LIFE LESSON IN QUOTES - SINCERE

The letter S in a life lesson is normally picked for success. But yours truly has a humble opinion that sincerity is one of the key steps that makes one's life successful in one's own eyes if not in the world's eyes.

In fact, Oscar Wilde cautioned us,

" A little sincerity is a dangerous thing, 

and a great deal of it is absolutely fatal"

However, Charles Dickens held out for the other view in these words

" There is no substitute for thoroughgoing, ardent 

and sincere earnestness"

However, Mehmet Murat made it even more simpler by saying

" Paradise can take the form of anything! 

It can take the form of a flower 

or 

it can be a word 

or 

it can just be a sincere smile"

Ralph Waldo Emerson pointed out 

" Sincerity is the luxury allowed, like diadems and authority,

 only to the highest rank. 

Every man alone is sincere. 

At the entrance of a second man, hypocrisy begins"

But the resolute belief is in the words of Jean Giraudoux

LIFE LESSON IN QUOTES -RESOLUTE

Life is a struggle say some and Life is a journey say others. In either case one requires the unwavering, determined and focussed approach to it. Thus, resolute becomes the next in this series of life lesson in quotes.

Minisinoo distinguished defiance from being resolute in these words,

" Being defiant is a two year old 

who 

doesn't want to go to bed when he's tired. 

Being resolute is standing one's ground 

in the 

face of opposition. 

It's a man's virtue and not a toddler's vice"

Goethe proclaimed,

" He who is firm and resolute in will molds the world to himself"

Eugene S Wilson wrote,

" Only the curious will learn 

and 

only the resolute overcome the obstacles to learning, 

The quest quotient has always excited me 

more than

 the intelligence quotient"

Do these words not remind us of the epochal Karna and Ekalavya of times immemorial from the Mahabharata scripted by Ved Vyasa?

Cicero said,

" It is the character of a brave and resolute person

 not to be

 ruffled by adversity, and not to desert their post"

Theodore Roosevelt said,

" It is only through labour and painful effort, 

by grim energy and resolute courage,

 that we move on to better things"

These could be summed up best in the words of iconic Napoleon Bonaparte which reads 

Thus, Resolute forms the chapter for R in the A to Z series on life lesson in quotes.

LIFE LESSON IN QUOTES - QUESTION

A teacher once told us that life is a difficult exam and each one has a different question paper. Therefore, copying others answers would not help.

Albert Einstein decreed 

" Learn from yesterday. 

Live for today.

 Hope for tomorrow. 

The important thing is not to stop questioning"

And as the saying goes "Charity begins at home", one has to start questioning oneself.

Tennessee Williams said,

" Life is an unanswered question,

 but

 let's still believe in the dignity 

and 

importance of the question"

Criss Jami laid it bare by saying

" Friends ask you questions; 

enemies question you"

Lloyd Alexander hit the nail on the head in these words

" We learn more by 

looking for the answer

 to 

a question and not finding it 

than 

we do from learning the answer itself"

In the epic Ramayana, Valmiki puts us in a quandary by stating

" We have no right to ask when a sorrow comes 

'Why did this happen to me?' 

unless 

we ask 

the same question for every joy that comes our way"

Shannon Alder simplified the concept in these words

" Life is as simple as these three questions. 

What do I want?  

Why do I want? 

How will I achieve it?"

Richard Norton exemplified the role of questions in these words,

" Questions open a space in your mind 

that allow 

better answers to breathe"

Manoj Arora clarified the role of questions as under

" Doubts are good.

 Confusion is excellent.

 Questions are awesome. 

All these are attempts to expand the wisdom of mind"

In the words of Gary Keller,

" Life is a question and how we live it is our answer" 

Thus, the questions which form the fulcrum of our very existence forms the next life lesson in this series A to Z and as Gary Keller puts it we need to live out the answer.

LIFE LESSON IN QUOTES -PERSEVERANCE

" Age wrinkles the body, Quitting wrinkles the soul"

Douglas MacArthur urged us to persevere to preserve the soul while Confucius reminded us how each walking soul had learnt to rise from his falls. Many academic repeaters are fondly christened Ghazni Mohammed in memory of his persistent efforts to invade India and succeeding.

Aristotle, one of the greatest teachers who walked this planet reminded us

" We are what we repeatedly do, 

excellence, therefore, 

is 

not an act 

but 

a habit"

John Quincy Adams cast a spell on all the hurdles with these words

" Patience and Perseverance have a magical effect

 before which 

difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish"

James Whitecomb propounded that perseverance was the most significant factor of any success in these words

" The most essential factor is persistence - 

the determination never to allow 

your energy or enthusiasm to be dampened by the discouragement 

that must inevitably come" 

Margaret Thatcher pointed out the grim reality of life in these words

" You may have to fight a battle more than once to win it"

In the words of Sandra Kring

" The tiny seed knew that 

in order to grow

 it needed to be dropped in dirt, 

covered to darkness, and struggle to reach light."

