Kaleidoscope

After an eventful day at the end of which I was looking to edit an email that I wrote a few hours ago to my friend, I came across an email that I saved in my drafts a while ago.

The email contained one sentence - a quote.

"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence is therefore not an act, but a habit."     Aristotle 

I started pondering about actions, excellence and habits.  I entered another element which is thought - into my pondering process! What is the influence of thought in an action, habit and excellence?

While I continue my questioning, feel free to ponder, wander and wonder.  Have a nice day!

Thanks to Aristotle and to wikipedia for his image. 

I learnt about W.B. Yeats when I was collecting information about Tagore. I was impressed by Yeats' love for poetry, no matter who the creator of a good poem was. I learnt that he found Tagore's works in a London train, ardently and passionately searched for Tagore and a step above, nominated that piece of work for Nobel prize.

Today I thought of reading some of Yeats' own poetry. The one that I came across in poetseers.org was "An Irish man foresees his death"

 
I know that I shall meet my fate
Somewhere among the clouds above;
Those that I fight I do not hate,
Those that I guard I do not love;

Then why this man is fighting? What for? Yeats pictures this beautifully. The entire poem can be read at

http://www.poetseers.org/nobel_prize_for_literature/william_b_yeats/library/death

Thanks to Yeats for his poem and for who he was , poetseers.org for the online version of the poem and to  Wikipedia for the image.

When browsing for the quotes of George Bernard Shaw, I had learnt how funny he was, in addition to being thoughtful.

Here are some of those!

A fashion is nothing but an induced epidemic.

A fool's brain digests philosophy into folly, science into superstition, and art into pedantry. Hence University education.

England and America are two countries separated by the same language.

Few people think more than two or three times a year; I have made an international reputation for myself by thinking once or twice a week.

He who can, does. He who cannot, teaches.

I never thought much of the courage of a lion tamer. Inside the cage he is at least safe from people.

Kings are not born: they are made by artificial hallucination. 

Oh, the tiger will love you. There is no sincerer love than the love of food. 

Thanks to gettyimages.com for the picture and to brainyquote.com for the quotes.

Thoughtful Quotes from George Bernard Shaw

A gentleman is one who puts more into the world than he takes out.

Better keep yourself clean and bright; you are the window through which you must see the world.

I want to be thoroughly used up when I die, for the harder I work the more I live. I rejoice in life for its own sake.

If history repeats itself, and the unexpected always happens, how incapable must Man be of learning from experience.

Life isn't about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself. 

Thanks to GB Shaw, brainyquote.com for the online version of a large number of his quotes and to wikipedia for the image. 

In my childhood days, I had memorized poems for examinations. The poem Poison Tree, that I believe I read in my eighth grade is still vivid in my mind.

Not all the words, but the concept is what is vivid. Now when I read it again, I can appreciate the simplicity with which William Blake communicated on what it takes to keep the wrath hidden and what it takes when expressed.

Incidentally, the theme of my first poem is about a mind without hatred which (hatred) I consider similar to wrath.

The poem by William Blake is as below; Thanks to him and to quotations.about.com for the online version. I will soon edit and publish my poem as well.

 I was angry with my friend:
 I told my wrath, my wrath did end.
 I was angry with my foe;
 I told it not, my wrath did grow.

 And I water'd it in fears,
 Night & morning with my tears;
 And I sunned it with my smiles
 And with soft deceitful wiles.

 And it grew both day and night,
 Till it bore an apple bright;
 And my foe beheld it shine,
 And he knew that it was mine,

 And into my garden stole
 When the night had veil'd the pole:
 In the morning glad I see
 My foe outstretch'd beneath the tree

Thanks to  Thomas Phillips for the portrait of William Blake and to Wikipedia for the electronic image of the same.

One of my friends introduced Mary Oliver to me. I am impressed by the simplicity and clear expression in her works, that add beauty and flow and touch our hearts.

Thanks to her and uiuc.edu, I came across one of her fantastic works.

The name of the poem is The Journey.  I will simply mention a few lines of the poem and I believe that it will motivate you to read the poem fully and see for yourself what journey is dear Mary Oliver referring to.

One day you finally knew
 what you had to do, and began,
 though the voices around you
 kept shouting
 their bad advice

........

 But little by little,
 as you left their voices behind,
 the stars began to burn
 through the sheets of clouds,
 and there was a new voice

The complete poem can be read at  

http://www.english.uiuc.edu/maps/poets/m_r/oliver/online_poems.htm 

Thanks to them and to poets.org for the picture. 

I was thinking about various  human inventions. First I thought about a space ship. How some one would have thought of it? Why? 

Then my attention went to Foot ball (Soccer). Why and how the game was conceptualized? I browsed Wikipedia - yes, there is an interesting article about the game.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Football_(soccer)

I am hereby communicating some interesting titbits, leaving your curiosity to do the rest, in wikipedia or any  source that you may discover.

* a very earliest form of football was played in China - 2nd and 3rd centuries B.C.

