Archive for the ‘People’ Category.
It does me no injury for my neighbor to say there are twenty gods or no God.
~~ Thomas Jefferson ~~ (1743–1826)
It’s a reflection of human stupidity that wars have been fought and are still being fought over such a simple matter as to whether there is or isn’t a God.
If everybody was to think logically and act reasonably, then it is clear that it poses no danger to anybody if somebody believes there is one God and somebody else believes that there are many gods and somebody else believes that there is no God at all.
The trouble begins when some people appoint themselves as special messengers of God and proceed to enforce their brand of God on others, usually using one religion or the other as a front for their operations. We call such people ‘fundamentalists’ or ‘religious fanatics’ though I think ‘deranged idiots’ is a better description. LOL.
In reality such ‘deranged idiots’ have no faith in God or even in the religion they profess to propagate as they show no hesitation in killing even people belonging to their own religion. And since such people have existed before, exist today and will exist tomorrow in one form or another, it’s imperative on the World in general and secular democracies in particular to keep themselves well armed and well prepared to face such self-proclaimed special messengers of God.
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?
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!
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.
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!
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.
Be not afraid of greatness: some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them.
~~ William Shakespeare ~~ (1564 - 1616)
Shakespeare has mentioned three ways of becoming great but there are actually four ways of achieving greatness:
- You can be born great. For example, you could have been born in some sort of monarchy or royalty. If you didn’t get that, don’t worry. You didn’t have a choice in the matter, did you? LOL
- You can achieve greatness - if you really want it. This one is admittedly the toughest route to follow and requires a lot of hard work, intelligence, cleverness, leadership qualities and all that jazz. Do you really want to put yourself through that grind? I didn’t think so!
- You can have greatness thrust upon you. That can happen if the lady luck smiles upon you and you manage to capture a high office. For example, the current US president George Bush - some still refer to him as a ‘great’ president. LOL
- Another way to achieve greatness; which Shakespeare failed to mention, probably because it wasn’t available in his times; is to buy greatness! Hire a BIG PR firm and soon everybody will ‘know’ that you are indeed a great soul! :-)
What if you can’t employ any of the above methods to become ‘great’? Don’t be afraid; greatness doesn’t really matter! So forget about it and continue living your life. LOL
Life is nothing but a competition to be the criminal rather than the victim.
~~ Bertrand Russell ~~ (1872 - 1970)
That just about sums it up though I’d prefer to use the word ‘predator’ rather than the ‘criminal’ so that the quote would read ‘Life is nothing but a competition to be the predator rather than the victim (prey)’. It’s because at least a few of the powerful criminals do get caught and are punished whereas the predators roam free.
The whole universe appears to be in a predator and victim (prey) mode; everything is in a constant state of war like the bacteria attacking our bodies all the time trying to make us sick or even die, powerful animals like lions killing other animals for food etc etc. Humans are unique predators in the sense that many a times they kill other humans just for the sake of killing and they kill other animals sometimes for food, sometimes for their skin or bones and sometimes just for fun and call it ’sport’. So much so that humans have driven even the very powerful and agile animal species like the tiger to the verge of extinction.
And humans’ economic predatory practices over other humans are atrocious. For instance, corporate executives, usually in concert with the so called board of directors, earning hundreds or even thousands of times more wages than the average wages of their workers. Nobody is worth that much; it’s simply a case of the calculating predators sucking the blood of the working class people.
Make yourself an honest man, and then you may be sure there is one less rascal in the world.
~~ Thomas Carlyle ~~ (1795 – 1881)
So we are all rascals? Definitely! LOL
Since time immemorial, humans have been trying to impress upon other humans to be honest, truthful and upright but without any success. The one reason why it happens is that those who ask others to follow such ideals themselves fail to follow such ideals. Examples being parents teaching children to be honest and truthful, preachers preaching honesty and integrity, people in positions of power asking others to selflessly work for the organization or the country but themselves not doing the same. It’s like ‘do as I say, not as I do.’ Not going to happen. And we have even come up with fancy names like referring to lies as ‘extending the truth.’ Either it’s the truth or it’s not; what does extending the truth mean?
