This weekend we visited New York City. It was absolutely fantastic. On Saturday we took the New York water taxi around Manhattan and Ellis Island, The tour guide was akin to a late night TV Preacher in illustrating his love for the American Land and as we took photo’s of the Statue of Liberty the captain of the boat played patriotic music such as ‘God Bless the USA,’ all in all a very interesting Boat trip. After a quick walk over the Brooklyn Bridge and back we visited the site of the World Trade Centre and a small church right beside it called St Paul’s. It was saved from the collapsing buildings by a tree and during the rescue effort the church became a centre for fire and police officers to rest, eat, pray and try to make sense of the situation. It was an incredibly sad experience but strangely uplifting in how the best of humanity, the selfless giving of time, money and skills, and the support and solidarity of most of the world, was illuminated by the darkness and hatred of terrorism.

 On Saturday evening we saw ‘Phantom of the Opera’ which was excellent. On Sunday we cycled round Central Park and then visited the American Museum of Natural History. This is where the title of the blog comes from, Inscribed on the walls of the entrance hall of the museum are the words of Theodor Roosevelt, a friend of and contributor to the museum he wrote, on youth:

It struck me that as this advice applies to life in general it also applies very well to business. Especially the importance of Character, this was apparent when listening to Mr. Kelly a few weeks ago when he emphasized the importance of integrity in doing business. Sometimes a certain strength of character is required to do what is best in the long run and not the most profitable thing in the short run. Luckily for Liberty Mutual Mr. Kelly certainly seems to possess this and it has been an important lesson to me and something I will strive to apply in my own career in Business.