*English public schools, in 16th century turned the game from a violent 'mob type' to organized 'team type' game.

*Over 240 million people from 200 countries play football ( 2001 survey 

I went on to browse about American Football, shortly after my 'soccer' browsing.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_football

some titbits

* In Australia and New Zealand the game is known as Gridiron while in America, that word refers to the playing field.

*The origin of this game probably date to early 1800s

*In the NFL, ranges of uniform numbers are reserved for certain positions

Thanks to wikipedia for the information and pictures. 

Ongoing Floods in United States

Forest Fire in Greece

1 Million people evacuated in Southeastern China due to Hurricane Dean

Heaviest rainfall causing floods in North Korea

A 8.0 magnitude earthquake off the pacific coast devastates Peru

These current events do bother my mind and a question arises - Why does Nature let these events happen? Would there be any other cause other than the scientific phenomena behind them? 

These events are posted in Wikipedia with details. I am planning to read them in detail. 

Leonardo da Vinci's diverse talents amaze me naturally, as I find it to be difficult for me to attain mastery in one area, leave alone two.

Intrigued by information about his diverse talents, I browsed Wikipedia for a article on Leonardo da Vinci. One of his views, mentioned in Wikipedia is that he commented "the act of procreation and anything that has any relation to it is so disgusting that human beings would soon die out if there were no pretty faces and sensuous dispositions".

Other than the interesting information about his life and his accomplishments in various fields, this statement by him got my attention. I started pondering over his words. Evidently, I  admire the philosophical outlook of Leonardo from this statement and it sure has helped in my self analysis!. 

Thanks to Wikipedia for the article and the portrait of Leonardo (he himself painted ). 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci 

Lately, I have developed an interest in life, mind, space, earth and time, thanks to Star Trek. How a human would have come to existence? what is time? what is space?

It was surprising to know that the current human lineage extends upto 2 million years only when the first life form existed 4 billion years of ago. Thanks to wikipedia for this information and for the picture of earth.

I heard many theories of evolution , that all human beings are descended from one human couple, that all life forms are evolving and even animals evolve into human etc. I spin my mind around the possibilities and more often stand stranded with no definitive answer. But the questions-full quest is rather entertaining.

 
And also it occurs to me that it is fascinating to see the diversity of nature, in the varieties of plants , animals and also human beings. What could be the source for all these? How does the physical evolution work? Will there be many earth like planets where other live form exist?

And the most fascinating question is on what mind is. Where is it in body? Is it a physical part of body? If so does it die along with the body ? If not, where does it go after the death?

Interesting, Isn't it?

Today morning,  in my friend's desktop computer I viewed an awesome wall paper and a very interesting quote.

You could not step twice into the same rivers; for other waters are ever flowing on to you.

Later in the evening, when I browsed http://www.paperquote.com/, I learnt that they market a software that changes your desktop wall paper every day with a beautiful picture and a fantastic quote.The site is certified with a good rating by CNet as well. I think it is a site to pay a visit to.

Also I searched for Heraclitus' ( the author of the mentioned quote ) quotes on brainyquotes.com.I found the below to be appealing to myself. How about for you?

Good character is not formed in a week or a month. It is created little by little, day by day. Protracted and patient effort is needed to develop good character.

Man is most nearly himself when he achieves the seriousness of a child at play.

And I can't sleep if I don't post a picture in the blog. Thanks to Wikipedia and to Johannes Moreelse for the portrait of Heraclitus.

I always enjoy this poem by Robert Frost, especially these last few lines.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

I was thinking that either way, whether one wanted to be noteworthy or notorious, the road less travelled by, would make a difference.

Thanks  to Frost for his work, wikipedia for the picture and wsu.edu for the online version of the poem. 

"All you need in this life is ignorance and confidence, and then success is sure."     Mark Twain

Love thy neighbor as yourself, but choose your neighborhood.     Louise Beal

"I couldn't be two faced. If I had two faces, I wouldn't wear this one."     Abraham Lincoln

Giving up smoking is the easiest thing in the world.I know because I've done it thousands of times. - Mark Twain

I just write what I wanted to write. I write what amuses me. It's totally for myself.

It is our choices...that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.

It matters not what someone is born, but what they grow to be.

Numbing the pain for a while will make it worse when you finally feel it.

Remember, if the time should come when you have to make a choice between what is right and what is easy.

Indifference and neglect often do much more damage than outright dislike.

The consequences of our actions are so complicated, so diverse, that predicting the future is a very difficult business indeed.

I was watching my first Harry Potter Movie 'The philosopher's stone' in DVD again. Some of my friends have commented that it is only a kid's movie. But I find it be interesting and thoughtful, sprinkled with fantasy which makes the Harry Potter movies captivating. 

I found these quotes by J.K.Rowling ( through the character Albus Dumbledore ) in 'The philosopher's stone' to be very interesting.

The happiest man on earth would look in the mirror and see only himself exactly as he is

It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live

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