Sound for smell

Old Abraham was a poor tailor whose shop was next door to a very upscale French restaurant. 

Every day at lunch time, Abraham would go out the back of his shop and eat his black bread and herring while smelling the wonderful odors coming from the restaurant's kitchen.

One day, Abraham was surprised to receive an invoice from the restaurant for "enjoyment of food." 
So he went to the restaurant to point out that he had not bought anything from them. 
The manager said, "You're enjoying our food, so you should pay us for it."

Abraham refused to pay and the restaurant sued him. 
At the hearing, the judge asked the restaurant manager to present his side of the case. 
The manager said, "Every day, this man comes and sits outside our kitchen and smells our food while eating his. It is clear that we are providing added value to his poor food and we deserve to be compensated for it."

The judge turned to Abraham and said, "What do you have to say to that?"

Abraham didn't say anything but stuck his hand in his pocket and rattled the few coins he had inside.

The judge asked him, "What is the meaning of that?"

Abraham replied, "I'm paying for the smell of his food with the sound of my money.

How to be unhappy

I've written before about happiness. And plenty of folks know what makes them happy. So many people have written about how to be happy.
Perhaps happiness also means the absence of sadness.
This is the list you should know.
 
It's not that we want to be unhappy, but don't we do a lot of these things? This is a good thing to read and reread, behaviors to avoid!
Make little things bother you. Don't just let them, MAKE them.
Lose your perspective on things and keep it lost: don't put first things first.
Get yourself a good worry, one about which you cannot do anything.
Be a perfectionist, which means not that you work hard to do your best, but that you condemn yourself and others for not achieving perfection.
Be right. 
Be always right. 
Be the only one who is always right, and be rigid in your rightness.
Don't trust or believe people, or accept them at anything but their worst and weakest. 
Be suspicious. 
Insist that others always have hidden motives.
Always compare yourself unfavorably to others. This guarantees instant misery.
Take personally everything that happens to you.
Don't give yourself whole-heartedly to anyone or anything.

The Wisdom of Gandhi

One of my all time favourite heroes is Gandhi.
Perhaps one of the few who truly attained Nirvana.

When Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, better known as Gandhi, was studying law at the University College of London, there was a professor, whose last name was Peters, who felt animosity for Gandhi, and because Gandhi never lowered his head towards him, their "arguments" were very common.
One day, Mr. Peters was having lunch at the dining room of the University and Gandhi came along with his tray and sat next to the professor. 

The professor, in his arrogance, said, "Mr Gandhi: you do not understand... a pig and a bird do not sit together to eat ".

Gandhi replied, "You do not worry professor, I'll fly away ", and he went and sat at another table.

Mr. Peters, green of rage, decided to take revenge on the next test, but Gandhi responded brilliantly to all questions.

Then, Mr. Peters asked him, "Mr Gandhi, if you are walking down the street and find a package, and within it there is a bag of wisdom and another bag with a lot of money; which one will you take?"

Without hesitating, Gandhi responded, "the one with the money, of course".

Mr. Peters, smiling, said, "I, in your place, would have taken the wisdom.

"Each one takes what one doesn't have", responded Gandhi indifferently.

Mr. Peters, already hysteric, wrote on the exam sheet the word "idiot" and gave it to Gandhi.

Gandhii took the exam sheet and sat down. 

A few minutes later, he went goes to the professor and said, "Mr. Peters, you signed the sheet, but you did not give me the grade."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahatma_Gandhi

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.