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.
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.
Genius is an infinite capacity for taking pains.
~~ Thomas Carlyle ~~ (1795 – 1881)
I think the use of the phrase, ‘infinite capacity for taking pains’ is an exaggeration to make a point. But almost all the people we consider as genius, tell us that their success is more the result of their persistent hard work (taking pains) and resolute determination not to give up in the face of failures rather than their intellect. Failure is always painful; what sets the genius apart from the ordinary is their enthusiastic willingness and capacity for enduring the pain in the pursuit of their objectives.
Not everybody has the discipline, the willingness or the capacity to be a genius. However, we have within ourselves to develop these qualities by making conscious efforts and become better, if not an outright genius, at whatever we do in life.
By the way, what or who is a genius? The American Heritage Dictionary defines genius as ‘A person of extraordinary intellect and talent’.
Now intellect and talent are qualities that anybody can improve upon if they so desire.
Fame, we may understand is no sure test of merit, but only a probability of such: it is an accident, not a property of a man.
~~ Thomas Carlyle ~~ (1795 – 1881)
It’s true; just because somebody is famous doesn’t necessarily mean he or she is meritorious. While many famous people fully deserve the fame they get, there are many others who just manage to become famous without having much merit or capability. They just manage to become famous through manipulation or some other similar accident. Fame is an happenstance; it’s not a property or quality of a person.
On the other hand there are many meritorious people, many a times referred to as unsung heroes, who deserve fame but never get it. Why that happens? Because we live in a twisted world, has always been twisted and will always be twisted; that’s why. :-)
So never automatically assume that because somebody is famous that person must have a great merit. While there is the probability that the famous person has a great merit, one can never be sure as fame is simply an accident or happenstance of the circumstances.
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!
History, a distillation of rumour.
~~ Thomas Carlyle ~~ (1795 – 1881)
Funny and true! I think history is just rumour designed to appease the powerful rulers of the day. It has got to be totally inaccurate. Just look at what is happening right now. Do we ever know the truth? In spite of great communications means and freedom of press at least in some countries, we almost never know the truth; everybody has his or her own spin on every issue with usually total disregard for the facts.
And in ancient times when there were scant means of communications and many autocratic rulers, one can hardly expect unbiased recording of events. So history is basically agreed upon guesses by historians.
In the long-run every Government is the exact symbol of its People, with their wisdom and unwisdom; we have to say, Like People like Government.
~~ Thomas Carlyle ~~ (1795 – 1881)
I don’t agree with this quote. First of all in autocratic countries people have no choice as to what sort government they have. And these autocratic rulers have powerful police machinery to suppress any opposition they may face from the people and they frequently use this machinery ruthlessly to repress any opposition.
Even in democracies people frequently find themselves stuck with governments they would rather not have. That happens because in most democracies people have a limited choice and sometimes they find themselves having to choose between the devil and the deep sea. That is amply illustrated by the fact that the voter turnout is very low and declining.
That doesn’t mean that people don’t deserve or want a better government. It simply means that the system has flaws and needs imrovements. The beauty of democratic system is that it can be peacefully changed and is frequently changed; hopefully for the better. :-)
This world, after all our science and sciences, is still a miracle; wonderful, inscrutable, magical and more, to whosoever will think of it.
~~ Thomas Carlyle ~~ (1795 – 1881)
That is definitely true. With our science and technology, we have figured out that there are lots of suns (stars), lots of planets, and lots of asteroids roaming around in space, there are galaxies millions and millions miles away. Yet there may be lots of other things which we probably haven’t even imagined may exist. Even on our own planet earth, there are still a lot of things like other species that we know nothing about.
I often wonder why the world or universe exists and where does the universe end? With all our advanced science, we have no answer for these questions. Most likely we will never know the answers to these questions. May be universe has no end; it’s endless. Now think about it: If the universe is endless then it follows that there are countless suns (stars), planets, moons and probably countless other heavenly bodies which, with our present knowledge, we don’t know and can’t fathom.
And if the universe is endless and filled with countless suns and planets, it will be logical to think that some form of intelligent life will exist somewhere; it may be not exactly the life as we know it but something for sure. So the magical miracle continues. What do you think?
