If you could eliminate one emotion from the world, would you? Which one? Why?
In this world, there are so many emotions that can lead to disasters. For example, anger, jealously and even contentment.
Let me share with you the many disasters that would occur before telling you which one of the emotion I would choose to eliminate from the world.
Anger is a very common emotion and people all over the world get angry everyday. Many things can make you angry. For example, you get angry when things doesn’t go your way, you get angry when you dun get what you want and you get angry when someone teases you etc. When angry and the person loses control, he may storm out of the room, scream at you or even start to hit you. Or much worse, do other bad things to you.
However, although anger can lead to bad things, it is relatively controllable. There are many ways to control anger.
Even though contentment is good, too much of it is bad. Contentment makes you satisfied with life and it removes ambition. When you are content with your results, you stop studying, when you are content with your physical conditioning, you stop working out. Hence, I feel that although contentment is good, too much of it would result in the end of improvement.
Out of these three emotions, anger, contentment and jealously, I would eliminate jealously if I could.
Jealously is horrible! It comes in so many different forms and will eat at you. I feel that many of the horrible crimes had been caused by jealously. Jealously is a really terrible thing in this world that has caused much unhappiness. It can lead to murders, divorces, stealing and so many other bad things.
For example, this person is very successful business man. He is extremely wealthy and live in a bungalow. He also has a very beautiful wife. Then, his brother, seeing him prosper, becomes jealous and envies his brother...
In order to beat his brother due to jealously, he took up an affair with his sister in law and found it wasn't enough to outshine him. He began to hate and loath his brother and his jealousy was so overwhelming that he killed him.
In this example, the man stole his brother's wife and killed his brother just because he was jealous of his wealth. So many things can happen because of jealously.
In conclusion, I feel that jealously is the root of many problems and disasters. It has caused much unhappiness and led to many crimes. Hence, given a chance, I would eliminate the emotion jealously from this world.
Friday, May 22, 2009
How do you know who your friends are
How do you know who your friends are?
First, we must understand what is friendship before we can discover who our true friends are.
Friends often share similar interests, likes and dislikes and passion. Thus, friends are able to interact with you more freely as they understand you better.
True friendship involves a shared sense of caring and concern and a desire to see one another grow and develop and a hope that one another would succeed in all aspects of life. Let me break this into three parts.
Firstly, about a shared sense of caring and concern. True friends care for each other and cares for them. Let me compare a true friend to a fake friend. For example, if you had fallen down and injured yourself, a true friend will always stand by your side and help you. However, the other person may not help you and may walk away pretending not to see you to avoid having to waste his own time.
Secondly, about a desires to see one another grow and develop. True friends will always have a desire to see one another grow and develop, that is to say, they will work together and grow together as friends. For example, if you have troubles with your homework and do not understand a mathematics concept, a true friend will sit down patiently to teach you while the other person would not even bother to teach you! He would just say " Learn yourselves and don't waste my time."
Thirdly, about succeeding in all aspects of life. Genuine friends will always cheer you on and hope that you succeed in all the things you do. For instance, if you got high marks for your exam, a true friend will not be jealous, instead, he would congratulate you unlike the other person who would look at you with a sour look on his face and walk away without saying anything.
Real friends encourage one another and forgive one another where there has been an offense. Genuine friendship supports during times of struggle. Friends are dependable. In true friendship, unconditional love develops. We love our friends no matter what and we always want the best for our friends.
All these time we have been talking about what true friendship is. So, you may ask, how do we get true friends and why is it important to have true friends.
Firstly, I would say that to get true friends, we must first trust them and never doubt them. If you trust your friend, your friend will also not doubt you. However, if you continually doubt your friends, your friends would not want to hang out with you because you are so overly suspicious and not trustworthy. For example, if your friend tells you a secret and asks you not to tell anybody, you should not. Otherwise, if you gossip about it and tell other people or even worse, posting it on the internet, your friendship will soon be destroyed. Faithfulness and loyalty are also key to true friendship.
About the importance of getting true friends. All of us in this world needs someone with whom we can share our lives, thoughts, feelings, and frustrations. We need to be able to share our deepest secrets with someone, without worrying that those secrets will be leaked out.