The second reason is that we soon discover in everyday life that honesty and truthfulness doesn’t pay. We all indulge in dishonesty and tell lies whenever it suits our purpose. It’s just that some of us have become very adept at this ‘art’. :-) And those who become experts in this art reap handsome rewards which becomes an incentive for the rest of us to learn the ropes. LOL
So, yes, ideally you can become honest and reduce the number of rascals in the world by one but it’s not a very practical or profitable proposition.
There is no amount of money in the world that will make you comfortable if you are not comfortable with yourself.
~~ Stuart Wilde ~~
While extreme lack of money will definitely make you unhappy and uncomfortable, having lots of money will not necessarily result in your being content and tranquil in life. The reason why money is important is because one needs a certain amount of money (income) to make a living and beyond that we are just chasing our wants and fuzzy dreams. Most of us have only a vague idea as to why we need more money but we continue to chase money just out of habit. Some people may say they need more money because they want to buy a fancy car or a bigger house etc. or perhaps a lot of people would express the desire to quit their distressingly boring jobs if they had lots of money.
But that is only an illusion as one doesn’t need a fancy car or a big house and a job is only one facet of life; there are a lot of other factors that affect us. Also, we know a lot of people who have a lot of money (though they may not think so! LOL), several fancy cars, several big houses (mansions) and have achieved great success in their profession, and we idolize and imitate them, but they still lead very troubled lives. These people are prime examples of the fact that just money and material possessions can’t bring one tranquility. Tranquility is something one can only find from within oneself.
In order that all men may be taught to speak truth, it is necessary that all likewise should learn to hear it.
~~ Samuel Johnson ~~ (1709-1784)
Very true. As a matter of fact most of the time people lie because they think that we would not like it if they tell the truth. Truth, at times, can be very ugly and people don’t like to hear it. Politicians are a good example of people who can’t afford to tell the truth most of the time.
Who will vote for a politician who dares to tell the truth and says, ‘Elect me and I will raise your taxes.’? Yet the politician who says he won’t raise the taxes, gets elected and immediately turns around and raises the taxes! Happens all the time. So we can’t expect people to tell the truth unless we learn to hear and appreciate the truth even when the truth may be very ugly.
He would probably not last long, a black man in the position of president. They would kill him. Hillary is a very sharp lady. It might be calmer if she wins.
~~ Doris Lessing ~~
In an interview with Stockholm daily Dagens Nyheter, Nobel Prize winner Doris Lessing expressed her fears as to what may happen if Barack Obama becomes US president.
Unfortunately, these fears are not far fetched. The possibility is real that such an incident may occur. As a matter of fact, I won’t be surprised if an attempt is made on his life even before he becomes the president. It is conceivable that some individuals or groups would be extremely upset simply because Barack Obama is black and they might try to cause physical harm to him.
Such risks and dangers should not deter either Barack Obama or anybody else from seeking the office of the president. In the history of USA, many white presidents have been assassinated for one reason or another. That does not deter white folks from seeking the office of the president; nor it should. We can not allow people with extreme views in any society to dictate to us what we can and can not do.
The voters have spoken - the bastards!
~~ Morris Udall ~~ (1922-1998)
LOL. A good one that describes the true feelings of politicians when voters don’t vote for them and they lose the election. Though most of them may feel that way, they usually refrain from saying so publicly. On the other hand, those politicians who get elected describe the voters as ’smart and intelligent’ even though inside they may still feel that the voters were quite gullible in voting for them!
Even though I am not very fond of politicians, I try not to be unusually cynical about them. As in any profession, there are committed politicians who are genuinely interested in improving the lot of common people. Like any other game, politics has its own rules and regulations by which the politicians must play. Since it’s a politician’s job to convince people that he or she has got what it takes to make their country and the world a better place, many of them tend to go overboard when making promises.
Their unflattering thoughts about voters when defeated are not so unusual. Just like an employee would use colorful language to describe his or her employer when the employee is ‘let go’ (fired) by an employer, so do the politicians when ‘let go’ by the voters. It shows they are just humans like everybody else.
Everyone has an invisible sign hanging from their neck saying, ‘Make me feel important.’ Never forget this message when working with people.
