Volume LV

I. Drink the Kool-Aid 🥤

Ever heard of the 1978 Jonestown massacre in Guyana? Jim Jones, leader of the Peoples Temple, convinced more than 900 of his followers to take part in a mass murder-suicide by drinking a cyanide-laced fruit drink. Technically it was Flavor Aid, not Kool-Aid, but we won’t get lost in the fine print.

Over time, “drink the Kool-Aid” became shorthand for blindly buying into a leader or ideology without questioning it. Think your grandpa whose only news source is Fox News.

Or the fresh business school grad convinced Andy Elliott’s sales advice will have them in the 35% tax bracket by 25.

II. Litmus Test 🧪

This one may take you back to high school chemistry, Bunsen burner and all.

It’s that old familiar experiment: drop the paper into a solution and watch the color change. Red means acid, blue means bases. You know the drill.

But sometime in the 1800s, the phrase left the lab and entered everyday lingo. A “litmus test” came to mean a simple check that reveals the truth about something or someone.

Maybe it’s how someone treats the waiter on a first date, or how they return their shopping cart at TJs.

It’s a simple test that tells you all you need to know, no lab equipment required.

III. The Ox Is Slow, But the Earth Is Patient 🐂

You’ve heard slow and steady wins the race, big things take time, and Rome wasn’t built in a day. But I’d bet dollars to doughnuts you haven’t heard this old Tibetan proverb that basically says the same thing:

“The ox is slow, but the earth is patient.”

There’s some debate about its precise origins, but there’s no question it gained popularity after the 1983 film High Road to China, where the phrase gets a memorable shout.

Next time you want to drop a little ball knowledge and philosophical wisdom simultaneously, let ’em know. There’s a reason guys like Boris Diaw carved out long careers while Kwame Brown busted.

Slow and methodical may not be flashy — but sometimes that’s exactly what the earth rewards.

Keep on sending on. Forward to a friend.