It slowly is sinking on to me that courage is the most supreme trait of greatness-above talent, above perseverance, above whatever you can think of.
Yesterday, I went to attend a book launch in Delhi- a book written by Fatima Bhutto, the niece of Benazir Bhutto, daughter of Murtaza Bhutto! She has redefined what it means to be courageous (Songs of Blood and Sword). I don't know if she is scared for her life, I am.
I salute the courage of Fatima Bhutto. And I hope she lives a 100 years. If she does, Pakistan and the world will be a much better place.
Saturday, April 03, 2010
Friday, April 02, 2010
The best of Atlas Shrugged!
Atlas Shrugged is the best book I have read. I am making a note of some of the best sections from the book. Snippets from Atlas shrugged:-
"Francisco, what's the most depraved type of human being?"
"The man without a purpose." "Dagny, there is nothing of any importance in life-except how well you do your work. It is the only measure of human value."
"We have done it, haven't we?" he said. (Hank Rearden)
In payment for every effort, for every sleepless night, for every silent thrust against despair, this moment was all she wanted. "Yes, we have."
"He vanished without a trace into the great unknowns of mediocrity."
"The hours ahead, like all her nights with him, would be added, she thought, to the savings account of one's life where moments of time are stored in the pride of having been lived. The only pride of her workday was not that it had been lived, but that it had been survived. It was wrong, viciously wrong that one should ever be forced to say that about any hour of one's life."
"A man's sexual choice is the result and sum of his fundamental convictions. Tell me what a man finds sexually attractive and I will tell you his entire philosophy of life. Show me the woman he sleeps with and I will tell you his valuation of himself.-Francisco D'anconia
"There is no way to disarm any man, except through guilt. The man who lives up to his own standards. Save us from the man of clean conscience. He is the man who will beat us." - Dr. Ferris
"No matter what you feel for him, it will not change what you feel for me, and it won't be treason to either, because it comes from the same root, it's the same payment in answer to the same values" (LOVE, Francisco)
"Nobody stays here by faking reality in any manner whatsoever." (John Galt says 'No' when Francisco proposes that she spend her last week with him)
"We are those who do not disconnect the values of their minds from the actions of their bodies"
A LIE
People think that a liar gains victory over his victim. What I have learnt is that a lie is an act of self-abdication because one surrenders one's reality to whom one lies making that person one's master condemning oneself from then to faking the sort of reality that person's view requires to be faked."- Hank Rearden
DAGNY AND CHERYL
"Dagny, how did you do it? How did you manage to remain unmangled?"
"By holding to just one rule"
"Which"
"To place nothing-nothing-above the verdict of my own mind"
GOD
"The good, say the mystics of spirit, is God, a being whose only definition is that he is beyond man's power to conceive- a definition that invalidates man's consciousness and nullifies his concept of existence."
"The word that has destroyed you is 'sacrifice.' Use the last of your strength to understand its meaning. You are still alive. You still have a chance."
"Men can't exist your way! You permit no moments of weakness, you don't allow for human frailties or human feelings!" Dr Stadler to John Galt
"To live, man must hold three things as the supreme and the ruling values of his life: Reason-Purpose-Self Esteem
"The purpose of morality is to teach you, not to suffer and die, but to enjoy yourself and live. The achievement of your own happiness is the highest moral purpose."
"Dagny, it's not that I don't suffer, it's that I know the unimportance of suffering. I know that pain is to be fought and thrown aside, not to be accepted as part of one's soul and as a permanent scar across one's view of existence. Don't feel sorry for me."
THE OATH
I SWEAR BY MY LIFE AND MY LOVE OF IT THAT I WILL NEVER LIVE FOR THE SAKE OF ANOTHER MAN, NOR ASK ANOTHER MAN TO LIVE FOR MINE.
"Francisco, what's the most depraved type of human being?"
"The man without a purpose." "Dagny, there is nothing of any importance in life-except how well you do your work. It is the only measure of human value."
"We have done it, haven't we?" he said. (Hank Rearden)
In payment for every effort, for every sleepless night, for every silent thrust against despair, this moment was all she wanted. "Yes, we have."
"He vanished without a trace into the great unknowns of mediocrity."
