The young do not know enough to be prudent, and therefore they attempt the impossible - and achieve it, generation after generation - Pearl S. Buck
Monday, January 07, 2008
The Secret of Happiness
The great secret of true happiness is this: the man who asks for no return, the perfectly unselfish man, is the most successful. It seems to be a paradox. Do we not know that every man who is unselfish in life gets cheated, gets hurt? Apparently, yes. ‘Christ was unselfish, and yet he was crucified.’ True, but we know that his unselfishness is the reason, the cause of a great victory, the crowning of millions upon millions of lives with the blessings of true success.
Ask nothing; want nothing in return. Give what you have to give; it will come back to you – but do not think of that now. It will come back multiplied a thousand fold – but the attention must not be on that. Yet have the power to give: give, and there it ends. Learn that the whole of life is giving, that nature will force you to give. You come into life to accumulate. With clenched hands, you want to take. But nature puts a hand on your throat and makes your hands open. Whether you will it or not, you have to give. The moment you say, ‘I will not,’ the blow comes; you are hurt. None is there but you will be compelled, in the long run, to give up everything. And the more one struggles against this law, the more miserable one feels. It is because we dare not give, because we are not resigned enough to accede to this grand demand of nature, that we are miserable. The forest is gone, but we get heat in return. The sun is taking up water from the ocean, to return it in showers. You are machine for taking and giving; you take, in order to give. Ask, therefore, nothing in return; but the more you give, the more will come to you. The quicker you can empty the air out of this room, the quicker it will be filled up by the external air; and if you close all the doors and every aperture, that which is within will remain, but that which is outside will never come in, and that which is within will stagnate, degenerate, and become poisoned. A river is continually emptying itself into the ocean and is continually filling up again. Bar not the exit into the ocean. The moment you do that, death seizes you. (Swami Vivekananda)
Courtesy: ‘World Teachers on Education’ edited by T.S.Avinashilingam anmd K.Swaminathan. Published by Ramakrishna Mission Vidyalaya, Coimbatore-641020
Ask nothing; want nothing in return. Give what you have to give; it will come back to you – but do not think of that now. It will come back multiplied a thousand fold – but the attention must not be on that. Yet have the power to give: give, and there it ends. Learn that the whole of life is giving, that nature will force you to give. You come into life to accumulate. With clenched hands, you want to take. But nature puts a hand on your throat and makes your hands open. Whether you will it or not, you have to give. The moment you say, ‘I will not,’ the blow comes; you are hurt. None is there but you will be compelled, in the long run, to give up everything. And the more one struggles against this law, the more miserable one feels. It is because we dare not give, because we are not resigned enough to accede to this grand demand of nature, that we are miserable. The forest is gone, but we get heat in return. The sun is taking up water from the ocean, to return it in showers. You are machine for taking and giving; you take, in order to give. Ask, therefore, nothing in return; but the more you give, the more will come to you. The quicker you can empty the air out of this room, the quicker it will be filled up by the external air; and if you close all the doors and every aperture, that which is within will remain, but that which is outside will never come in, and that which is within will stagnate, degenerate, and become poisoned. A river is continually emptying itself into the ocean and is continually filling up again. Bar not the exit into the ocean. The moment you do that, death seizes you. (Swami Vivekananda)
Courtesy: ‘World Teachers on Education’ edited by T.S.Avinashilingam anmd K.Swaminathan. Published by Ramakrishna Mission Vidyalaya, Coimbatore-641020
Saturday, January 05, 2008
A Thought for Today : January 5, 2008
Be always at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let each new year find you a better man - Benjamin Franklin
Friday, January 04, 2008
A Thought for Today : January 4, 2008
Going to the moon isn't very far; the greatest distance we have is still within us - Charles De Gaulle
Thursday, January 03, 2008
A Thought for Today : January 3, 2008
A dream is just a dream. A goal is a dream with a plan and a deadline - Harvey Mackay
A Thought for Today : January 2, 2008
Friendship improves happiness, and abates misery, by doubling our joys, and dividing our grief - Joseph Addison
Tuesday, January 01, 2008
Facts & Figures-15 : Water Crisis
At the close of the 2nd millennium, most countries can just about manage with the water they have. But depletion is fast and widespread because of waste, pollution, the drying up of wells and springs, and the strangling of rivers through short-sighted exploitation.
Modern agriculture and industry require increasing quantities of water. New dams and reservoirs are unlikely to provide these because the environmental and social dislocations they cause make them counterproductive. The only solution to the looming crisis is to devise ways of conserving water, avoiding pollution, and stopping wasteful usage. There is not even a beginning yet towards such urgent measures.
Courtesy: India 1000 to 2000 : A Millennium Book of Reference, Express Publications (Madurai) Ltd
Modern agriculture and industry require increasing quantities of water. New dams and reservoirs are unlikely to provide these because the environmental and social dislocations they cause make them counterproductive. The only solution to the looming crisis is to devise ways of conserving water, avoiding pollution, and stopping wasteful usage. There is not even a beginning yet towards such urgent measures.
