Every Day Quotes Week 51
Title: Every Day Quotes
Rating: K
Dec 23
Many receive advice, few profit by it.
Publilius Syrus (~100 BC), Maxims
Timothy McGee did not usually speculate on the stock market. It was far too risky for him, despite his mathematical genius. While some people argued it was a skill, he knew success was more down to dumb luck.
But Abby had persuaded him to give it a try. In partnership with her. One of them was nearly always by a computer and they could keep track of their money at all times. He had only agreed because it was Abby and together they were almost unstoppable, and because she had agreed to start with a very small amount of money in a trial phase.
In one sense, it was easier than he had expected. Moving the money around took almost no effort and staring at page after page of numbers was something he did every day in his job anyway.
But while it appeared simple, it was deceptively complex. Trying to stay ahead of the game and the pack. Trying to work out what would give him and profit and what would wipe out his investment. It required time, energy and luck.
Now he had spent some time following the market, he had come to the conclusion it was all a gambling game. To make a profit involved luck, nothing more, nothing less. People risked everything on the temptation of making a small profit
He knew where he stood on continuing the project. Now he just had to persuade Abby to see his point of view.
~*~*~*~
Dec 24
It is quite possible for people who have never met us and who have spent only twenty minutes thinking about us to come to a better understanding of who we are than people who have known us for years.
Malcolm Gladwell, Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking, 2005
Ziva David had never met the woman she had replaced on Gibbs’ team. Replaced was definitely the wrong word though. Ziva was not a replacement for anyone. She had simply filled a gap that had been created through no one’s fault but Ari’s.
But she felt she understood Kate. To survive in NCIS and especially Gibbs’ team, a person had to be tough. They had to be able to hold their own, especially against Tony. They had to keep an eye out for McGee, who was developing into a strong agent. But back when she had started, he had needed guidance and support. They had to be prepared to put their own neck on the line every time they went into the field.
It was not a job for cowards. It was not a job for someone lazy, like Tony. It was a job for a hardworking individual, who could work both on their own and in a team.
Abby had loved Kate; that had been clear from the moment they first met. The Goth had hated Ziva for the crime of trying to take Kate’s place. At first, the Israeli had not been able to understand such blind loyalty, but now she was friends with Abby herself, she understood why she had reacted in such a way. Kate must have been a very good friend to Abby, a rock for her to lean on. She suspected they had shared many a girly giggle in their time together.
No, she had never met Caitlin, but Ziva felt she understood her in a way.
~*~*~*~
Dec 25
The superior man cannot be known in little matters, but he may be entrusted with great concerns. The small man may not be entrusted with great concerns, but he may be known in little matters.
Confucius (551 BC - 479 BC), The Confucian Analects
Ducky loved Christmas. It was a time of joy, a time of family.
This year, the team were sharing Christmas dinner at his house. He had encouraged them to bring presents and generally enjoy their time together. If he had not intervened, he knew exactly how the day would have ended up. Jethro would drown his sorrows in bourbon, Jennifer would burn her kitchen down, Abigail would have too much Caf-Pow!, Ziva would do nothing, Anthony would only stir from his spot in front of his television for food, while Timothy would probably spend all day online.
With no families of their own to go to, he wanted their own little dysfunctional one to spend the day together. He had given them the morning alone, aware some would prefer to sleep in while others would be up at the crack of dawn.
But now he was waiting for them to arrive, bringing various dishes for dinner with them. Part of him was excited about the prospect of spending a holiday with his friends, while another part was worried someone would forget to come or forget their dish.
As he paced back and forth in his living room, he heard a car pull up onto his drive. His face broke into a smile as he scurried for the front door. His first guest!
~*~*~*~
Dec 26
While we stop to think, we often miss our opportunity.
Publilius Syrus (~100 BC), Maxims
Tony DiNozzo was not a person who stopped to think about his actions. For one, his actions were usually invented off the cuff of his sleeve, and it was kind of hard to work out the consequences of his ideas when he was in the middle of implementing them.