Friendship takes time: time to get to know each other, time to build shared memories, time to invest in each other's growth. Thus, spend more time with your friends and start to get to know more about each other!
First, we must understand what is friendship before we can discover who our true friends are.
Friends often share similar interests, likes and dislikes and passion. Thus, friends are able to interact with you more freely as they understand you better.
True friendship involves a shared sense of caring and concern and a desire to see one another grow and develop and a hope that one another would succeed in all aspects of life. Let me break this into three parts.
Firstly, about a shared sense of caring and concern. True friends care for each other and cares for them. Let me compare a true friend to a fake friend. For example, if you had fallen down and injured yourself, a true friend will always stand by your side and help you. However, the other person may not help you and may walk away pretending not to see you to avoid having to waste his own time.
Secondly, about a desires to see one another grow and develop. True friends will always have a desire to see one another grow and develop, that is to say, they will work together and grow together as friends. For example, if you have troubles with your homework and do not understand a mathematics concept, a true friend will sit down patiently to teach you while the other person would not even bother to teach you! He would just say " Learn yourselves and don't waste my time."
Thirdly, about succeeding in all aspects of life. Genuine friends will always cheer you on and hope that you succeed in all the things you do. For instance, if you got high marks for your exam, a true friend will not be jealous, instead, he would congratulate you unlike the other person who would look at you with a sour look on his face and walk away without saying anything.
Real friends encourage one another and forgive one another where there has been an offense. Genuine friendship supports during times of struggle. Friends are dependable. In true friendship, unconditional love develops. We love our friends no matter what and we always want the best for our friends.
All these time we have been talking about what true friendship is. So, you may ask, how do we get true friends and why is it important to have true friends.
Firstly, I would say that to get true friends, we must first trust them and never doubt them. If you trust your friend, your friend will also not doubt you. However, if you continually doubt your friends, your friends would not want to hang out with you because you are so overly suspicious and not trustworthy. For example, if your friend tells you a secret and asks you not to tell anybody, you should not. Otherwise, if you gossip about it and tell other people or even worse, posting it on the internet, your friendship will soon be destroyed. Faithfulness and loyalty are also key to true friendship.
About the importance of getting true friends. All of us in this world needs someone with whom we can share our lives, thoughts, feelings, and frustrations. We need to be able to share our deepest secrets with someone, without worrying that those secrets will be leaked out.
Friendship takes time: time to get to know each other, time to build shared memories, time to invest in each other's growth. Thus, spend more time with your friends and start to get to know more about each other!
What is beauty?
What is beauty? Beauty can be found in so many things around us. The beauty of a child's innocence, mother's love, caring eyes, graceful rivers and the flaky snow.
Beauty is a matter of perspective, it is subjective. Beauty is completely personal. What one thinks is beautiful someone else can think completely opposite.
For example, if you think that this vase is beautiful, someone may disagree with you, pointing out all the disadvantages of it.
What if someone likes green, while others don’t? What if he love red; but you hate it? What if I hate red beans, while others like their taste? Different people have different perception of things around us. For example, the perception of things of a particle physicist would be entirely different than the person who is unfamiliar with the atomic structure of materials.
Furthermore, I feel that beauty depends upon the mental state. For example, when you are about to take an important exam, nothing would seem beautiful to you. However, if you had a lucky day -- gotten full marks for exams, won a lottery etc, even the smallest things would seem beautiful to you.
"Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder". This is a very famous quote and is often heard.
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder in the sense that everyone finds beauty in different things around us. As said earlier, there is beauty in almost everyone and everything. It doesn't have to be physical beauty. Beauty can be inner beauty -- what's on the inside of a person, and how they treat others.
The media is hung up on the physical aspect of beauty, making people think they need to look a certain way in order to be considered beautiful but that's not at all true. Different people define beauty in many different ways. Anything can be beautiful if you think it is.
Personally, I feel that true beauty is not about physical appearance and materialistic things. I feel that true beauty lies in the heart and in the spirit, and no amount of money, makeup, surgery or false fronts can compete with it. For example, someone may have attractive features, but if he or she does not help people who are in need and look down on them, I do not think he or she is beautiful. Inner beauty is much more important than physical appearance. Our actions reflect on our personality.