Courtesy: India 1000 to 2000 : A Millennium Book of Reference, Express Publications (Madurai) Ltd
...
For Wikipedia's article on Water, all about water, like types, properties, distribution in nature, water cycle, storage, effects on life, water politics and water crisis, references, further reading etc :
A Thought for Today : January 1, 2008
It is astonishing what force, purity, and wisdom it requires for a human being to keep clear of falsehoods - Margaret Fuller
Monday, December 31, 2007
Seven Secrets of Success
1. Roof says: AIM HIGH.
2. Fan says: BE COOL.
3. Clock says: EVERY MINUTE IS PRECIOUS.
4. Mirror says: REFLECT BEFORE YOU ACT.
5. Window says: SEE THE WORLD.
6. Calender says: BE UPDATED.
7. Door says: PUSH HARD TO ACHIEVE YOUR GOALS!
2. Fan says: BE COOL.
3. Clock says: EVERY MINUTE IS PRECIOUS.
4. Mirror says: REFLECT BEFORE YOU ACT.
5. Window says: SEE THE WORLD.
6. Calender says: BE UPDATED.
7. Door says: PUSH HARD TO ACHIEVE YOUR GOALS!
A Thought for Today : December 31, 2007
I like to listen. I have learned a great deal from listening carefully - Ernest Hemingway
A Thought for Today : December 30, 2007
Among the attributes of God, although they are equal, mercy shines with even more brilliance than justice - Miguel De Cervantes
Eyecatchers-49: 'Cheaper Energy through Wafer-thin Solar Panels'
'Nanosolar, a company in California, USA, has started mass production of wafer-thin solar panels printed on aluminium foils. It is expected that this will make solar energy cheaper. The news has excited the entire energy sector all over the world.
Courtesy: 'Newscape', The Hindu, Madurai, December 30, 2007
Facts & Figures-14 : World Population
Every TEN SECONDS, the world's population increases by 27 people. Of these, 26 are in the developing countries.... The UN estimates that by 2050, there will be 11 BILLION . There is no guarantee that the earth plus science will be able to support a population of that size.
Courtesy: India 1000 to 2000 : A Millennium Book of Reference, Express Publications (Madurai) Ltd
Courtesy: India 1000 to 2000 : A Millennium Book of Reference, Express Publications (Madurai) Ltd
Saturday, December 29, 2007
A Thought for Today : December 29, 2007
Time is a circus, always packing up and moving away - Ben Hecht
Suggestions for a Happy Life!
· Marry the right person. This one decision will determine 90% of your happiness or misery.
· Give people more than they expect and do it cheerfully.
· Be forgiving of yourself and others.
· Be generous.
· Have a grateful heart.
· Persistence, Persistence, Persistence.
· Discipline yourself to save money on even the most modest salary.
· Treat everyone you meet like you want to be treated.
· Commit yourself to quality.
· Be loyal.
· Be honest.
· Be a self-starter.
· Stop blaming others. Take responsibility for every area of your life.
· Take good care of those you love.
· Give people more than they expect and do it cheerfully.
· Be forgiving of yourself and others.
· Be generous.
· Have a grateful heart.
· Persistence, Persistence, Persistence.
· Discipline yourself to save money on even the most modest salary.
· Treat everyone you meet like you want to be treated.
· Commit yourself to quality.
· Be loyal.
· Be honest.
· Be a self-starter.
· Stop blaming others. Take responsibility for every area of your life.
· Take good care of those you love.
Friday, December 28, 2007
A Thought for Today : December 28, 2007
Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity - Seneca
A Thought for Today : December 27, 2007
Three passions, simple but overwhelmingly strong, have governed my life: the longing for love, the search for knowledge and unbearable pity for the suffering of mankind - Bertrand Russell
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
Facts & Figures-13 :
India has the largest number of illiterates: 350 million. 250 million Indians lack safe drinking water.
Excerpted from “Resurgent India is the responsibility of this generation: Narayana Murthy” by Sarah Hiddleston, ‘Education Plus’, The Hindu, Dec.24, 2007. (Based on speech delivered by Mr.Narayana Murthy, Chief Mentor and Chairman, Infosys Technologies, to management students from across the country gathered in Chennai for L'attitude, an annual management festival organized by Great Lakes Institute of Management)
A Thought for Today-185: December 26, 2007
It is only in appearance that time is a river. It is rather a vast landscape and it is the eye of the beholder that moves - Thornton Wilder
A Thought for Today-184: December 25, 2007
Life has a meaning, our birth has a meaning: that meaning is to realize in ourselves, in each one of us, something of God, to express in our daily life something that is associated with God, knowledge, kindness, benevolence, purity and happiness. - M.P.Pandit, Sri Aurobindo Ashram, Pondicherry
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