Category Archives: Abraham Lincoln

May 16 0 comments
Abraham Lincoln, Persuasion

Persuasion and Friendship – Persuasion Week #3

If you’re my friend, you’ll read #3 in my Persuasion series. If you aren’t my friend yet, I hope that changes soon!

Persuasion and Friendship - Persuasion series #3

Have you ever planned a grand adventure with a stranger?  Have you ever decided to do something scary, maybe even dangerous, because a stranger asked you to?  Not likely. It usually takes a friend to convince us to do crazy things.  

It also usually takes a friend if we are going to be persuaded to believe something new, something opposite of what we might have believed in the past. Whether it’s ideas about the universe and God (or no God), politics, cultural affairs or even science, we are much more likely to consider new ideas if it is a friend who sets the idea before us.

Are wanting to be influential?  Be a friend first.

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Drawing and commentary by Marty Coleman, who is a friendly fellow and has yet to be President.

Quote by Abraham Lincoln, who was a friendly fellow and was President.

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Aug 24 0 comments
Abraham Lincoln, Failure

Contentment – Failure Week #3

Napkins don’t fail me now! It’s day #3 of Failure Week.

Here is a question: In the Aesop’s fable, The Tortoise and the Hare, do you think the hare was upset at having lost the race to the tortoise?  I have a feeling the hare wasn’t upset at all. I think he was ok with it.  I can see him laughing off the loss while hanging out at his favorite watering hole with the boys. 


Why? Because he had excuses ready.  He felt ill. He had a hard night.  His shorts were too tight.  He woke up on the wrong side of the burrow.  His stop watch was broken. The temperature was too hot.  The path was confusing. The turtle stepped on his foot at the start line.


It’s a fine line between allowing that you will fail on occasion and not completely beating yourself up over it and being content and lazy about your failures, using excuses and rationalizations to talk away your inability or unwillingness to meet your goal.


It’s important to be dissatisfied with a failure because the feeling of dissatisfaction is what will cause you to evaluate what really happened. And evaluating what happened is how you can avoid the same mistake and improve the next time out.  There might be reasons for the failure and you need to know them, but there should be no excuses.  Excuses never help you grow.



Drawing and commentary by Marty Coleman of The Napkin Dad Daily

Quote by Abraham Lincoln, 1809-1865, 16th President of the United States


Aug 17 1 comments
Abraham Lincoln, Back to School, education

>The Philosophy of the Schoolroom

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Day #2 of ‘Back To School’ week at The Napkin Dad Daily
I think this is a very insightful opinion.  What was your generation taught and how did that come into our lives years later via government philosophies and programs.  What is the predominant philosophy in the schoolroom now and what will that make the government look like in 20-30 years?
Drawing and questions by Marty Coleman of The Napkin Dad Daily
Quote by Abraham Lincoln, 1809-1865, 16th US President

Feb 10 1 comments
Abraham Lincoln, Heart, love, pain, truth, Valentine's Day

>They Have The Right To Criticize

>A dark heart (#8) in the series todayI am not drawing this today because I feel dark or burdened in my heart. Actually the opposite is true. I am feeling some pretty good things lately about my family, my friends and myself.

I drew this today because around Valentine’s Day we always start to define who we love and why. We make decisions about who to send a card to, who to write a note to, who to ask out if you are single, how much to spend, how big a deal to make of it all with your spouse perhaps.

Kids have to decide who to give little valentine cards to at school. It’s all about figuring out who to show some love to at some level.

But this quote is deeper than that, it’s not about the cute love, it’s about the deep love. The love that allows you to criticize or question or even rail against the Gods if you have to.

I had a conversation a few years back that I still remember well. A friend mentioned that talking to this one person was hard because they weren’t sure they were going to get a trustworthy response. They needed to hear questions, doubts, ideas, criticism about what they were planning to do, but they thought this one person was simply going to agree with them, no matter what they said their course of action was going to be. They knew the heart was in the right place, but they wanted to hear more than just the pretty heart talk, they wanted the truth heart talk as that person saw it.

I appreciate those who combine both the sweet & kind with the real & true when they show me love. Sometimes more one than the other, sometimes both, sometimes only one. But I can trust that they are watching out for me and that ability to be both for me is the proof.

Drawing and commentary by Marty Coleman of The Napkin Dad Daily

Quote by Abraham Lincoln, 1809-1865, 16th American President

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The Napkin Dad Daily is a finalist in the Oklahoma Blog Awards as Most Inspirational Blog!
If you are a blogger working in Oklahoma I would be honored if you would cast your vote for my blog. If you are nominated, send me your link so I can consider doing the same.
Thank you!

May 19 0 comments
Abraham Lincoln, Art, friends

>Am I Not Destroying My Enemies

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To do that I must be willing to see an enemy’s value, their worth and
goodness. That isn’t easy when I have invested time and energy into
finding reasons to not like the person. It means having to evaluate the
reasons, giving up the invalid AND the valid reasons. It is akin to
forgiveness in many ways. It’s something to always aspire towards,
to consciously work at, not just hope for.

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I have sold 7 of the 25 drawings from the show! Check out the online
exhibition site to see if any of the remaining ones just have to have a
home in your home! Think hallways, kitchens, bathrooms, etc. Why
buy some generic stuff at a home store when you can have something
from someone you know! And if you don’t know me, email me and
then you will.

Absorbent Ideas Exhibition

marty@martycoleman.com


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