It’s going to be very, very expensive, but it will be worth every penny.
~~ John Cleese ~~
John Cleese made the above remark about his impending divorce from his third wife. She wants two houses, half his earnings since the time that they married (1992) and £900,000 maintenance a year.
Now I am not sure if he thinks it’s worth every penny because she has given him so much love during all these years and so she deserves every penny she is asking for or because she has sucked so much blood out of him that he thinks it’s worth it to get rid of her at any price! LOL
He is also an incorrigible optimist; this is his third divorce. Come on man, give your head a shake. How many times are you going to try to make Hope Triumph Over Experience?
They’ve declared her dead more times than a cat’s got lives.
~~ Bill Clinton ~~
Former U.S. president Bill Clinton, slammed the press while campaigning in Kentucky, in support of his wife, Hillary.
I agree with him; the press coverage has been highly slanted against Hillary throughout this campaign. Lots of people (self-appointed political pundits?) have been making noise for quite a while now that she should quit. The Democratic party has a process in place to determine the winner, so why not let the process run its course?
Even though she is lagging behind in delegate count, and I also think she is unlikely to get the nomination, but the fact remains that none of the two has been able to gather enough delegates to declare victory. So the decision to quit or not to quit should be hers. After all, she is following the rules laid down by the party. And if the party thinks that the rules, as they stand, put the party nominee at a disadvantage against the Republicans, then they should change the rules before the next nomination; as it’s too late to change the rules now for this nomination. Forcing a candidate to quit before the candidate is defeated is undemocratic.
Just as we consider earthly creatures as ‘a brother,’ and ’sister,’ why should we not talk about an ‘extraterrestrial brother’? It would still be part of creation.
~~ Rev. Jose Gabriel Funes ~~
Rev. Jose Gabriel Funes, the Vatican’s chief astronomer said in an interview that believing that the universe may contain alien life does not contradict a faith in God.
Good for Rev. Jose Gabriel Funes to be a pragmatist; it would be foolhardy to think that in such a vast universe there won’t be other life anywhere else. It may be a different form of life than what we know as life on earth but, from what we know so far, it’s not a stretch to think that some form(s) of life - may be even intelligent life - may exist somewhere else in the universe.
But whether such aliens will be ‘brotherly’ towards us if and when they discover us (or we discover them), is highly debatable. One has only to look at how ‘brotherly’ were the Europeans to native Indians when they discovered them!
In order to become the master, the politician poses as the servant.
~~ Charles De Gaulle ~~ (1890 - 1970)
That’s exactly what they do! I think they intentionally come up with titles such as ‘public servant’ to make the people feel good. LOL
Now, when a politician is elected to any office, it’s usually for a certain number of years and , therefore, the contract is essentially like that of an employer and employee, so they could call themselves ‘public employees’. But no, they call themselves ‘public servants’ and act like masters. It’s only a rare politician who contests an election to become a servant; most of them only pose as servants to get elected to the positions that have powers and privileges of a master.
The big secret in life is that there is no big secret. Whatever your goal, you can get there if you’re willing to work.
~~ Oprah Winfrey ~~
Actually I think there are secrets to life but nobody knows those secrets - the nature is keeping those secrets to itself. But it is true that our best chance at life is to have our goal(s) and work towards it with resolute determination and a positive attitude. That way there is a good possibility that we will get where we want to go but there are no guarantees in life. History is filled with examples of people who attained spectacular success yet ended up failing miserably.
A classic example is the rise and fall of Napoleon Bonaparte (1769 - 1821) who rose from chaos to be the Emperor of France, built a powerful empire, then failed miserably causing the destruction of his empire and he himself died in captivity. So what happened? Why Napoleon, who is variously described as a genius, a master tactician etc. and who was so successful, failed so miserably?
Well, we can explain it away by saying that he failed because he made terrible decisions. But I am sure he didn’t wake up one morning and thought that from now on he is going to make terrible decisions that will lead to his destruction. No, my thinking is that there are times - call it chance or luck or secret of nature - when your actions or decisions will produce bitter results, no matter how smart you may be. On the other hand, if you don’t diligently work towards your goal, it’s virtually guaranteed that you’ll never attain your goal.
I do not like work even when someone else does it.
~~ Mark Twain ~~ (1835 - 1910)
Mark Twain is not alone in his dislike for work; there are a lot of people who don’t like their work. There are many reasons for it:
- We humans by nature don’t like ‘anything’ that we ‘have to’ do as it implies compulsion and we resent it. Now, to survive in this world, one has to have a job (work) and lots of us end up with jobs for which we have no interest.
