“
Don't blow off another's candle for it won't make yours shine brighter.
”
”
Jaachynma N.E. Agu (The Prince and the Pauper)
“
Don't set your goals by what other people deem important.
”
”
Jaachynma N.E. Agu (The Prince and the Pauper)
“
What is it that inspires you? What do you love to do? What would you do for free? At the beginning of my busi-ness career, my why was to become a millionaire, not a good why! And why not? Because that is an aspiration rather than a why. Aspirations, I have found, won’t fuel me when the going gets tough. But a true “why” will.
”
”
Richard Polak
“
Be a King. Dare to be Different, dare to manifest your greatness.
”
”
Jaachynma N.E. Agu (The Prince and the Pauper)
“
A confident woman wears a smile and has this air of comfortability and pleasantness about her.
”
”
Jaachynma N.E. Agu
“
Men love women who are courageous for it means they can go all the way with him in his pursuit of his good dreams and intentions.
”
”
Jaachynma N.E. Agu
“
Don't die without fulfilling your purpose.
”
”
Jaachynma N.E. Agu (The Prince and the Pauper)
“
Dare to be different. Represent your maker well and you will forever abide in the beautiful embrace of his loving arms.
”
”
Jaachynma N.E. Agu (The Prince and the Pauper)
“
God is never tired of bringing the sun out every morning, taking it in the evenings and bringing out the moon.
”
”
Jaachynma N.E. Agu (The Prince and the Pauper)
“
Making the process better, easier, and cheaper is an important aspiration, something we continually work on—but it is not the goal. Making something great is the goal.
”
”
Ed Catmull (Creativity, Inc.: an inspiring look at how creativity can - and should - be harnessed for business success by the founder of Pixar)
“
An average man is egoistic, proud and has strong self esteem. They always require partners who massage their ego not those who will drag their ego to the mud.
”
”
Jaachynma N.E. Agu
“
Your words are powerful so what you say goes a long way to either establish or destroy you; this is why you should say things that God has said concerning you, not things that situations or circumstances say.
”
”
Jaachynma N.E. Agu (The Prince and the Pauper)
“
An intelligent woman is a goldmine! She has the ability to learn, reason and understand things better and faster than her contemporaries. She is competent, alert and can reason out stuffs easily.
”
”
Jaachynma N.E. Agu
“
Don't call yourself discouraged anymore;it's no longer your name.
”
”
Jaachynma N.E. Agu (The Prince and the Pauper)
“
Just like our mental well-being, the secret to a healthy and prospering business also lies in introspection.
”
”
Pooja Agnihotri (17 Reasons Why Businesses Fail :Unscrew Yourself From Business Failure)
“
If you think your products are infallible, you will never figure out ways to make them better.
”
”
Pooja Agnihotri (17 Reasons Why Businesses Fail :Unscrew Yourself From Business Failure)
“
Don't let any situation intimidate you anymore, don't accept defeat anymore.
”
”
Jaachynma N.E. Agu (The Prince and the Pauper)
“
Finally, when young people who “want to help mankind” come to me asking, “What should I do? I want to reduce poverty, save the world,” and similar noble aspirations at the macro-level, my suggestion is: 1) Never engage in virtue signaling; 2) Never engage in rent-seeking; 3) You must start a business. Put yourself on the line, start a business.
”
”
Nassim Nicholas Taleb (Skin in the Game: Hidden Asymmetries in Daily Life)
“
Don't just float through life; don't just agree to anything and everything, have a course you are known for at all times.
”
”
Jaachynma N.E. Agu
“
You can change any status quo, stand out, walk by faith and not by sight and things will definitely go well with you.
”
”
Jaachynma N.E. Agu
“
Society in itself is no great harm, but unsatisfied social aspirations are a bad and ugly business. We must certainly accept, and we will.
”
”
Leo Tolstoy (Семейное счастие)
“
Dominate in your domain; You can do it.
”
”
Jaachynma N.E. Agu (The Prince and the Pauper)
“
A confident woman knows her worth and so doesn’t fret when her man is highly placed or is often found amidst other women in the course of his business or assignment.
”
”
Jaachynma N.E. Agu
“
Patience is a virtue not a vice.