In conclusion, I think that beauty is whatever you feel it to be. One person's impression of what is beautiful may be different than another's. Hence, no one is right or wrong with regards to beauty.
Beauty is a matter of perspective, it is subjective. Beauty is completely personal. What one thinks is beautiful someone else can think completely opposite.
For example, if you think that this vase is beautiful, someone may disagree with you, pointing out all the disadvantages of it.
What if someone likes green, while others don’t? What if he love red; but you hate it? What if I hate red beans, while others like their taste? Different people have different perception of things around us. For example, the perception of things of a particle physicist would be entirely different than the person who is unfamiliar with the atomic structure of materials.
Furthermore, I feel that beauty depends upon the mental state. For example, when you are about to take an important exam, nothing would seem beautiful to you. However, if you had a lucky day -- gotten full marks for exams, won a lottery etc, even the smallest things would seem beautiful to you.
"Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder". This is a very famous quote and is often heard.
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder in the sense that everyone finds beauty in different things around us. As said earlier, there is beauty in almost everyone and everything. It doesn't have to be physical beauty. Beauty can be inner beauty -- what's on the inside of a person, and how they treat others.
The media is hung up on the physical aspect of beauty, making people think they need to look a certain way in order to be considered beautiful but that's not at all true. Different people define beauty in many different ways. Anything can be beautiful if you think it is.
Personally, I feel that true beauty is not about physical appearance and materialistic things. I feel that true beauty lies in the heart and in the spirit, and no amount of money, makeup, surgery or false fronts can compete with it. For example, someone may have attractive features, but if he or she does not help people who are in need and look down on them, I do not think he or she is beautiful. Inner beauty is much more important than physical appearance. Our actions reflect on our personality.
In conclusion, I think that beauty is whatever you feel it to be. One person's impression of what is beautiful may be different than another's. Hence, no one is right or wrong with regards to beauty.
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Cult of Personality
A cult of personality or personality cult arises when a country's leader uses mass media to create a larger-than-life public image through unquestioning flattery and praise.
Personality cults are mostly common in regimes with totalitarian systems of government. (Animal Farm is one of them). The main reason why leaders create a cult of personality is to obtain undying devotion and blind loyalty of the people.
Stalin, Hitler, Lenin, Franco, Marcos, Kim ll-Sung and Kim Jong-ll were leaders who were presented as infallible and god like. For example, portraits of them were hung in public buildings and poems were made to praise them. This is similar to what happened in Animal Farm when Napoleon had portraits of himself pasted on the wall and a poem made for him.
For instance, Stalin created a cult of personality in the Soviet Union around both himself and Lenin. Numerous towns and villages were renamed after him.
There are 4 main ways Stalin’s cult of personality was created:
1) He censored anything that might reflect badly on himself
2) He made use of propaganda - he hung up pictures of himself, built statues, places named after him
3) Word of mouth: Once the people were influenced by him, parents would teach their children that Stalin was ‘the wisest man of the age’ and make them think that Stalin was a great leader, which is also something like brainwashing.
4) History books and photographs were changed to make him the hero of the Revolution, and he did not include Trotsky's name.
His cult of personality reached new levels during the Great Patriotic War, with Stalin's name included in the new Soviet national anthem. Stalin became the focus of literature, poetry, music, paintings and film, exhibiting fawning devotion, crediting Stalin with almost god-like qualities, and suggesting he single-handedly won the Second World War.
This is similar to Animal Farm where Napoleon also had a cult of personality. He "approved of the poem and caused it to be inscribed on the wall of the big farm, at the opposite end from the Seven Commandments." Moreover, the poem was surrounded by a "portrait of Napoleon". Like Stalin, whom the people credited with god-like qualities, "it had become common for the animals to give Napoleon credit for every successful achievement and every stroke of good fortune ". This shows that Napoleon has a cult of personality and uses the mass media to brainwash the common animals.
The mass media can have a very great effect on the common people as it can sort of control the people, hence, leaders often use it.
Personality cults are mostly common in regimes with totalitarian systems of government. (Animal Farm is one of them). The main reason why leaders create a cult of personality is to obtain undying devotion and blind loyalty of the people.
