Pearls of wisdom

Chanakya (c. 350-283 BC) was adviser and prime minister to the first Maurya Emperor Chandragupta (c. 340-293 BC), and architect of his rise to power.
These are his pearls of wisdom.


1. A person should not be too honest. Straight trees are cut first and honest people are screwed first.

Even if a snake is not poisonous, it should pretend to be venomous.

Before you start any work, always ask yourself three questions - Why am I doing it, what the results might be and will I be successful.  Only when you think deeply and find satisfactory answers to these questions, go ahead.

Once you start working on something, don't be afraid of failure and don't abandon it. People who work sincerely are the happiest.

As soon as fear approaches near, attack and destroy it.

The world's biggest power is the youth and beauty of a woman.

The fragrance of flowers spreads only in the direction of the wind. But the goodness of a person spreads in all direction.

Whores don't live in company of poor men, citizens never support a weak company and birds don't build nests on a tree that doesn't bear fruit.

God is not present in idols. Your feelings are your god. Your soul is your temple.

A man is great by deeds, not by birth.

Treat your kid like a darling the first five years. For the next five years, scold them when necessary. By the time they turn sixteen, treat them like your friends. Your grownup children are your best friends.

Books are as useful to a stupid person as a mirror is useful to a blind person.

Education is the best friend. An educated person is respected everywhere. Education beats beauty and youth.

There is some self-interest behind every friendship. There is no friendship without self-interest. This is a bitter truth.

The year of the Horse has begun!

Thoughts to gallop with this lunar year.
A sharp tongue can cut your own throat.

If you want your dreams to come true, you mustn't oversleep.

Of all the things you wear, your expression is the most important.

The best vitamin for making friends...... B1.

The happiness of your life depends on the quality of your thoughts.

The heaviest thing you can carry is a grudge..

One thing you can give and still keep...is your word.

You lie the loudest when you lie to yourself.

If you lack the courage to start, you have already finished.

One thing you can't recycle is wasted time.

Ideas won't work unless ' You' do.

Your mind is like a parachute...it functions only when open.

The pursuit of happiness is the chase of a lifetime!

It is never too late to become what you might have been.

Some Things You Keep

Some Things You Keep

(This applies to friends,too!)
by Sheri Sobek

Some things you keep. Like good teeth.Warm coats.  Bald husbands.
They're good for you, reliable and practical and so sublime that to throw  them
away would make the garbage man a thief.
So you hang on, because something old is sometimes better than something new, and what you know often better than a stranger.
These are my thoughts, they make me sound old, old and tame and dull at a time when everybody else is risky and racy and flashing all that's new and improved in their lives.  New spouses, new careers, new thighs, new lips.
The world is dizzy with trade-ins. I could keep track, but I don't think I want to.
I grew up in the fifties with practical parents - a mother, God bless her who washed aluminum foil after she cooked in it, then re-used it- and still does.
A father who was happier getting old shoes fixed than buying new ones.
They weren't poor, my parents, they were just satisfied.  Their marriage was good, their dreams focused. Their best friends lived barely a wave away.
I can see them now, Fifties couples in Bermuda shorts and Banlon sweaters,
lawnmower in one hand, tools in the other.
The tools were for fixing things - a curtain rod, the kitchen radio, screen door, the oven door, the hem in a dress. 
Things you keep.
It was a way of life, and sometimes it made me crazy. All that re-fixing, re-heating, re-newing, I wanted just once to be wasteful. Waste meant affluence. Throwing things away meant there'd always be more.
But then my father died, and on that clear autumn night, in the chill of  the hospital room, I was struck with the pain of learning that sometimes there isn't any 'more'.
Sometimes what you care about most gets all used up and goes away, never to return.
So, while you have it, it's best to love it and care for it and fix it when it's broken and heal it when it's sick. That's true for marriage and old cars and children with bad report cards and dogs with bad hips.
You keep them because they're worth it, because you're worth it.

Some things you keep.

Sheri Sobek
http://mrmom.amaonline.com/stories/Somethingsyoukeep.htm

Be Careful What You Plant

This is an old story, but I like it very much.






A successful businessman was growing old and knew it was time to choose a successor to take over the business.

Instead of choosing one of his Directors or his children, he decided to do something different. He called all the young executives in his company together.

He said, "It is time for me to step down and choose the next CEO. I have decided to choose one of you. "The young executives were Shocked, but the boss continued. "I am going to give each one of you a SEED today - one very special SEED. I want you to plant the seed, water it, and come back here one year from today with what you have grown from the seed I have given you. I will then judge the plants that you bring, and the one I choose will be the next CEO."

One man, named Jim, was there that day and he, like the others, received a seed. He went home and excitedly, told his wife the story. She helped him get a pot, soil and compost and he planted the seed. Everyday, he would water it and watch to see if it had grown. After about three weeks, some of the other executives began to talk about their seeds and the plants that were beginning to grow.

Jim kept checking his seed, but nothing ever grew. Three weeks, four weeks, five weeks went by, still Nothing.

