daved van Stralen, MD, Loma Linda University School of Medicine
• How do you identify when you are wrong? Daved van Stralen, MD, Loma Linda University School of Medicine
  

Sayings

• Just because I’m wrong doesn’t make you right. Firehouse saying, LAFD
• If you can’t trust me then you cannot be trusted.  Firehouse saying, LAFD
• Communication is a behavior. If I don’t want you to know something you will never know it. If I don’t want to listen to you I will never hear you. US Forest Service Wildland Firefighter
• There are no secrets in the Forest Service, only time delay. John Caffin, Another US Forest Service Wildland Firefighter
• What’s the use in being very precise if you are way off of the target? David Christenson, MA, Wildland Fire Lessons Learned Center (On the difference between precision & accuracy in communications)
• Ready, Fire, Aim
  

Sayings that block thinking

• Let’s not reinvent the wheel.
• Association does not mean causation.
• Assume makes an ass out of you and me. (A paramedic student uses the word “assumption” as it makes an ass out of you and umption.)
• What were you thinking?
• A little knowledge is a dangerous thing.
• Before we trust you we have to get to know you.