He didn’t want to stop and think either. It was something the Probie did that paralyzed him with indecision until it got to a stage where something either needed to be done immediately or someone would die. If something needed to be done, it needed to be done and he was not going to waste time working out all the possible results and the probability of each of them occurring.
No, he preferred to go with his gut, like Gibbs. He trusted his gut to tell him the right thing to do. While he did not blindly follow it like el jefe, he knew it would point him in the right direction and his vast knowledge of being a cop and movies would help him figure out the rest in seconds.
It was quite possible that one of these days his gut was going to get him killed. Until then, he was perfectly happy to go with it.
~*~*~*~
Dec 27
There are women who are for all your 'times of life.' They're the most wonderful sort.
Henry James (1843 - 1916), "The Ambassadors", Book Fifth, Chapter 3
Leroy Jethro Gibbs considered Jenny to be a mystery.
A good mystery, rather than someone he needed to interrogate to figure out. Not that he ever would be able to figure out the enigma she presented even if he interrogated her. He wasn’t that good.
She confused him. He had long ago buried his emotions deep within him, rarely allowing them to come to the surface. It helped him survive, it helped him get on with his life. His ex-wives had not been able to see beneath the cold exterior he had presented. Only Shannon had, and that had been because he had let her.
But Jenny could read him like a book. She knew when he was tired, frustrated, in desperate need of a coffee. She knew when he was in the mood for a Chinese or pizza or some of Naomi’s cooking. She knew when he needed to take a break from a case and when he would only stop if he fell down dead. Despite all the barriers he put in place, somehow she could see straight through them to the very heart of him.
Not only did she always know how he felt, she always knew just what was best for her to do to help. She knew when he would be better left alone to brood. She knew when it was best to interrupt his brooding and distract him with something else. She knew when he needed a break and the best way for him to spend one.
Jenny was a mystery to him. But he wouldn’t leave her for the world.
~*~*~*~
Dec 28
The future belongs to those who can rise above the confines of the earth.
Alfred North Whitehead (1861 - 1947), From the viewbook of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
Timothy McGee resisted the urge to scream as the elevator ground to a halt. He had almost made it out the building…
It had been a long, tough week. Three children kidnapped out their beds as they slept at night had annoyed Gibbs and his team enough that they had poured every last ounce of effort and time into getting them back alive. Which they had, but at a cost. They hadn’t slept in four days. Tim was pretty sure he was starting to hallucinate.
Gibbs had ordered them to go home, sleep, and not set foot in the Navy Yard before midday tomorrow. Tim had been desperate to obey the order, but his computer had picked up a virus at some point during the investigation (he couldn’t honestly separate Day Two and Day Three in his head) and he needed to deal with it before it did serious damage. And so he had remained behind for the past two hours to sort it out.
It should have taken a lot less time, but he was exhausted and the computer screen had swum the whole time.
And now, just as he had been about to escape, the elevator had broken down.
He shrugged, resigned to his fate. There was no energy left in him to rant at the universe for its quirks. Instead, he removed his jacket and curled up in a ball on the floor. He could catch up on his sleep here. Someone would find him in the morning.
~*~*~*~
Dec 29
Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs even though checkered by failure, than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much because they live in the gray twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat.
Theodore Roosevelt (1858 - 1919)
Ziva David was prepared to take risks. Whether in her personal life or professional one, she had learnt that taking risks was the best way to get what she wanted.
As a Mossad Officer, taking risks had gone with the job. Her task was to ensure the safety of her country, no matter what it took. If she had had to lay down her life, she would have done so without a second thought. If she had to leap out of a window, she did. If she had to abseil down a sheer cliff-face in the pitch black, without a safety harness and with a torrential rainstorm pounding against her, she did.
Risk was necessary in order to make something succeed. Small things could succeed without risk needing to be taken, but anything big required a gamble. A gamble she was prepared to make.
She took risks in her personal life too, although that had been more recent. Coming to America had been a risk. Allowing herself to make friends carried risks - would they betray her? Would they leave her? Would they break her heart?
But the bigger the risk, the greater the payoff. She was prepared to risk opening her heart, aware of the joys it would bring her if it all worked out, but she was also acutely aware of how badly it could backfire.
