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THIS WEEKS THOUGHT   Dutch Courage - Week 31

Reading Time 1 minute 41 seconds    FOR A PODCAST OF THIS THOUGHT CLICK HERE  Or To Subscribe Here

 

 

I had glanced down at the newspaper it was a moment where the world stops and thoughts wander. I was on holiday, sipping coffee and reading my newspaper whilst marvelling the tranquil forest around me.

 

Suddenly a comment jumped out of the paper and hit me in the face.

The comment was "Dutch Courage".

 

Its is a fascinating phrase, which originated during the bubonic plague of London, way back in 1665

 

The city was sealed off to avoid contamination and hence starvation became prevalent.

The only people willing to trade with London were the Dutch Sailors

The locals leaving money on the end of the jetties and the Dutch sailors braving the plague replacing the money with food.

Because of these sailors tens or even hundreds of thousand of people were saved from starvation

 

Interestingly the Dutch sailors ploughed themselves with liquor before the perilous drop as they believed that this would protect them from the plague as well as serving to steadying their nerves a little!

 

So the phrase "Dutch courage" was born.

 

Interestingly the Dutch still have the freedom of the river Thames, which was granted as a reward for their courage and kindness during the great plague by the mayor 340 years ago.

 

What a great story with loads to think about.

But out of all my thoughts the one thing that really struck me was:

 

If you help people there is no telling how long they will remember

 

Be kind to others and have a great week

 

David Gardner

 Recommended Audio CD's
 
THE MUST HAVE
"THE ACHIEVERS EDGE" 
By Peter Thompson
 
More Great CD Programs
 Think & Grow Rich - Napoleon Hill
 Good to Great - Jim Collins
 Psychology of Achievement - Brian Tracy
 Discover Your Strengths - M Buckingham
 7 Habits of Highly Effective- Stephen Covey
 Rich Dads Secrets - Robert Kiyosaki
 Maverick Mindset - John Elliot
 Vocal Power - Roger Love
 Quantum Memory - Dominic O'Brien
 Getting Things Done - David Allen
A Short History of Nearly Everything- B Bryson

 

 Recommended Books

 Good to Great - Jim Collins 
  7 Habits - Stephen Covey
  Discover you Strengths - M Buckingham 
  Richard Branson's Auto biography
  Brilliant Memory - Dominic O'Brien
  Think & Grow Rich -  Napoleon Hill 
  Freakonomics - Stephen Levitt
 Getting Things Done - David Allen
 The Machine That Changed the World
 Watching the English - Kate Fox
A Short History of Nearly Everything- B Bryson

 

Archives

Talk with Relevance

Milo the Greek

A Boy called No

Bluebird - A pint of Ale &  water speed record

Visualising an Argument with Alien Bowling

Old Friends lead to New Thoughts

Bad Driver

Space Shuttle designed on a horses backside

Back to the Future

The Mexican Boatman & "Harvard MBA".

The World in Perspective

Acres of Diamonds

First impressions in 30s

The Two Minute Rule

 Noughts and Crosses

 Think and Grow Rich

 3 Blind Men & An Elephant
 
Someone Everyone Anyone No-one
 
12 Questions to High Performance
 
The Bee Can't Fly but No-one told the bee
 
The Maverick Mindset of Baseball
 
Three Men and a Boat
 
Stop
 
Two Cannibals & a Beautiful Girl
 
The Meaning of Life  
 
What was your name again?
 
Two Frogs
 
Is Common Sense Possible
 
An Architects Vision
 
Does Edison Turn Your Light On

 

Other books and CDs I've mentioned can be found here

There are loads of great audio programs at Nightingale Conant's ,web site here,