~~ Mary Kay Ash ~~ (1915 - 2001)
This is so true. Consciously or sub-consciously, we all carry that sign. It’s just the way we are. Whether in business (jobs) or in personal matters, we feel good when others appreciate us and make us feel important. And usually it doesn’t cost anything to appreciate somebody and make them feel important.
Unfortunately, most businesses as well as us as individuals fail to recognize this important fact of life in our day to day dealings with other people. May be because we are so concentrated on ‘me’ that we don’t have the time or the inclination to appreciate others. That’s why Jean-Paul Sartre said, ‘Hell is other people.’ :-)
It doesn’t have to be that way. We should all learn to be more appreciative of other people. That will make for a better world.
First, golfers don’t have to be fit. Second, they keep their clothes on while playing. And third, they frequently wear plaid.
~~ Richard Wiseman ~~
Richard Wiseman, a British psychologist found in his study that as far as women are concerned, golf is the least sexy sport a man can play. The above is his explanation as to why that is the case.
I have played golf a few times and found it to be quite boring; I just can’t seem to understand as to what the challenge is in hitting a little ball with a stick and see how far it goes. Plus the cost to play a game of golf is atrocious. I think the popularity of golf has to do more with the human herd mentality; we just tend to follow the herd thinking that since everybody is doing it, it must be good.
I think golf is a game for those who have lots of money to waste and lots of free time on their hands. Besides the exorbitant rates charged by the golf course (Why do they call it a golf course? Just wondering!) owners and operators, it takes almost a whole day to play a game of golf. And, like Richard Wiseman reasons, you don’t have to be fit to play golf! The average Joe has just been suckered in by the marketing machine and will walk away from this sport as soon as he wakes up from his slumber.
Women have a sixth sense; that’s why they know way before the average Joe that there is nothing sexy or even remotely interesting about this game. Kathy Lette said that Average Golfers Handicap is his IQ LOL.
The desire to be thin has been going on for centuries. Get real. That is what women do. Why did women wear corsets and keep fainting? We do it because we think it looks good. That is what we are like.
~~ Felicity Kendall ~~
I totally disagree with the views of Felicity Kendall expressed in this quote. I never buy the argument that we must continue to do something just because we have been doing it for centuries. We have more knowledge now than we had centuries ago. And if with our advanced knowledge we learn that what we have been doing for centuries is, in fact, injurious to our health then we should discourage that activity or desire. That would be just common sense.
There are countless examples of activities which, after we have discovered them to be injurious to our health, we actively discourage people from doing that activity. One such example will be cigarette smoking. While in the past nobody cared as to who smoked and who didn’t, now we actively discourage smoking because we know for sure that cigarette smoking is very injurious to our health. As a matter of fact, most jurisdictions have laws banning cigarette smoking in public places.
Now there is nothing wrong with women (or even men) desiring to be optimally thin; it’s is actually good for your health. It’s being ‘extra’ thin that is injurious to one’s health and, therefore, should be discouraged.
Politicians are the same all over. They promise to build a bridge even where there is no river.
~~ Nikita Khrushchev ~~ (1894 - 1971)
That’s quite a generalization but nonetheless true in the case of most politicians if not all the politicians. Politicians all over make ridiculous promises which they can not deliver.
The question is: Why do politicians make promises they know or ought to know, they can’t keep? I think there are two primary reasons for it:
- Democratic form of government, though far more superior than any other form of government mankind has known or experienced so far, is still plagued with a lot of imperfections. Many a times the people (voters) do not have much of a choice in electing their government; they just have to choose between the devil and the deep sea. This situation discourages people from participating in the election of their government as evidenced by dwindling turnout at the polls.
- The people in democracies themselves have to share some of the blame for their politicians making unrealistic or totally ridiculous promises like ‘the promise to build a bridge where there is no river.’ :-) We, the people as voters, vote mostly for those politicians who promise us the rose garden! Most politicians, being humans like the rest of us, soon realize that to ‘win’ they must learn the art of ‘extending the truth’ and convincingly deliver unrealistic promises. Those politicians who fail to master this ‘art’ or whose conscience won’t allow them to play this ‘game’ soon drop out of the game or are sidelined. And we end up with the type of politicians we have today.
