Notes for the way out · September 25, 2026
“You don’t need to run down like an unwound clock. And if your clock is unwound, you can wind it up again.”
John W. Gardnerformer U.S. Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare
District relations after teaching · aerisclarity.com
John W. Gardnerformer U.S. Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare
Source: “Personal Renewal,” speech to McKinsey & Company, November 10, 1990
Gardner ran the federal department that oversaw education in the 1960s, and decades later he gave a speech about personal renewal. If you’re tired in a way a summer doesn’t fix, this line is for you. Being worn down is not the same as being done.
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