Stalin, Hitler, Lenin, Franco, Marcos, Kim ll-Sung and Kim Jong-ll were leaders who were presented as infallible and god like. For example, portraits of them were hung in public buildings and poems were made to praise them. This is similar to what happened in Animal Farm when Napoleon had portraits of himself pasted on the wall and a poem made for him.
For instance, Stalin created a cult of personality in the Soviet Union around both himself and Lenin. Numerous towns and villages were renamed after him.
There are 4 main ways Stalin’s cult of personality was created:
1) He censored anything that might reflect badly on himself
2) He made use of propaganda - he hung up pictures of himself, built statues, places named after him
3) Word of mouth: Once the people were influenced by him, parents would teach their children that Stalin was ‘the wisest man of the age’ and make them think that Stalin was a great leader, which is also something like brainwashing.
4) History books and photographs were changed to make him the hero of the Revolution, and he did not include Trotsky's name.
His cult of personality reached new levels during the Great Patriotic War, with Stalin's name included in the new Soviet national anthem. Stalin became the focus of literature, poetry, music, paintings and film, exhibiting fawning devotion, crediting Stalin with almost god-like qualities, and suggesting he single-handedly won the Second World War.
This is similar to Animal Farm where Napoleon also had a cult of personality. He "approved of the poem and caused it to be inscribed on the wall of the big farm, at the opposite end from the Seven Commandments." Moreover, the poem was surrounded by a "portrait of Napoleon". Like Stalin, whom the people credited with god-like qualities, "it had become common for the animals to give Napoleon credit for every successful achievement and every stroke of good fortune ". This shows that Napoleon has a cult of personality and uses the mass media to brainwash the common animals.
The mass media can have a very great effect on the common people as it can sort of control the people, hence, leaders often use it.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Barack Obama election victory speech, 2008
Barack Obama -- a beacon of hope to us, the new president of America, the one who would change the world...
Some background information on Barack Obama...
President Obama was born in Hawaii on August 4, 1961. He was raised with help from his grandfather, who served in Patton's army, and his grandmother, who worked her way up from the secretarial pool to middle management at a bank.
After working his way through college, President Obama moved to Chicago,where he worked with a group of churches to help rebuild communities devastated by the closure of local steel plants.
He went on to attend law school, where he became the first African—American president of the Harvard Law Review.
Upon graduation, he returned to Chicago to help lead a voter registration drive, teach constitutional law at the University of Chicago, and remain active in his community. He has an unwavering belief in the ability to unite people around a politics of purpose.
Barack Obama election victory speech, 2008
In his speech, Obama spoke of the core issues facing the United States today, among them the economy, the Iraq War and the onset of global warming. He also reflected on the hard times of the campaign and the "challenges that America would face ahead.
Obama also made reference to his popular campaign chant, Yes We Can. " Yes we can" A very encouraging phrase that can inspire the hearts of the people.
Personally, I feel that the purpose in his speech was to give people hope and paint a vivid picture of a better America, especially in this economic crisis. Obama is a very charismatic person, he is able to influence people and convince people to follow and trust in him that he will be able to change America. Indeed, people look to him as a beacon of hope and a better future and they adore him.
A very touching sentence made in the speech :
To those -- to those who would tear the world down: We will defeat you. To those who seek peace and security: We support you. And to all those who have wondered if America's beacon still burns as bright: Tonight we proved once more that the true strength of our nation comes not from the might of our arms or the scale of our wealth, but from the enduring power of our ideals: democracy, liberty, opportunity and unyielding hope.
So, let us see how this new leader of America, Barack Obama is going to change the world into a better place!
Video : http://elections.nytimes.com/2008/results/president/speeches/obama-victory-speech.html
Some background information on Barack Obama...
President Obama was born in Hawaii on August 4, 1961. He was raised with help from his grandfather, who served in Patton's army, and his grandmother, who worked her way up from the secretarial pool to middle management at a bank.
After working his way through college, President Obama moved to Chicago,where he worked with a group of churches to help rebuild communities devastated by the closure of local steel plants.
He went on to attend law school, where he became the first African—American president of the Harvard Law Review.
Upon graduation, he returned to Chicago to help lead a voter registration drive, teach constitutional law at the University of Chicago, and remain active in his community. He has an unwavering belief in the ability to unite people around a politics of purpose.