Blaming the politicians or ridiculing them won’t solve the problem. We all need to think as to how to improve the system of electing our governments and work towards improving it.
The conviction of the rich that the poor are happier is no more foolish than the conviction of the poor that the rich are.
~~ Mark Twain ~~ (1835 - 1910)
So true; each party (class?) is equally foolish in believing the other is happier.
At least the poor can be excused for believing that the rich are happier because they watch the rich displaying their wealth like owning several big houses (mansions?), private jets, luxury cars, hiring the most expensive lawyers when they get on the wrong side of the law etc. etc. Since poor can’t even dream of such luxuries, it leads them to wrongly believe that the rich must be really happy.
The reasons as to why the rich think that poor are happier are not so obvious. May be the rich think that the poor don’t have to worry about such important matters as to ‘how I am going to make my next million dollars today!’ Or may be it’s a classic case of “The grass looks greener on the other side of the fence.” :-)
Being happier is not dependent on how rich or poor you are; rather it’s dependent on whether you view life as a comedy, a tragedy or something in between. Moreover, whether rich or poor, the humans are not designed to be perpetually happy. So expecting that somehow we can attain perpetual happiness is like expecting to catch hold of the rainbow; not going to happen.
We should often be ashamed of our finest actions if the world understood our motives.
~~ Francois de La Rochefoucauld ~~ (1613 - 1680)
Though it may seem cynical, in my view, it’s quite true. Very few people in this world commit themselves to do good things for others without any selfish motive. Most people have some ulterior motives, sometimes the motives are extremely sinister and even criminal motives. For example, the cases of some priests abusing boys under their care. Priests, by their very profession, are supposed to be God fearing and caring of other humans. That did not prevent some of them from indulging in such criminal activity. And there have many other cases such as volunteer coaches etc. indulging in similar sinister activities.
Sometimes the motive may be just the expectation of getting some fame or publicity or both. Though it’s still a selfish motive, I have no problem if somebody does good deeds just to gain some fame and publicity.
I think that it will be prudent for the world not only to scrutinize the evil deeds but also sometimes to scrutinize the motives behind the so called good deeds. It’s no secret that what humans think, what they say and what they do, is often worlds apart.
We should be more modest in our belief that we can impose democracy on a country through military force. In the past, it has been movements for freedom from within tyrannical regimes that have led to flourishing democracies; movements that continue today. This doesn’t mean abandoning our values and ideals; wherever we can, it’s in our interest to help foster democracy through the diplomatic and economic resources at our disposal. But even as we provide such help, we should be clear that the institutions of democracy – free markets, a free press, a strong civil society – cannot be built overnight, and they cannot be built at the end of a barrel of a gun.
~~ Barack Obama ~~
This is a very true and factual quote. Democracy is not something you can build overnight. While sometimes it may be possible to impose democracy on a country through military force, such an imposed democracy is unlikely to be successful unless a vast majority of the people of that country are convinced that the democratic form of government is in their best interests. In a true democracy, the willing participation of the people and their firm belief in the institutions of democracy is essential. And that can not be achieved through the barrel of a gun.
The best way to propagate democracy in any country is to educate and convince the people of that country the benefits of democracy; a task easier said than done. Probably a bit faster and more productive way to promote democracy may be to apply gentle political and economic pressure to convince the rulers of the autocratic countries to move towards democracy. Again, very slow and not an easy process but certainly much less expensive and less disruptive than flexing military muscle.
There is more to life than increasing its speed.
~~ Mahatma Gandhi ~~ (1869 - 1948)
There has to be more to life than just increasing its speed. We are too engrossed in the speed; everything must be done faster and faster. Where is the limit? Does increasing the speed of life improves our quality of life? I don’t think so. We are all in a kind of a rat race, everybody is trying to outrun the other.
In some instances, increasing the speed of certain electro-mechanical devices may be necessary or beneficial. For example, if we want to explore other planets and outer space, the increase in speed is a necessity. But it seems our appetite for speed in every facet of our lives has consumed us and we have become addicted to increasing the speed of life in general, without pausing to think if and how it adds to the quality of our lives.