By now, others were talking about their plants, but Jim didn't have a plant and he felt like a failure. Six months went by -- still nothing in Jim's pot. He just knew he had killed his seed. Everyone else had trees and tall plants, but he had nothing. Jim didn't say anything to his colleagues, however, he just kept watering and fertilizing the soil - He so wanted the seed to grow.

A year finally went by and all the young executives of the company brought their plants to the CEO for inspection.

Jim told his wife that he wasn't going to take an empty pot. But she asked him to be honest about what happened. Jim felt sick to his stomach, it was going to be the most embarrassing moment of his life, but he knew his wife was right. He took his empty pot to the board room. When Jim arrived, he was amazed at the variety of plants grown by the other executives. They were beautiful -- in all shapes and sizes. Jim put his empty pot on the floor and many of his colleagues laughed, a few felt sorry for him!

When the CEO arrived, he surveyed the room and greeted his young executives.

Jim just tried to hide in the back. "My, what great plants, trees and flowers you have grown," said the CEO. "Today one of you will be appointed the next CEO!"

All of a sudden, the CEO spotted Jim at the back of the room with his empty pot. He ordered the Financial Director to bring him to the front. Jim was terrified. He thought, "The CEO knows I'm a failure!! Maybe he will have me fired!"

When Jim got to the front, the CEO asked him what had happened to his seed - Jim told him the story.

The CEO asked everyone to sit down except Jim. He looked at Jim, and then announced to the young executives, "Behold your next Chief Executive Officer! His name is Jim!" Jim couldn't believe it. Jim couldn't even grow his seed.

"How could he be the new CEO?" the others said.

Then the CEO said, "One year ago today, I gave everyone in this room a seed. I told you to take the seed, plant it, water it, and bring it back to me today. But I gave you all boiled seeds; they were dead - it was not possible for them to grow.

All of you, except Jim, have brought me trees and plants and flowers. When you found that the seed would not grow, you substituted another seed for the one I gave you. Jim was the only one with the courage and honesty to bring me a pot with my seed in it. Therefore, he is the one who will be the new Chief Executive Officer!"

If you plant honesty, you will reap trust
If you plant goodness, you will reap friends
If you plant humility, you will reap greatness
If you plant perseverance, you will reap contentment
If you plant consideration, you will reap perspective
If you plant hard work, you will reap success
If you plant forgiveness, you will reap reconciliation

So, be careful what you plant now; it will determine what you will reap later.

Speech versus Silence

There are two kinds of speeches and two kinds of silences. 

Speech is either truth or a falsification, and silence is either fruition or heedlessness. 

If one speaks the truth, his words are better than his silence, but he who invents falsifications, his silence is better than his speech.

- Al-Hujwiri, "The Kashf al-Mahjub"

What is truth?

Lately, lots of personas have come out to preach "the Truth".
Fact remains that the truth is not what you profess to be true.
Take it from Buddha.

"But what makes these 'experts' preach their own opinion and call it truth?" asked the inquirer. "Is it an inheritance of humankind to do this, or is it merely something they gain satisfaction from?" "Apart from consciousness," answered the Buddha, "no absolute truths exist. False reasoning declares one view to be true and another view wrong. It is delight in their dearly held opinions that makes them assert that anyone who disagrees is bound to come to a bad end. But no true seeker becomes embroiled in all this. Pass by peacefully and go a stainless way, free from theories, lusts, and dogmas."


- Majjhima Nikaya

Once spoken, words cannot be withdrawn

If you have nothing good to say about anyone, don't say anything.
That person may be vile (in your opinion) or even curse at you, but in the end, people will see what kind of person they are and what you really made of.

Scattered Papers
Once upon a time an old man spread rumors that his neighbor was a thief. As a result, the young man was arrested. Days later the young man was proven innocent. After been released he sued the old man for wrongly accusing him.
In court the old man told the Judge: 'They were just comments, didn't harm anyone.."
The judge, before passing sentence on the case, told the old man: 'Write all the things you said about him on a piece of paper. Cut them up and on the way home, throw the pieces of paper out. Tomorrow, come back to hear the sentence.'
The next day, the judge told the old man: 'Before receiving the sentence, you will have to go out and gather all the pieces of paper that you threw out yesterday.'
The old man said: 'I can't do that! The wind spread them and I won't know where to find them.'
The judge then replied: 'The same way, simple comments may destroy the honor of a man to such an extent that one is not able to fix it. If you can't speak well of someone, rather don't say anything.

MORAL:
'Let's all be masters of our mouths, so that we won't be slaves of our words.'

Telling it like it is

Some people cannot stop talking. It almost seems like they love the sound of their voice so much they just can't stop.
These people are the reasons why meetings (if not controlled) become the the biggest waste of time.
For this post, I will quote Barry Maher from his Filling the Glass newsletter.