Samuel Johnson credited perseverance for the success by stating

" Great works are performed not by strength but by perseverance"

The iconic Winston Churchill held the view that 

" Success is the ability to go from one failure to another

 with no loss of enthusiasm"

No wonder it is often said " Perseverance Pays"

Thus, this series of A to Z was a lesson in perseverance which had to surmount issues of connectivity and thus being thankful that this dry run would be a good precursor to better attempts at blogging on the A to Z series.

The life lesson of perseverance, therefore, marks a significant chapter in this series. 

LIFE LESSON IN QUOTES - OPPORTUNITIES

It is often said that when a door is shut, God opens a window of opportunity - the silver lining of every cloud. Thus, though the letter O is very similar to the numeral zero, perhaps opportunity was coined to indicate that we can convert zero into any great figure.

Michelle Obama used the figure of speech to drive home the point while saying

" When you walk through the open door of opportunity, 

you don't slam it shut behind you, 

YOU HOLD IT OPEN."

Sally Koch pointed out the everyday reality while stating

" Great opportunities to help others seldom come. 

But small ones surround us everyday."

The Bible gives the best direction to seek an opportunity out in the words

" Ask and it will be given to you, 

seek and you will find. 

Knock and the door will be opened for you"

The legendary Henry Ford had a different take on opportunity and revealed in these words

" Failure is only the opportunity to begin again more intelligently"

Albert Einstein laid the opportunity bare by saying

" In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity"

Richard Branson counselled on retaining an opportunity in these words

" If somebody offers you an amazing opportunity 

but 

you are not sure you can do it, 

say yes -

 then learn how to do it later"

Winston Churchill epitomized the significance of opportunities in these words

" A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; 

an optimist sees an opportunity in every difficulty."

Indira Gandhi captured the essence of the opportunities in these words

" Opportunities are not offered. 

They must be wrested and worked for"

Thus, Opportunity presents itself as a life lesson from these quotes in the series of A to Z.

LIFE LESSON IN QUOTES - NURTURE

To nurture can simply be put as the act of caring and protecting during the process of growth. Looking around we realize that we are in a constant state of relationships which require to be nourished and nurtured. No wonder, Iyanla Vanzant said,

" If we celebrate support and nurture ourselves, 

we will not need  anyone else to do it for us"

Samuel Smiles pointed out,

" The very greatest things - 

great thoughts, discoveries, inventions - 

have usually been nurtured in hardship, 

often pondered over in sorrow,

 and 

at length established with difficulty"

Elizabeth George laid down the tenet

" Nurture the qualities in yourself that you desire in your friends"

Marvin Ashton guided on the principles of life in these words,

" Be the one who nurtures and builds. 

Be the one who has an understanding 

and 

a forgiving heart, 

one who looks for the best in people. 

Leave people better than you found them."

Laozi counselled us on dealing with issues confronting us in life by saying

" Always be on the lookout for ways 

to turn a problem into an opportunity for success. 

Always be on the lookout for ways

 to nurture your dream."

Swami Vivekananda laid out the Golden Rules for nurturing relationships in the following manner

" Who is helping you 

don't forget them. 

Who is loving you 

don't hate them. 

Who is trusting you 

don't cheat them."

Narendra Modi shed light on our instincts by saying

"Each one of us has a natural instinct to rise, 

like a flame of the lamp. 

Let us nurture this instinct.

Jawaharlal Nehru looked into the crystal ball of the future and said

" Children are like buds in a garden 

and 

should be carefully and lovingly nurtured 

as they are the future of the nation and citizens of tomorrow."

Thus, nurturing being a life lesson is brought out through quotes in this series of A to Z. In a lighter vein, let us not nurture Corona but nurture a dream of a healthy post lockdown world universally and India in particular

LIFE LESSON IN QUOTES - MISTAKE

Life is a game, play it. Life is a battle, fight it. Life is a journey, travel it are some of the perspectives on life.

However, one views life there is one common factor that we all admit to. It has forced and unforced errors of the game of tennis which is repeatedly referred to as mistake. Life is filled with a fair share of mistakes but life in essence is not a mistake by itself.

In continuation of the earlier post, if one were to look at the mistake, the words of John Mayer fit in as a glove fits to the hand

" The biggest mistake I made in life 

and 

what cost me a lot of enjoyment in my life, 

was 

assuming that everybody cared. They don't"

Moss Hart simply put the mistakes in life  to be

" All the mistakes I ever made in my life 

were 

when I wanted to say NO 

and 

said YES."

George Bernard Shaw held mistakes to be not only an integral part of life but also to be one which makes life honourable in the following words

In the lesson emanating from the mistakes many texts say 

" Laugh at your mistake 

but

learn from them. 

Joke over your troubles 

but

gather strength from them. 

Have fun with your difficulties, 

but 

overcome them."

Bill Gates defined mistake in a compelling manner

" If you are born poor, it is not your mistake. 

But,

 if you die poor it is your mistake."

The poverty need not necessarily be in terms of wealth and could be in terms of character and health too.