- Many jobs such as factory or assembly jobs are so repetitive that a worker is required to perform the same operation over and over again all day, everyday with little or no brain work involved. This results in extreme boredom for the worker resulting in such problems as workers drinking or taking drugs on the job.
Looking from another angle: If you don’t like to work, don’t worry; even Mark Twain didn’t like it! LOL
By January, 2013, America has welcomed home most of the servicemen and women. … The Iraq war has been won. Iraq is a functioning democracy, although still suffering from the lingering effects of decades of tyranny and centuries of sectarian tension.
~~ John McCain ~~
John McCain, the presumptive Republican candidate for the president of USA, predicts as to how the future will unfold during his first term in office.
Apparently, he predicted this after consulting his newly acquired crystal ball! LOL
Obviously, like any other politician, John thinks that people are just fools and they will believe anything he says. But people aren’t fools; it’s just that most of the time their choice is limited to choosing between the devil and the deep sea.
This talk of how the things will be in 2013, is simply a political rhetoric aimed at getting as many votes as he can. Sensing that American public is not too thrilled, he shifted his position from 100 years to 5 years because he knows that there are no consequences if what he says will happen, doesn’t happen. For example, what consequences George Bush faced for claiming victory in Iraq in 2003?
By the time 2013 comes around, John McCain - if he is elected, will have ample time to explain away why the future didn’t unfold the way he said it would. It’s a wonderful world! :-)
Permanence, perseverance and persistence in spite of all obstacles, discouragements, and impossibilities: It is this, that in all things distinguishes the strong soul from the weak.
~~ Thomas Carlyle ~~ (1795 – 1881)
Perseverance and persistence is very important in achieving any goal. No matter what you set out to do, it’s almost guaranteed that you will face obstacles, discouragements and difficulties in your pursuit and at times it may even seem impossible to attain your goal. The person with a strong soul and commitment to his or her goal will persist in the face of obstacles and will try to find solutions to overcome such obstacles whereas a weak willed person will abandon his or her pursuit.
The future is something which everyone reaches at the rate of 60 minutes an hour, whatever he does, whoever he is.
~~ C.S. Lewis ~~ (1898 - 1963)
That’s exactly true! Whether we sit, sleep, whine, grumble or do something useful, we keep reaching the future at the rate of 60 minutes an hour until we take our last breath, then the time stops and that precisely is moment when one’s future comes to a complete halt permanently! LOL
So if you were waiting for your future, don’t - the future is now and it is passing you by at the rate of 60 minutes an hour.
The truth is I’ve never fooled anyone. I’ve let people fool themselves. They didn’t bother to find out who and what I was. Instead they would invent a character for me. I wouldn’t argue with them. They were obviously loving somebody I wasn’t. When they found this out, they would blame me for disillusioning them—and fooling them.
~~ Marilyn Monroe ~~ (1926 - 1962)
Marilyn’s reading of the people is very accurate and also shows her frustration with the people around her. Since she was a celebrity and very beautiful, all sorts of people ran wild with their own imaginations and made all sorts of assumptions about her without bothering to know her as a person. She once said that ‘Dogs never bite me. Just humans’. :-)
If you observe carefully, you’ll notice that people around you such as your co-workers, acquaintances and, even people who know you very well, make assumptions (usually false assumptions) about you and then express surprise when you tell them it ain’t so. And if you were a celebrity with the popularity of Marilyn Monroe then the rumor mill gets in over-drive with total disregard for the facts and people start making false assumptions for which they have only themselves to blame.
To marry a second time represents the triumph of hope over experience.
~~ Samuel Johnson ~~
Funny and true as well. However, some people are getting smart - they don’t marry even once! And if they do decide to marry, they draw up a prenuptial agreement to mitigate their losses when the hammer falls. :-)
But those who marry a second time or more, obviously belong to that class of people who refuse to learn anything from their experience. Or may be they are incorrigible optimists and keep marrying again and again hoping against hope that this time things will get better.
When you look back on your life and try to figure out where you’ve been and where you are going, when you look at your work, your love affairs, your marriages, your children, your pain, your happiness - when you examine all that closely, what you really find out is that the only person you really go to bed with is yourself.
~~ Shirley Maclaine ~~
I think this is a real classic. I truly believe in it. We have friends and relatives and whatever but can you really depend on them in every situation? Not really. Just look around to find how many friends, relatives, lovers, co-workers etc. turn against each other.