Barack Obama election victory speech, 2008
In his speech, Obama spoke of the core issues facing the United States today, among them the economy, the Iraq War and the onset of global warming. He also reflected on the hard times of the campaign and the "challenges that America would face ahead.
Obama also made reference to his popular campaign chant, Yes We Can. " Yes we can" A very encouraging phrase that can inspire the hearts of the people.
Personally, I feel that the purpose in his speech was to give people hope and paint a vivid picture of a better America, especially in this economic crisis. Obama is a very charismatic person, he is able to influence people and convince people to follow and trust in him that he will be able to change America. Indeed, people look to him as a beacon of hope and a better future and they adore him.
A very touching sentence made in the speech :
To those -- to those who would tear the world down: We will defeat you. To those who seek peace and security: We support you. And to all those who have wondered if America's beacon still burns as bright: Tonight we proved once more that the true strength of our nation comes not from the might of our arms or the scale of our wealth, but from the enduring power of our ideals: democracy, liberty, opportunity and unyielding hope.
So, let us see how this new leader of America, Barack Obama is going to change the world into a better place!
Video : http://elections.nytimes.com/2008/results/president/speeches/obama-victory-speech.html
Friday, March 27, 2009
Great leader VS Good leader
Is a good leader a great leader? Of course!
But is a great leader a good leader? Not necessarily so...
Why do i say this?
A good leader have determination, guts, knowledge and most importantly, charisma to inspire and influence people to follow him. Charisma, a very useful and powerful trait indeed. Most of the past leaders always have charisma and is able to persuade and convince people to believe them. For example, Hitler is so successful because of his ability to lead. He can persuade and convince people with ease and people adores him. This is one of his reasons to success. However, Hitler may be a great leader, but not a good leader.
A great leader has done many great deeds and won many battles. He may be intelligent and have a great vision and passion, But he is not necessarily a good leader. Like Hitler, he is a great leader, done many great things, but he is not a good leader because he does not have moral values. Hitler was terrifying, not mad, but so embedded within his own neuroses that he came to be what is called evil. He was violent too, a result of his family background.
Now, if you had a choice, which leader would you vote for? A leader with moral values? Or a leader with charisma but no moral values?
Personally, I feel that I would vote for the leader with moral values. Yes, the leader with charisma has good traits, but he does not have moral values. What if he uses his charisma to persuade people to do bad. We would all be blinded by his charisma to notice the hateful mask that covers his face? However, the leader with moral values will do good for the people and not harm them. Hence, I feel that a leader with moral values is better than a leader with charisma.
In conclusion, I think that we should all choose our leaders carefully. Choose to follow the right one, the one that can make this world a better place.
But is a great leader a good leader? Not necessarily so...
Why do i say this?
A good leader have determination, guts, knowledge and most importantly, charisma to inspire and influence people to follow him. Charisma, a very useful and powerful trait indeed. Most of the past leaders always have charisma and is able to persuade and convince people to believe them. For example, Hitler is so successful because of his ability to lead. He can persuade and convince people with ease and people adores him. This is one of his reasons to success. However, Hitler may be a great leader, but not a good leader.
A great leader has done many great deeds and won many battles. He may be intelligent and have a great vision and passion, But he is not necessarily a good leader. Like Hitler, he is a great leader, done many great things, but he is not a good leader because he does not have moral values. Hitler was terrifying, not mad, but so embedded within his own neuroses that he came to be what is called evil. He was violent too, a result of his family background.
Now, if you had a choice, which leader would you vote for? A leader with moral values? Or a leader with charisma but no moral values?
Personally, I feel that I would vote for the leader with moral values. Yes, the leader with charisma has good traits, but he does not have moral values. What if he uses his charisma to persuade people to do bad. We would all be blinded by his charisma to notice the hateful mask that covers his face? However, the leader with moral values will do good for the people and not harm them. Hence, I feel that a leader with moral values is better than a leader with charisma.
In conclusion, I think that we should all choose our leaders carefully. Choose to follow the right one, the one that can make this world a better place.