On the contrary, our addiction to speed leads to several harmful results. For example, due to the hectic (faster?) pace of life, stress levels among the people are on the increase. Take the automobile - most of us drive automobiles and we usually try to drive faster than the legal speed limit or faster than the road conditions permit resulting in many accidents and even deaths. Usually there is no pressing reason for us to drive faster, we just do it because we are addicted to it. Same goes for fast foods; we never seem to have enough time to prepare and eat healthy food, so to get our food fast we resort to easting fast foods or TV dinners. The results of this are proving to be disastrous, we are all getting fat. Some cities in North America reporting as much as 30% of their population as obese; that means one in three persons is obese! In my view, that is a disaster.
We need to take a pause and think if increasing speed in every facet of our lives and keep increasing it is really necessary. There has to be something more to life than just increasing its speed.
He was too New York, too Italian, and he had too many wives.
~~ Dorothy Kaliades ~~
Dorothy Kaliades, a New York Voter and retired jewelry designer, makes good points about the troubles and eventual withdrawal of Mr. Rudy Giuliani from the presidential race.
When you aspire to be a national leader like the President is supposed to be, you need to evolve your views and state your positions on a national level and not just on a city or state level or your ethnic background. One needs to tell the people what he or she will do for the nation as a whole if elected to be the President. As time has shown, Rudy Giuliani failed to do that, so he had no choice but to run for the exit. While he earned good reputation and praise for his handling of the aftermath of September 11, 2001 attacks, many of his detractors criticize him for totally ignoring the ongoing threats to New York City before the attacks occurred.
Considering how people seem to have very little faith and trust in politicians in general, having too many spouses in the past doesn’t help. It raises even more doubts in the minds of the people. Though I think having too many spouses wouldn’t have mattered much if he had clearly stated his position as to how he intends to solve the problems facing the nation.
Patriotism is when love of your own people comes first; nationalism, when hate for people other than your own comes first.
~~ Charles De Gaulle ~~ (1890 - 1970)
This, in my view, is a true and classic definition of the difference between patriotism and nationalism. The line between the two becomes very fuzzy because those who espouse the feelings of nationalism almost never openly admit their hatred towards others.
There is nothing wrong in being a patriot and to love your people or country and apply your efforts to improve their lot in life. While doing that, a patriot harbors no feelings of ill will or hatred towards other peoples or nations.
Nationalism, on the other hand, has less to do with improving the lot of one’s own people or nation and more to do with the hatred of others. It essentially conceives others as evil who can do nothing right or useful. Nationalism is a very negative and dangerous concept.
Most successes are unhappy. That’s why they are successes - they have to reassure themselves about themselves by achieving something that the world will notice.
~~ Agatha Christie ~~ (1890 - 1976)
I agree with that. What exactly is a success or to be more precise, who is a successful person? Normally we define somebody as successful if that person has managed to hold a high office such as President or Prime Minister of a country or Owner or CEO of a corporation or an actor, actress or athlete who rose to the top of his or her profession and manged to amass a lot of wealth etc. though such a definition of success is debatable. Attainment of such high positions or amassing of wealth certainly gets them noticed by the world.
However, considering what most of these people end up doing after attaining such exalted positions, they can not really be happy. For example sex scandals, outright corruption, driving while drunk, using illegal performance enhancing drugs or other unlawful activities by many of these so called successful people come to light quite frequently. They wouldn’t be doing such things if they were happy and content. Happiness is simply a state of mind that usually lasts only for a little while; no matter how successful one might be. On the other hand, even those who are considered total failures or are totally deprived, also experience moments of happiness.
Sometimes I think many of these so called successful people are border-line crazy and they crave constant attention from others. Very difficult, if not impossible, to have a happy disposition under such circumstances.
People are always blaming their circumstances for what they are. I don’t believe in circumstances. The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and if they can’t find them, make them.
~~ George Bernard Shaw ~~ (1856-1950)
It’s true; you can blame your circumstances all you want and it may make you feel better but it’s not going to take you anywhere. To reach anywhere, you’ll need to make an effort yourself in that direction.
