From ripples to tsunami

Got bored. Picked up “The leader who had no title” book by Robin Sharma. Guess what! Got more bored.
Nevertheless, sharing what I felt were interesting quotes from the book:
• We generally take the people we love the most for granted. Until we lose them. Then we take long, silent walks and pray for a second chance to treat them the way they deserved to have been treated. Don’t let that sort of regret infect your life.
• The average life has only 960 months.
• If a man is a street sweeper, he should sweet streets as Michelangelo painted or Beethoven composed. He should sweep so well that hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, “Here lived a great sweeper who did his job well.” –Dr Martin Luther
• Daily ripples of excellence – over time – become a tsunami of success. Every action has a consequence. Doors you did not know existed begin to open.

Chase, grab, chase again

(Continuation of yesterday’s post)
At the book stall was lined up a series of books on Sigmund Freud. Picked up one that analyses jokes psychologically. Wasn’t impressed, but will share one with you.

A man leaves her daughter with a friend and says “Take good care of her.” When he returns after a few months, he finds her pregnant. “I trusted you. How did this happen?” “Dunno. There was a screen between my son’s bed and this girl’s,” replied the friend. “What if the screen had been removed?” asked the guy. “Oh, I did not give it a thought,” said the stupid friend. It was also implied that the fellow who left his daughter with such an idiot was also a fool. I din't know jokes could be this serious. You psychologists!
I moved on to a book titled Happiness. It was interesting. The book rightly said Freud was the last person to be asked about how to be happy.
The author argues permanent happiness is a mirage. You chase, grab and chase again. No one can be permanently happy. In two decades the earning power of Americans grew 300 per cent. But their happiness quotient remained almost static, the book argues. It uses the words “Hedonistic treadmill.” When you receive a pay hike, you become happy. But once you settle with the new salary, the original negativity returns. Most of the lottery winners returned to their original negative mind status within a few months.
It argues how one spends his leisure time counts largely in happiness status.
An interesting quote I liked, but forgot the author: Experience is experiencing something we did not like to experience.
While discussing this book with a friend, he boasted, “I don’t need to read any book on happiness. I am always happy.”
“That’s good,” I replied. “What about your wife? Is she happy with your smoking habit?”
“Why do remind me of her and spoil my mood?” he was tense in a minute.

Man, I am sorry

I don’t know anything about Genghis Khan and hence bought a 400-plus page book on the Mongol hero by John Man. Went off in lightning speed, skipped a page, another, another…yawn….sleep.. another.. I have “finished” reading.
And now, I don’t know anything about Genghis Khan.
Hey, I am not blaming the author, come on. I agree I am an awful reader.
OK, read this interesting piece in Bhavan’s Journal:
Goethe’s famous novel, “Sorrows of Young Werther,” sought glorification of suicide. Goethe was hardly 25 when he wrote it and the novel proved to be a startling European success. Following its publication in 1774, a spate of suicides was reported all over Europe, especially among love-lorn youth. Though I am also in the youth category, I don’t wanna read this book.
Life is short, let’s make it sweet. Right?

The White Tiger

As my friend was going gaga over Aravind Adiga’s The White Tiger, am rushing through the pages. Better late than never. As usual, sharing three paras I liked so far:
“Only three have never let themselves be ruled by foreigners: China, Afghanistan and Abyssinia. These are the only three nations I admire.”
(Another friend argued that China was indeed at times ruled by foreigners. But as I am not an intellectual, I am not in this argument game)
“And only two destinies: Eat or get eaten up.”
“You were looking for the key for years/But the door was always open.”

Like the flowing river

Picked up “Like the flowing river” of Paulo Coelho last week. Finished in a matter of hours. No, no, it wasn’t so gripping, only I skipped pages by the dozens. Dunno why. After Alchemist, I find this so-so. For the record, lemme say I am too small to comment on the great author’s work.
Now just a couple of paras that touched me:
* I am not doing anything, and yet I’m doing the most important thing a man can do: I am listening to what I needed to hear from myself.”
* Quoting Genghis Khan: “Any action committed in anger is an action doomed to failure.”
* “You don’t always have to pretend to be strong, there is no need to prove all the time that everything is going well, it is good to cry out all your tears, because only then you will be able to smile again.”