The years are made of minutes. Much of life is made of memories, warm and happy memories of small kindnesses and consideration, of courtesy, of constancy, consistency; a mother's attentive care, a father's kindliness, a child's thankfulness; thoughtfulness each day, not grand and rare and obvious outward acts - not all at once, but small and constant ways as each occasion comes.

If we want happiness with loved ones, and peace, and quiet conscience, we need to learn little lessons, small services, continuing kindnesses, habitual acts of honesty, constancy of cleanliness - not just one big washing.

"We don't stumble over mountains." We stumble over small things mostly. (Excerpt taken from Noel Whittaker's Newsletter noelnews@whittakermacnaught.com.au)

The Final Word Allocate time each day to handle some of little things in your life. As mentioned in previous newsletters, put yourself in your diary first. Plan time to action your goals...step by step, day by day. As Neil Armstrong, first man to walk on moon said "One small step for man, one great leap for mankind".

Lorraine specialises in working with businesspeople showing them how to dramatically boost their productivity, reduce the stress and the mess in their lives and have more time for enjoying their life.

"The hatred of bourgeoisie is beginning of all virtue' - wrote Gustav Flaubert. He signed his letters 'Bourgeoisophobus' to show how much he despised 'stupid grocers and their ilk ... Through some screw-up in great scheme of universe, their narrow-minded greed had brought them vast wealth, unstoppable power and growing social prestige."

Reiland also quotes from Ludwig van Mises's "The Anti-Capitalist Mentality":

"Many people, and especially intellectuals, passionately loathe capitalism. In a society based on caste and status, individual can ascribe adverse fate to conditions beyond his control. In ... capitalism ... everybody's station in life depends on his doing ... (what makes a man rich is) not evaluation of his contribution from any 'absolute' principle of justice but evaluation on part of his fellow men who exclusively apply yardstick of their personal wants, desires and ends ... Everybody knows very well that there are people like himself who succeeded where he himself failed. Everybody knows that many of those he envies are self-made men who started from same point from which he himself started. Everybody is aware of his own defeat. In order to console himself and to restore his self- assertion, such a man is in search of a scapegoat. He tries to persuade himself that he failed through no fault of his own. He was too decent to resort to base tricks to which his successful rivals owe their ascendancy. The nefarious social order does not accord prizes to most meritorious men; it crowns dishonest, unscrupulous scoundrel, swindler, exploiter, 'rugged individualist'."

In "The Virtue of Prosperity", Dinesh D'Souza accuses prosperity and capitalism of inspiring vice and temptation. Inevitably, it provokes envy in poor and depravity in rich.

With only a modicum of overstatement, capitalism can be depicted as sublimation of jealousy. As opposed to destructive envy - jealousy induces emulation. Consumers - responsible for two thirds of America's GDP - ape role models and vie with neighbors, colleagues, and family members for possessions and social status they endow. Productive and constructive competition - among scientists, innovators, managers, actors, lawyers, politicians, and members of just about every other profession - is driven by jealousy.

The eminent Nobel prize winning British economist and philosopher of Austrian descent, Friedrich Hayek, suggested in "The Constitution of Liberty" that innovation and progress in living standards are outcomes of class envy. The wealthy are early adopters of expensive and unproven technologies. The rich finance with their conspicuous consumption research and development phase of new products. The poor, driven by jealousy, imitate them and thus create a mass market which allows manufacturers to lower prices.

But jealousy is premised on twin beliefs of equality and a level playing field. "I am as good, as skilled, and as talented as object of my jealousy." - goes subtext - "Given equal opportunities, equitable treatment, and a bit of luck, I can accomplish same or more."

Jealousy is easily transformed to outrage when its presumptions - equality, honesty, and fairness - prove wrong. In a paper recently published by Harvard University's John M. Olin Center for Law and titled "Executive Compensation in America: Optimal Contracting or Extraction of Rents?", authors argue that executive malfeasance is most effectively regulated by this "outrage constraint":

"Directors (and non-executive directors) would be reluctant to approve, and executives would be hesitant to seek, compensation arrangements that might be viewed by observers as outrageous."