Speaking of Communication and Silence

By Barry Maher

Here's a tip that a lot of us, myself included, seem to have trouble remembering:
When you have nothing to say, say nothing.
Particularly when we're new in an organization or when we're uncomfortable in a job or in a situation, there's a tendency to want to speak up, to speak up for the sake of speaking up, especially in meetings. We feel if we keep our mouths shut, people will think we know little or nothing about the subject under discussion.
If we actually do know little or nothing about it, the desire becomes especially strong. Get me around a bunch of guys at a construction site, and I can't shut my mouth.

In communications training, we call this panic blathering.

The less you know, the more you want to interject something, anything, and usually what you interject proves just how little you actually do know. In an astonishingly short period of time, you can damage your credibility in a way that can take months and even years to repair.

Panic blathering.

I know it's difficult, but when the impulse to panic blather seizes you, take a deep breath and think before you speak. Weigh your words carefully and contribute only when you have something worthy of contribution. A penetrating question, or even an admission of what you don't know, is a greater sign of intelligence and even expertise than a transparent pretense of knowledge.
Tip: No matter who you are or how new or experienced you might be, if you don't know, that's usually the correct answer.
My father was an attorney and a man who had an answer for everything. Ask him to elucidate the difference between Einstein's concept of special relativity and just ordinary run-of-the-mill, day to day relativity and he'd give you a 20 minutes oration: without having any more of a clue about any of it than you or me.
But he was an excellent attorney, trained at Harvard Law, loved by his clients, and if you asked him a question concerning the law, the response could well be, "I don't know."
"I don't know," is powerful expert testimony.
It makes everything you do know that much more believable. If you know where to find the answer and you can promise to do so, even better. "Let me find out and I'll get back to you on this by Friday, if that's soon enough." Then do it.
When Gary Ames was president of U.S. West, whenever he was addressing a group and got a tough question, he'd say something like, "Excellent question. While I generalize for the next thirty seconds, Jake Hanes who's sitting out there in the back of the room, will be coming up with the correct answer. When I stop talking, Jake will give you all the specifics, because I don't have the slightest idea."
When Gary Ames told you what he did know, you believed him.

Suppresion of truth

It does not bode well for the country when international newspapers start reporting on Malaysia's suppression of the press. Especially papers like the New York Times, The Times UK and International Herald, which has a really wide readership base.
I promised myself I would stay away from political blogging for the reason that any negativity would tend to generate more nausea within myself.
However, this remains one of my main contention points for the situation in this country. That people are being discouraged to voice out their opinion. The really public ones get to go to jail. Or get slapped with punishments or harassment.
When people speak out, they may be speaking the truth or they could telling an outright lie.
I believe today's society is matured enough to sieve the facts from the pile of information thrown at them.
Forget the mainstream media in Malaysia. The papers are only good for their story articles, and any reports on political activities or happenings are only to show the good side of the current ruling government.
What kind of example is being set by today's leaders when they lie through their teeth?
Like I posted earlier this month, even telling a white lie is only a stay of execution.
How long do you think you have before the truth comes out?
I suppose only people who do NOT fear God do not bother about what retribution will come their way on Judgement Day.
With that, I'll leave you with my quote.

The reason men are silenced is not because they speak falsely, but because they speak the truth. This is because if men speak falsehoods, their own words can be used against them; while if they speak truly, there is nothing which can be used against them -- except force.

Plain speaking

By now, it's probably clear that I'm a big fan of Socrates.
I like his work for 2 reasons, his dedication to the advancement of Ethics. And the other, Epistemology.
In case you didn't know what that means, in simple terms, it's working towards gaining knowledge and wisdom. More or less. You can look it up.
I was thinking about Socrates when I heard the morning show on Mix FM, where various celebrities are being tested on whether they're telling the truth.
Then I remembered this quote.
My plainness of speech makes them hate me, and what is their hatred but a proof that I am speaking the truth? - Socrates (469-399 BC)
I can't exactly remember the occasion he said this, but I think it would be the time that he was on trial for being the "wisest" person in town.
In the end, he died for something he believed in. By drinking poison. If I'm not mistaken, the other philosopher Seneca died the same way.
Anyway, I'm happy that this morning, one of my favourite Malaysian "philosophers", Datin Paduka Marina Mahathir, "passed" the test on Mix FM. She was telling the truth.
She was being asked questions on sexuality, parenting and her work as a feminist.
I suppose if there's anything, we should always tell the truth.
Some of the truths may hurt, but it's temporary.
Telling white lies may not hurt the person at the moment, but when they discover the truth, it'll hurt even more, and it could be permanent.
I have refused to buy and read newspapers anymore.
In fact, the only papers that dare to tell the truth is The Malay Mail, and The Sun.
Truth is becoming a rare commodity in this country, and I hope that this situation will change.
We must teach our children to be truthful, and the best way to show them is by being a role model.
Ethan, I know you've been asking your Mommy not to lie when she promises to fetch you from school.
You will eventually realise that your Mommy could not lie even if someone pointed a gun at her.
That's why she always gives in to your demands, because she rather give in than tell a white lie to escape your requests.
I hope one day you'll realise what a gem your Mom is.