"The hours ahead, like all her nights with him, would be added, she thought, to the savings account of one's life where moments of time are stored in the pride of having been lived. The only pride of her workday was not that it had been lived, but that it had been survived. It was wrong, viciously wrong that one should ever be forced to say that about any hour of one's life."
"A man's sexual choice is the result and sum of his fundamental convictions. Tell me what a man finds sexually attractive and I will tell you his entire philosophy of life. Show me the woman he sleeps with and I will tell you his valuation of himself.-Francisco D'anconia
"There is no way to disarm any man, except through guilt. The man who lives up to his own standards. Save us from the man of clean conscience. He is the man who will beat us." - Dr. Ferris
"No matter what you feel for him, it will not change what you feel for me, and it won't be treason to either, because it comes from the same root, it's the same payment in answer to the same values" (LOVE, Francisco)
"Nobody stays here by faking reality in any manner whatsoever." (John Galt says 'No' when Francisco proposes that she spend her last week with him)
"We are those who do not disconnect the values of their minds from the actions of their bodies"
A LIE
People think that a liar gains victory over his victim. What I have learnt is that a lie is an act of self-abdication because one surrenders one's reality to whom one lies making that person one's master condemning oneself from then to faking the sort of reality that person's view requires to be faked."- Hank Rearden
DAGNY AND CHERYL
"Dagny, how did you do it? How did you manage to remain unmangled?"
"By holding to just one rule"
"Which"
"To place nothing-nothing-above the verdict of my own mind"
GOD
"The good, say the mystics of spirit, is God, a being whose only definition is that he is beyond man's power to conceive- a definition that invalidates man's consciousness and nullifies his concept of existence."
"The word that has destroyed you is 'sacrifice.' Use the last of your strength to understand its meaning. You are still alive. You still have a chance."
"Men can't exist your way! You permit no moments of weakness, you don't allow for human frailties or human feelings!" Dr Stadler to John Galt
"To live, man must hold three things as the supreme and the ruling values of his life: Reason-Purpose-Self Esteem
"The purpose of morality is to teach you, not to suffer and die, but to enjoy yourself and live. The achievement of your own happiness is the highest moral purpose."
"Dagny, it's not that I don't suffer, it's that I know the unimportance of suffering. I know that pain is to be fought and thrown aside, not to be accepted as part of one's soul and as a permanent scar across one's view of existence. Don't feel sorry for me."
THE OATH
I SWEAR BY MY LIFE AND MY LOVE OF IT THAT I WILL NEVER LIVE FOR THE SAKE OF ANOTHER MAN, NOR ASK ANOTHER MAN TO LIVE FOR MINE.
Thursday, April 01, 2010
Pride!
Don't trust the man who avoid questions. The man who has a clean conscience will face every question thrown at him. In fact, he would be eager to answer!
Work for the man in the mirror. He is the only one you need to please. Work for his pride. Work so, that you are able to look in the eyes of the man in the mirror and say, "I am proud of the man that you have become"
Work for the man in the mirror. He is the only one you need to please. Work for his pride. Work so, that you are able to look in the eyes of the man in the mirror and say, "I am proud of the man that you have become"
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
doing what you love and loving what you do!
I finally cracked the puzzle. It has tormented me for a long time.
It's possible to love what you do- only in one instance, which is, when you are doing what you love. . So, I can say that "I love what I do for I do what I love." That's it.
It's possible to love what you do- only in one instance, which is, when you are doing what you love. . So, I can say that "I love what I do for I do what I love." That's it.
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Monday, March 29, 2010
why do I exist?
to create happiness.
While in office:
to create happiness for colleagues and clients
While at home:
to create happiness for mummy, papa, meetu
While with friends:
to create happiness for friends
Now you know what to do. figure out how.
The purpose of my life:
The purpose of my life is to enjoy myself by doing things I love to do, be happy by focusing on my blessings, find ways to create 'help' (happiness, enthusiasm, love, pride) and do it today for there is no yesterday and there is no tomorrow.
While in office:
to create happiness for colleagues and clients
While at home:
to create happiness for mummy, papa, meetu
While with friends:
to create happiness for friends
Now you know what to do. figure out how.
The purpose of my life:
The purpose of my life is to enjoy myself by doing things I love to do, be happy by focusing on my blessings, find ways to create 'help' (happiness, enthusiasm, love, pride) and do it today for there is no yesterday and there is no tomorrow.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)