”
”
Jaachynma N.E. Agu
“
you must thoroughly analyze a company, and the soundness of its underlying businesses, before you buy its stock; you must deliberately protect yourself against serious losses; you must aspire to “adequate,” not extraordinary, performance.
”
”
Benjamin Graham (The Intelligent Investor)
“
Christian does a great job helping an aspiring writer get inspired to write and finish their book. It’s easy to read and understand, and provides encouragement and specific guidance, without being too harsh or detailed on fiction writing only. If you are struggling with how to put your thoughts onto paper, give this a read and establish a rhythm for your writing. Christian’s success at completing over 21 published manuscripts while leading a busy life are testament in if there is a will, there is a way. And it provides some good humor throughout.”
Rachel Braynin, Sr Program Manager at Lulu Publishing
”
”
Christian Warren Freed (So...You Want to Write a Book?)
“
Don't say negative things about your spouse and children.
”
”
Jaachynma N.E. Agu (The Prince and the Pauper)
“
What is it that inspires you? What do you love to do? What would you do for free? At the beginning of my busi-ness career, my why was to become a millionaire—not a good why! And why not? Because that is an aspiration rather than a why. Aspirations, I have found, won’t fuel me when the going gets tough. But a true “why” will.
”
”
Andrew Wyatt (Pro Leadership: Establishing Your Credibility, Building Your Following and Leading With Impact)
“
Weigh whatever you are about to say; what will it do to your hearer - encouragement, edification, disappointment or fear? What will it do to your life - glorify, edify, beautify or weigh you down? Speak well and things will go well.
”
”
Jaachynma N.E. Agu (The Prince and the Pauper)
“
You are not permitted to suffer what others suffer, you are not permitted to fail or die young.
”
”
Jaachynma N.E. Agu (The Prince and the Pauper)
“
When we are connected to the source, we will not be afraid of any task set before us.
”
”
Jaachynma N.E. Agu (The Prince and the Pauper)
“
Accept responsibilities for all your actions. Learn from your past and your mistakes.
”
”
Jaachynma N.E. Agu
“
You recreate your world to your taste with God's Word in your mouth.
”
”
Jaachynma N.E. Agu (The Prince and the Pauper)
“
The difference between wanting to write and having written is one year of hard, relentless labour. It's a bridge you have to build all by yourself, all alone, all through the night, while the world goes about its business without giving a damn. The only way of making this perilous passage is by looking at it as a pilgrimage.
”
”
Shatrujeet Nath
“
God rewards every act of obedience to His Will.
”
”
Jaachynma N.E. Agu (The Prince and the Pauper)
“
When a man finds this kind of woman, he will go all out for her knowing that she will not be a letdown.
”
”
Jaachynma N.E. Agu
“
A woman that is patient has the ability to endure provocation, pain, annoyance etc, with much calm and strength.
”
”
Jaachynma N.E. Agu
“
You may not attain the highest height with one leap but my dear; you will reach your destination.
”
”
Jaachynma N.E. Agu (The Prince and the Pauper)
“
Your mouth is not given to you for feeding alone; it is given to you to programme events and circumstance around you.
”
”
Jaachynma N.E. Agu (The Prince and the Pauper)
“
Worship is the marriage of two Spirits - the Spirit of God and the Spirit of man.
”
”
Jaachynma N.E. Agu
“
Create your world with God's Word in your mouth just say it and it will be accomplished!
”
”
Jaachynma N.E. Agu (The Prince and the Pauper)
“
Your status has changed. Your Name is changed! You are a new creation.
”
”
Jaachynma N.E. Agu (The Prince and the Pauper)
“
A responsible woman is one who sees opportunities of service and responds to them quickly. In her dwells the ability to see and respond to opportunities.
”
”
Jaachynma N.E. Agu
“
Your decision not to join the crowd may be what God is waiting for to grant you revelation on how to deliver your family, your country, business, profession or even your church!
”
”
Jaachynma N.E. Agu (The Prince and the Pauper)
“
The presence of God is so important in the life of believers. There is abundance of all you need to make your life comfortable in His presence.
”
”
Jaachynma N.E. Agu (The Prince and the Pauper)
“
Drown those degrading thoughts.
”
”
Jaachynma N.E. Agu
“
Desire to give and not always receive.
