There's a lot of talk these days about giving children self-esteem. It's not something you can give; it's something they have to build. Coach Graham worked in a no-coddling zone. Self-esteem? He knew there was really only one way to teach kids how to develop it: You give them something they can't do, they work hard until they find they can do it, and you just keep repeating the process.

The person who failed often knows how to avoid future failures.

There's a lot of talk these days about giving children self-esteem. It's not something you can give; it's something they have to build. Coach Graham worked in a no-coddling zone. Self-esteem? He knew there was really only one way to teach kids how to develop it: You give them something they can't do, they work hard until they find they can do it, and you just keep repeating the process.

One thing that makes it possible to be an optimist is if you have a contingency plan for when all hell breaks loose.

Apologize when you screw up and focus on other people, not on yourself.

Engineering isn't about perfect solutions; it's about doing the best you can with limited resources.

You can't control the cards you're dealt, just how you play the hand.