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Adolf Hitler
Everyone should have heard about Adolf Hitler. A great leader in history, born on 20 April 1889 and died on 30 April 1945. Although defeated, although dead, this man is frightening.
This man terrorizes his adversaries. He knows how to impress, please and charm the very interlocutors from whom he wanted support from. He have determination, he have charisma, he can inspire people. Yes, i admire these character traits, but has he put these traits to good use? I think not. However, the people adores him, unable to see the hateful mask that covered his face.
As we all know, Hitler had an unhappy childhood, his frustrated adolescence; his artistic disappointments; his wound received on the front during World War I; his taste for spectacle, his constant disdain for social and military aristocracies; the cult of the very death he feared; his lack of scruples with regard to his former comrades of the SA, whom he had assassinated in 1934.
Hitler was also a cunning man -- too cunning, in fact. For example, he counted on Stalin's naivete to get what he wanted. Stalin had total confidence in Hitler. To humor Hitler's extreme anti-Semitic sensibilities, the Soviet hierarchy withdrew certain Jews, such as Maxim Litvinov, the Soviet Foreign Minister, from the international scene. However, this non-aggression pact Hitler had concluded with Stalin two years earlier was broken when the German troops attacked the Soviet Union. That invasion seized huge amounts of territory, including the Baltic states, Belarus, and Ukraine. It also encircled and destroyed many Soviet forces, which Stalin had ordered not to retreat.
Furthermore, I would say that Hitler is too ambitious. He is intelligent, he had the foresight and he had everything that was needed to be a great leader. But he was over ambitious, which led to his downfall.
By late 1944,the Red Army had driven the Germans back into Central Europe and the Western Allies were advancing into Germany. Hitler had realised his defeat, but allowed no retreats.
Hitler's stubbornness and defiance of military realities also allowed the Holocaust to continue. He also ordered the complete destruction of all German industrial infrastructure before it could fall into Allied hands, saying that Germany's failure to win the war forfeited its right to survive.
And finally, Hitler committed suicide.
Personally, I feel that Hitler, although possessing the traits of a great leader, was too violent, suspicious, and ambitious. His history is indeed interesting to understand and learn.
In conclusion, I feel that Hitler was indeed a great leader, but not a good leader.
This man terrorizes his adversaries. He knows how to impress, please and charm the very interlocutors from whom he wanted support from. He have determination, he have charisma, he can inspire people. Yes, i admire these character traits, but has he put these traits to good use? I think not. However, the people adores him, unable to see the hateful mask that covered his face.
As we all know, Hitler had an unhappy childhood, his frustrated adolescence; his artistic disappointments; his wound received on the front during World War I; his taste for spectacle, his constant disdain for social and military aristocracies; the cult of the very death he feared; his lack of scruples with regard to his former comrades of the SA, whom he had assassinated in 1934.
Hitler was also a cunning man -- too cunning, in fact. For example, he counted on Stalin's naivete to get what he wanted. Stalin had total confidence in Hitler. To humor Hitler's extreme anti-Semitic sensibilities, the Soviet hierarchy withdrew certain Jews, such as Maxim Litvinov, the Soviet Foreign Minister, from the international scene. However, this non-aggression pact Hitler had concluded with Stalin two years earlier was broken when the German troops attacked the Soviet Union. That invasion seized huge amounts of territory, including the Baltic states, Belarus, and Ukraine. It also encircled and destroyed many Soviet forces, which Stalin had ordered not to retreat.
Furthermore, I would say that Hitler is too ambitious. He is intelligent, he had the foresight and he had everything that was needed to be a great leader. But he was over ambitious, which led to his downfall.
By late 1944,the Red Army had driven the Germans back into Central Europe and the Western Allies were advancing into Germany. Hitler had realised his defeat, but allowed no retreats.
Hitler's stubbornness and defiance of military realities also allowed the Holocaust to continue. He also ordered the complete destruction of all German industrial infrastructure before it could fall into Allied hands, saying that Germany's failure to win the war forfeited its right to survive.
And finally, Hitler committed suicide.
Personally, I feel that Hitler, although possessing the traits of a great leader, was too violent, suspicious, and ambitious. His history is indeed interesting to understand and learn.
In conclusion, I feel that Hitler was indeed a great leader, but not a good leader.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)