Rating: K
Dec 23
Many receive advice, few profit by it.
Publilius Syrus (~100 BC), Maxims
Timothy McGee did not usually speculate on the stock market. It was far too risky for him, despite his mathematical genius. While some people argued it was a skill, he knew success was more down to dumb luck.
But Abby had persuaded him to give it a try. In partnership with her. One of them was nearly always by a computer and they could keep track of their money at all times. He had only agreed because it was Abby and together they were almost unstoppable, and because she had agreed to start with a very small amount of money in a trial phase.
In one sense, it was easier than he had expected. Moving the money around took almost no effort and staring at page after page of numbers was something he did every day in his job anyway.
But while it appeared simple, it was deceptively complex. Trying to stay ahead of the game and the pack. Trying to work out what would give him and profit and what would wipe out his investment. It required time, energy and luck.
Now he had spent some time following the market, he had come to the conclusion it was all a gambling game. To make a profit involved luck, nothing more, nothing less. People risked everything on the temptation of making a small profit
He knew where he stood on continuing the project. Now he just had to persuade Abby to see his point of view.
~*~*~*~
Dec 24
It is quite possible for people who have never met us and who have spent only twenty minutes thinking about us to come to a better understanding of who we are than people who have known us for years.
Malcolm Gladwell, Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking, 2005
Ziva David had never met the woman she had replaced on Gibbs’ team. Replaced was definitely the wrong word though. Ziva was not a replacement for anyone. She had simply filled a gap that had been created through no one’s fault but Ari’s.
But she felt she understood Kate. To survive in NCIS and especially Gibbs’ team, a person had to be tough. They had to be able to hold their own, especially against Tony. They had to keep an eye out for McGee, who was developing into a strong agent. But back when she had started, he had needed guidance and support. They had to be prepared to put their own neck on the line every time they went into the field.
It was not a job for cowards. It was not a job for someone lazy, like Tony. It was a job for a hardworking individual, who could work both on their own and in a team.
Abby had loved Kate; that had been clear from the moment they first met. The Goth had hated Ziva for the crime of trying to take Kate’s place. At first, the Israeli had not been able to understand such blind loyalty, but now she was friends with Abby herself, she understood why she had reacted in such a way. Kate must have been a very good friend to Abby, a rock for her to lean on. She suspected they had shared many a girly giggle in their time together.
No, she had never met Caitlin, but Ziva felt she understood her in a way.
~*~*~*~
Dec 25
The superior man cannot be known in little matters, but he may be entrusted with great concerns. The small man may not be entrusted with great concerns, but he may be known in little matters.
Confucius (551 BC - 479 BC), The Confucian Analects
Ducky loved Christmas. It was a time of joy, a time of family.
This year, the team were sharing Christmas dinner at his house. He had encouraged them to bring presents and generally enjoy their time together. If he had not intervened, he knew exactly how the day would have ended up. Jethro would drown his sorrows in bourbon, Jennifer would burn her kitchen down, Abigail would have too much Caf-Pow!, Ziva would do nothing, Anthony would only stir from his spot in front of his television for food, while Timothy would probably spend all day online.
With no families of their own to go to, he wanted their own little dysfunctional one to spend the day together. He had given them the morning alone, aware some would prefer to sleep in while others would be up at the crack of dawn.
But now he was waiting for them to arrive, bringing various dishes for dinner with them. Part of him was excited about the prospect of spending a holiday with his friends, while another part was worried someone would forget to come or forget their dish.
As he paced back and forth in his living room, he heard a car pull up onto his drive. His face broke into a smile as he scurried for the front door. His first guest!
~*~*~*~
Dec 26
While we stop to think, we often miss our opportunity.
Publilius Syrus (~100 BC), Maxims
Tony DiNozzo was not a person who stopped to think about his actions. For one, his actions were usually invented off the cuff of his sleeve, and it was kind of hard to work out the consequences of his ideas when he was in the middle of implementing them.
