Do What You Can

With What You Have
Where You Are
-Teddy Roosevelt




I had always looked at this as a sort of consolation quote. It was the sort of quote I thought would be spoken so someone who'd applied for some aspiration and been denied, the quote that consoles you with the reminder that even the little you have right around you can be put to use. It was the quote to pull out when you couldn't manage to accomplish something greater.

but really,

Not only are those probably both your most powerful tools and your most direct responsibilities,

but anything further (...perhaps without due attention to every thing having its season and a time to every purpose... ) may overextend your abilities, drain your resources, and detach you,
draining your energy inefficiently and leaving you oddly displaced.



I would do well in the midst of large systems to remember both my limits and the words of a friend,
- to do what I can
and then be done with it.


A vital thing to learn,
responsible management of resources
and it reminds me a bit of this post.