As a matter of fact, we all experience what is known as internal struggle, where we debate within ourselves whether or not to do something. When all is said and done, the only person you can truly count on is you. All the more reason to take care of yourself, be independent, self-reliant and love yourself first!
What is a man if he is not a thief who openly charges as much as he can for the goods he sells?
~~ Mahatma Gandhi ~~ (1869 - 1948)
Now that is a good question to ponder.
Just because you can charge for something as much as you want and people will pay for it because they don’t have a choice, doesn’t make it a smart business. Rather, it displays a pickpocket mentality; steal as much as you can while you can!
A classic example happening right now is in the crude oil business. It costs approximately $2 to produce a barrel of crude oil in Saudi Arabia and $15 in Alberta, Canada; yet, at the moment, oil is trading over $120 a barrel! How come?
Now everybody will agree that to survive and prosper, a business has to make a reasonable profit - the keyword being ‘reasonable’. To charge $120 for something that costs $2 or $15 to produce cannot be called reasonable by any stretch of the imagination! Of course the price of oil is not determined solely by the producers; there are many other players like the oil companies, traders, speculators etc. etc. - just fancy names for pickpockets! And they would have us believe that it’s all a question of supply and demand! Or which has become even more fashionable now-a-days: Blame everything on the emerging economies of India or China or both. :-)
If all these players in the oil industry were to limit their profits to a reasonable level, the price of oil will certainly not be what it is today. Gandhi would call it theft, not business. I agree.
The election is over, everybody knows that. Obama has won.
~~ Vernon Watkins ~~
Vernon Watkins is a member of the Democratic National Committee from California and a superdelegate. Watkins, who endorsed Obama, made the above assessment as Obama has overtaken Hillary in the superdelegate support.
Strictly speaking, the election is not over and Obama has not won yet. But such statements are being frequently made by Obama supporting Democrats in an effort to prod Hillary to bow out of the race.
In spite of the tide turning against her, Hillary isn’t showing any signs of conceding the race.
While I do believe that, since the race is so close between the two, the election process should be carried out to the end to determine the eventual winner for the nomination but at some point one has to read the writing on the wall and call it a day. I think for Hillary that day has now come.
I also understand why it is so hard for Hillary to concede defeat. For years she was labeled, by the so called ‘political pundits’, a shoe-in for the Democratic nomination, so it must be really hard for her to accept that a relatively unknown contender is about to defeat her. But in politics, as in life, fortunes can and do change quickly; notwithstanding what the pundits predicted in the past!
Money is better than poverty, if only for financial reasons.
~~ Woody Allen ~~
Absolutely. Money is far better than poverty and not just for financial reasons. It also opens the door to power and privileges that the poor can not even dream of.
Whether we like it or not, the fact remains that the world has evolved in such a fashion that money has become all important and it exerts great influence on our individual lives. It is inconceivable and impossible to live without money though having lots of money will not necessarily make you happy or even content in life.
It has been said that man is a rational animal. All my life I have been searching for evidence which could support this.
~~ Bertrand Russell ~~ (1872 - 1970)
Man a rational animal? Those who say that man is a rational animal are stretching the truth! LOL. That’s why Mr. Bertrand Russell could not find any evidence in his search; man and rationality don’t mix!
I think that if animals were to know that we are comparing man to them, most of them will be offended except, perhaps, the snakes. Snakes will probably claim that they are more creepy than the man. LOL
Men (humans) usually do whatever creepy thing they are bent upon doing with no regard to facts and offer rationalizations after the fact to justify their actions. It happens that way likely because it’s much harder and difficult to face facts and act accordingly while being creepy is easier and often profitable! :-)
The fact is that while men (humans) may be capable of thinking and acting rationally, history tells us that they usually act irrationally. A good example is the wars fought throughout history over religion. Now let us assume, for the sake of argument, that everybody in the world adopts a religion ‘X’. Then what? Will the conflicts go away? Will everybody start showing love and respect for everybody else? Not a chance. So this pursuit of forcing one’s religion, any religion, on others is totally irrational (and useless as well) yet man has followed it since ages and continues to follow it today, often using brutal force.
Self-pity is our worst enemy and if we yield to it, we can never do anything good in the world.
~~ Helen Keller (1880-1968) ~~
It’s so true. Self-pity, by its very nature, is negative; it has no positive to it and we must never yield to it.
Sometimes we may find ourselves in trying circumstances when everything around us seems to be falling apart and we may be inclined to indulge in self-pity but such indulgence will not help us rectify the situation. Only determined, positive efforts can do that.
So always treat self-pity for what it is: An enemy. And don’t allow it to control your life.