He didn’t want to stop and think either. It was something the Probie did that paralyzed him with indecision until it got to a stage where something either needed to be done immediately or someone would die. If something needed to be done, it needed to be done and he was not going to waste time working out all the possible results and the probability of each of them occurring.
No, he preferred to go with his gut, like Gibbs. He trusted his gut to tell him the right thing to do. While he did not blindly follow it like el jefe, he knew it would point him in the right direction and his vast knowledge of being a cop and movies would help him figure out the rest in seconds.
It was quite possible that one of these days his gut was going to get him killed. Until then, he was perfectly happy to go with it.
~*~*~*~
Dec 27
There are women who are for all your 'times of life.' They're the most wonderful sort.
Henry James (1843 - 1916), "The Ambassadors", Book Fifth, Chapter 3
Leroy Jethro Gibbs considered Jenny to be a mystery.
A good mystery, rather than someone he needed to interrogate to figure out. Not that he ever would be able to figure out the enigma she presented even if he interrogated her. He wasn’t that good.
She confused him. He had long ago buried his emotions deep within him, rarely allowing them to come to the surface. It helped him survive, it helped him get on with his life. His ex-wives had not been able to see beneath the cold exterior he had presented. Only Shannon had, and that had been because he had let her.
But Jenny could read him like a book. She knew when he was tired, frustrated, in desperate need of a coffee. She knew when he was in the mood for a Chinese or pizza or some of Naomi’s cooking. She knew when he needed to take a break from a case and when he would only stop if he fell down dead. Despite all the barriers he put in place, somehow she could see straight through them to the very heart of him.
Not only did she always know how he felt, she always knew just what was best for her to do to help. She knew when he would be better left alone to brood. She knew when it was best to interrupt his brooding and distract him with something else. She knew when he needed a break and the best way for him to spend one.
Jenny was a mystery to him. But he wouldn’t leave her for the world.
~*~*~*~
Dec 28
The future belongs to those who can rise above the confines of the earth.
Alfred North Whitehead (1861 - 1947), From the viewbook of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
Timothy McGee resisted the urge to scream as the elevator ground to a halt. He had almost made it out the building…
It had been a long, tough week. Three children kidnapped out their beds as they slept at night had annoyed Gibbs and his team enough that they had poured every last ounce of effort and time into getting them back alive. Which they had, but at a cost. They hadn’t slept in four days. Tim was pretty sure he was starting to hallucinate.
Gibbs had ordered them to go home, sleep, and not set foot in the Navy Yard before midday tomorrow. Tim had been desperate to obey the order, but his computer had picked up a virus at some point during the investigation (he couldn’t honestly separate Day Two and Day Three in his head) and he needed to deal with it before it did serious damage. And so he had remained behind for the past two hours to sort it out.
It should have taken a lot less time, but he was exhausted and the computer screen had swum the whole time.
And now, just as he had been about to escape, the elevator had broken down.
He shrugged, resigned to his fate. There was no energy left in him to rant at the universe for its quirks. Instead, he removed his jacket and curled up in a ball on the floor. He could catch up on his sleep here. Someone would find him in the morning.
~*~*~*~
Dec 29
Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs even though checkered by failure, than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much because they live in the gray twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat.
Theodore Roosevelt (1858 - 1919)
Ziva David was prepared to take risks. Whether in her personal life or professional one, she had learnt that taking risks was the best way to get what she wanted.
As a Mossad Officer, taking risks had gone with the job. Her task was to ensure the safety of her country, no matter what it took. If she had had to lay down her life, she would have done so without a second thought. If she had to leap out of a window, she did. If she had to abseil down a sheer cliff-face in the pitch black, without a safety harness and with a torrential rainstorm pounding against her, she did.
Risk was necessary in order to make something succeed. Small things could succeed without risk needing to be taken, but anything big required a gamble. A gamble she was prepared to make.
She took risks in her personal life too, although that had been more recent. Coming to America had been a risk. Allowing herself to make friends carried risks - would they betray her? Would they leave her? Would they break her heart?
But the bigger the risk, the greater the payoff. She was prepared to risk opening her heart, aware of the joys it would bring her if it all worked out, but she was also acutely aware of how badly it could backfire.