We all feel shackled by circumstances from time to time. The good news is that circumstances can be changed. The key is to carefully analyze the circumstances you find yourself in and visualize the circumstances as you would want them to be. Set that as your goal and work out a plan of action to achieve that goal.
It’s important to realize that no plan of action to change your circumstances will work unless you commit yourself to work persistently and enthusiastically on it. You’ll invariably face hurdles and failures in the execution of your plan. You must not give up in the face of such failures but learn from them; modify your plan of action if necessary and continue in the direction you want to go. Then your circumstances are bound to change.
Of all God’s creatures, Man alone is poor.
~~ Thomas Carlyle ~~ (1795 – 1881)
This is a great thoughtful quote. Of all the creatures that we know of, humans have more material possessions per capita than any other species. Yet most of the time most of us feel we are poor or very poor. Material possessions or the lack thereof is not the only thing that makes us feel poor, we feel poor in more than one way. That’s why many of those who have unfathomable material possessions, also feel they are poor.
I think the reason for this is our insatiable, uncontrolled greed. We are so engrossed in wanting more and more material possessions that we tend to forget what we already possess. Greed to an extent is not necessarily a bad thing but uncontrolled, insatiable greed is definitely a curse. You only have to look at how many wealthy people including CEOs, law makers etc. end up in jail usually on charges such as stealing from their company, defrauding the public or shareholders and indulging in bribery etc. Obviously, it was their greed and not the lack of material possessions that drove them to indulge in such unlawful activity. We only learn about a few of these wealthy (or should I say poor?) people who have been caught; there have to be many others who have not been caught and probably will never be caught. How poor these people must be in spite of being rich!
Discourage litigation. Persuade your neighbors to compromise whenever you can. As a peacemaker the lawyer has superior opportunity of being a good man. There will still be business enough.
~~ Abraham Lincoln ~~ (1809 - 1865)
While Abraham Lincoln aimed his advice mainly at Americans, it’s equally applicable to other nations. Obviously we have not paid any attention to his advice. Instead we have gone in the opposite direction and encourage litigation for anything and everything! While Americans may be leading in the field of litigation, many other developed and even developing countries aren’t far behind.
Just imagine how much money could be saved if the lawyers were to persuade the litigants to compromise instead of proceeding ahead with litigation. It will also boost productivity as fewer juries will be needed thus fewer jurors and fewer witnesses will have to take time off work. It will also help in reducing bitterness between the opposing parties as in a compromise everybody feels like a winner whereas in litigation one party wins and the other loses.
Don’t hold your breath though as it ain’t going to happen. Just because Abraham Lincoln gave us good advice doesn’t mean we are going to follow it or even make any attempts to follow it! :-)
In Hollywood a girl’s virtue is much less important than her hairdo. You’re judged by how you look, not by what you are. Hollywood’s a place where they’ll pay you a thousand dollars for a kiss, and fifty cents for your soul. I know, because I turned down the first offer often enough and held out for the fifty.
~~ Marilyn Monroe ~~ (1926 - 1962)
Now that is quite sad and true commentary about people in Hollywood and their money. I believe it’s not just the people in Hollywood but humans in general; lust, money and power seems to be the be all and end all. Hollywood gets under the microscope more often because the people there tend to show off more often the gazillions of dollars they seem to possess. Generally speaking, soul and virtue are of no consequence; these qualities just get a lip service.
Why are we as a species so much after lust, money and power? The obvious answer is our inherent desire to dominate. What is soul? Do humans have souls? I doubt it; I think there is nothing known as soul, it’s just a concept, a feeling. All normal humans are capable of knowing wrong from right and we feel guilty when we do something wrong. Then we start rationalizing our behavior to get over the feeling of guilt; some of us doing it more effectively than others. Soul is just a convenient concept we throw in for our rationalizations.
If people really had souls then when they become rich and powerful, they will still have souls and wouldn’t offer a thousand dollars for good looks and a kiss and fifty cents for the soul; would they? Or is it that one gets ‘Free’ of the soul as soon as one becomes rich and powerful?
