Persist If You Lack Talent

Thankfully, persistence is a great substitute for talent.

― Steve Martin, Born Standing Up: A Comic's Life

Give Autonomy to Motivate

A sense of autonomy has a powerful effect on individual performance and attitude … Control leads to compliance; autonomy leads to engagement.

- Dan Pink (Drive: The Surprising Truth about What Motivates Us)

Don't Judge Me... Because You Don't Know Me

Before you start to judge Me, remember this, you don't know me, you don't know what I've been through. you have no idea what made me who I am today. Please shut up.

- Heath Ledger

Recently, he was flying from Dubai to Mumbai. A brooding man sat next to him, behaving strangely and rudely and thwarting all communication. When the flight landed, he demanded to disembark first, ahead of business class passengers. Some got irritated and asked him what the matter was. 

The passenger said his wife and child had died in an accident and he was going home to claim the bodies — hence the urgency. “That day, I realised I shouldn’t judge anybody,” recalls Sivanand.

- An anecdote by Mohan Sivanand, Editor of Reader's Digest India, in Forbes India, 9 October 2009

Sweeping under the Carpet

Everything we run away from has power over us.

- Joyce Meyer, American writer

Man Creature of the Times

Every man is a creature of the age in which he lives and few are able to raise themselves above the ideas of the time.

 ― Voltaire

समय (युग) आपको गढ़ता है. 

Intelligence vs Kindheartedness

When I was young, I admired clever people. Now that I am old, I admire kind people.

- Abraham Joshua Heschel [Jewish theologian and philosopher]

Count Your Blessings

As a rule, man is a fool;
When it's hot, he wants it cool;
When it's cool, he wants it hot;
Always wanting what is not.

- Anonymous

You may not be in the perfect place. You may not be in a the perfect relationship or not get the job of your dream, or your ideal lifestyle… But you can always ask and train your mind to be aware of the advantages during your life journey. Or else your mind would make your life miserable. Because the Portuguese guy may be right: people usually complain no matter what they get.

- From a blog

Eternally Young Mind

Youth is happy because it has the ability to see beauty. Anyone who keeps the ability to see beauty never grows old.

- Attributed to Franz Kafka, but source unknown

Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps learning stays young. The greatest thing in life is to keep your mind young.

- Henry Ford (1863 - 1947)

Keep the flame of curiosity and wonderment alive.

- Michio Kaku, an American theoretical physicist, in an interview

Listening Vs. Dancing to the Song

Those who linger on the lyrics of the song must not be too quick to judge or evaluate those who respond to its rhythm.

- Nimmy's post on Facebook

Song is a metaphor for life here.


It would be possible to describe everything scientifically, but it would make no sense; it would be without meaning, as if you described a Beethoven symphony as a variation of wave pressure.

- Albert Einstein

Early Success - Pros and Cons

Early success is often rewarded with leadership roles and enriched learning opportunities, leading to future advantages that are magnified throughout life.

- A report in the Hindustan Times (October 25, 2012) 

G. J. Raju's question on Facebook:

Professionally, is it important to peak when young or when older?

My answer:

Jingo... people are innately different... there are early bloomers and there are late bloomers. Having said that, early success does bestow big advantages, because nothing succeeds like success.

Sudhir Singh's comment:

Early success is dangerous too, many cannot handle it easily. Prolonging it becomes even more difficult - more people succumb to the pressures of being constantly in limelight. Success is a relative term, ultimately what counts is inner joy, happiness and peace - this also comes through good health and wealth. Wealth is a vehicle for success not the end in itself.


From a newspaper article on the downfall of Sania Mirza:

... the cocktail of fame and money is more often than not too heady for tender young minds to bear.

Filmmaker Karan Johar in an interview:

Nothing fails like success. And nothing succeeds like failure.

Worth of Experience's Lessons

सब कुछ लुटा के होश में आए तो क्या किया

- तलत महमूद के गाये एक फ़िल्मी गीत से 

Success Ruins Everything

Q. Does success change everything?

A. Yes, it does. It ruins everything.

- American Author Pat Conroy

Health Is Freedom

Health brings a freedom very few realise, until they no longer have it.

- From Net

We often relate health to happiness, but relating health to freedom is a novel idea.

Every One is from a Different Planet

When you remind yourself every day that others may never ever see things from your perspective, you grow more tolerant and self-reliant. 

When you remind yourself every day that you may never ever see things from the other's perspective, you grow more compassionate and learn to leave them alone.

- Nimmy on Facebook

कोई गलत न ठीक कोई, सबके हैं हालात जुदा

- हस्तीमल हस्ती (ग़ज़लकार )

Hazards of Stardom

When companies or people are almost worshiped, they either die trying to justify the reputation or resort to unbelievable tactics.

- Nimmy in her blog

 

 

ख़ुदा हमको ऐसी ख़ुदाई न दे

कि अपने सिवा कुछ दिखाई न दे

- From a ghazal sung by Chitra Singh