Thus, the critical role MISTAKES play in our life forms the next life lesson in the A to Z series and the apt words of Albert Einstein brings us to the end of this post

" The only mistake in life is the lesson not learned"

LIFE LESSON IN QUOTES- LOVE

Life is said to be an empty bottle filled with love. Life is filled with relationships from parent child to many nurturing, rivalling and challenging relationships. One among these which is defined by choice is friendship. Elbert Hubbard while defining a friend said,

" A friend is someone who knows everything about you 

and 

still loves you."

To drive home the point that every relationship thrives on love, Martin Luther King Jr said,

" Darkness cannot drive out darkness; 

only light can do that. 

Hate cannot drive out hate; 

only love can do that"

Elie Wiesel drew out the cause of falling apart while highlighting the indifference in these words,

" The opposite of love is not hate. It is indifference."

It could not have been put better. Just look around at any of your troubling relationships and you will find it is the indifference of one or both to the other that troubles them. Love in essence means going the extra mile to make that difference, empathize and relate or to simply put be able to think from the other's shoes and then resolve an issue. The presence of this feature is love and the absence of it becomes indifference which over a period of time could translate into hate.

Robert Heinlein summed the above into simple words

" Love is that condition 

in which the happiness of the other person

 is 

essential to your own."

William Shakespeare in his play All is Well that ends well, scripted

" Love all, trust a few, do wrong to none."

The question as to whether the feeling of love being natural must die somewhere naturally is answered by Anais Nin

" Love never dies a natural death. 

It dies because we do not know how to replenish its source. 

It dies because of blindness and errors and betrayals. 

It dies of illness and wounds; 

it dies of weariness; of witherings, of tarnishings."

The Buddha highlighted the need for love and more so self love by saying

" You yourself, 

as much as anybody else in the entire universe, 

deserve your love and affection"

Anna Taylor laid out the boundaries for people who refuse to love in these words

"  Love yourself to set boundaries. 

Your time and energy are precious. 

You get to choose how you use it. 

You teach people how to treat you by deciding 

what you will and won't accept"

Thus, the elixir of love is what life is about and it becomes the life lesson in quotes for this post

LIFE LESSON IN QUOTES- KINDNESS

The above image says it all. Kindness begets kindness. The Aesop's fables underline the words,

" No act of kindness, no matter how small is wasted."

The celebrated saint from Kolkata laid out the edict,

" Three things in human life are important; 

The first is to be kind. 

The second is to be kind. 

 The third is to be kind."

The saint went on to say,

" I prefer you to make mistakes in kindness 

than 

work miracles in unkindness"

The Dalai Lama goaded us towards kindness by saying,

" Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible"

The Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi said

The apostle of peace would have smiled at these words too

" Kill them with kindness and bury them with a smile"

The above words are not to be mistaken to kill a person slowly and enjoy the success with a smile but means that floor a person with your kindness that the differences get buried with smiles around.

Harold Kushner succintly summed up the effect of kindness in these words,

" When you are kind to others, 

it not only changes you, it changes the world."

To sum the scope of kindness in the words of Lao Tzu

Thus, it becomes clear that being kind to others in the spirit of Vasudaiva Kutumbakam is only an act of kindness to oneself. This would also aid in eliminating the negative aspects such as jealousy and take us towards a more meaningful and therefore a successful life.

Kindness becomes the kingly "K" of the A to Z series of the Life Lesson in quotes series.

LIFE LESSON IN QUOTES - JEALOUSY

" The worst part of success 

is 

trying to find someone who is happy for you"

- Bette Midler

The Bard of Avon William Shakespeare in his famous play Hamlet scripts these memorable words

" So full of artless jealousy is guilt,

 it spills itself in fearing to be spilt"

Francois de La Rochefoucauld could not have put it better when he said,

"Jealousy contains more of self love than love"

Robert. A Heinlein counselled and shone the light on the personality of the person with these words,

" A competent and self confident person

 is 

incapable of jealousy in anything. 

Jealousy is invariably a symptom of neurotic insecurity."

The Tamil saint poet Thiruvalluvar cautioned

" Fame is a jealous mistress and will brook no rival"

The all time ambitious Alexander the Great highlighted the norm of jealousy in these words,

" Heaven cannot brook two suns nor earth two masters"

Germaine Greer held a view that

" Man is jealous because of his amour propre;

 woman is jealous because of her lack of it"

Jennifer James gave an indepth analysis in these words,

" Jealousy is simply and clearly the fear that you do not have value. 

Jealousy scans for evidence to prove the point that 

others will be preferred and rewarded more than you. 

There is only one alternative - self value. 

If you cannot love yourself, 

you will not believe that you are loved. 

You will always think its a mistake or luck. 

Take your eyes off others and turn the scanner within. 

Find the seeds of your jealousy, clear the old voices and experiences. Put all your energy into building your personal and emotional security. Then you will be the one others envy,

 and 

you can remember the pain and reach out to them"

Thus, while jealousy is a disease one has to get over, the way it is presented normally has been captured in this image

The life lesson of not to be jealous, overcome jealousy as well as to deal with jealousy of others is the Life Lesson in Quotes - Jealousy for the A to Z series.