”
”
Jaachynma N.E. Agu
“
Vision is the "what" – the aspirational picture of the organization's future. Strategy is the "how" – the roadmap outlining the steps to reach that vision.
”
”
Hendrith Vanlon Smith Jr. (Board Room Blitz: Mastering the Art of Corporate Governance)
“
So cheer up Beloved; for your God is able, He is the maker of all things.
”
”
Jaachynma N.E. Agu (The Prince and the Pauper)
“
Don`t complain, Don`t compromise.
”
”
Jaachynma N.E. Agu
“
Desire to impact lives! Change destinies and make dreams come true.
”
”
Jaachynma N.E. Agu
“
Define where your significance comes from and base it upon your own values and principles.
”
”
Mark Villareal (A Script for Aspiring Women Leaders: 5 Keys to Success)
“
Managers who aspire to be ethical must challenge the assumption that they’re always unbiased and acknowledge that vigilance, even more than good intention, is a defining characteristic of an ethical manager.
”
”
Harvard Business Publishing (HBR's 10 Must Reads Boxed Set (6 Books) (HBR's 10 Must Reads))
“
remember when God has answered you, it no longer matters who has been against you but for Him to answer you and change your story, you have to make up your mind to disobey the wrong order, change the status quo and BE DIFFERENT!
”
”
Jaachynma N.E. Agu
“
Every great athlete, artist and aspiring being has a great team to help them flourish and succeed - personally and professionally. Even the so-called 'solo star' has a strong supporting cast helping them shine, thrive and take flight.
”
”
Rasheed Ogunlaru
“
Ladies, get confident about yourselves, build up your self-worth and esteem, love yourself and be proud of your achievements and your man will adore you for life.
”
”
Jaachynma N.E. Agu (The Prince and the Pauper)
“
He is the only option for better living.
”
”
Jaachynma N.E. Agu (The Prince and the Pauper)
“
Man is like a bride unto God. God is jealous when man veers away from Him.
”
”
Jaachynma N.E. Agu (The Prince and the Pauper)
“
Another way of remaining in intimacy with God is by remaining in His presence.
”
”
Jaachynma N.E. Agu (The Prince and the Pauper)
“
The presence of the Lord destroys a life of struggle. You will struggle until you encounter His presence.
”
”
Jaachynma N.E. Agu (The Prince and the Pauper)
“
You are not permitted to live and die as a non-entity because you have encountered the greatness that is associated with Christ.
”
”
Jaachynma N.E. Agu (The Prince and the Pauper)
“
A responsible woman sees and accepts only the best in a given situation.
”
”
Jaachynma N.E. Agu
“
Build up your faith while starving the fears.
”
”
Jaachynma N.E. Agu
“
Avoid conflicts, Embrace cordiality.
”
”
Jaachynma N.E. Agu
“
Going deep on values sometimes brings out pain, but they truly define what is important.
”
”
Mark Villareal (A Script for Aspiring Women Leaders: 5 Keys to Success)
“
People worship power in the form in which they are able to understand it. A twelve-year-old boy worships Jack Dempsey. An adolescent in a Glasgow slum worships Al Capone. An aspiring pupil at a business college worships Lord Nuffield. A New Statesman reader worships Stalin. There is a difference in intellectual maturity, but none in moral outlook.
”
”
George Orwell (All Art Is Propaganda: Critical Essays)
“
Courage is the ability to execute tasks and assignments without fear or intimidation.
”
”
Jaachynma N.E. Agu
“
Ride higher in life unto the higher life.
”
”
Jaachynma N.E. Agu
“
The giver is the blessed! The receiver stands still.
”
”
Jaachynma N.E. Agu
“
Anyaele Sam Chiyson Leadership Law of Reproduction: Distinguished leaders impress, inspire and invest in other leaders.
”
”
Anyaele Sam Chiyson (The Sagacity of Sage)
“
Anyaele Sam Chiyson Leadership Law of Influence: It takes an influential leader to excellently raise up leaders of influence.
”
”
Anyaele Sam Chiyson (The Sagacity of Sage)
“
Life is beautiful if you take the best option.
”
”
Jaachynma N.E. Agu
“
Sow the right words! Think the good thought.
”
”
Jaachynma N.E. Agu
“
Light is life and always wins.
”
”
Jaachynma N.E. Agu
“
Great leaders exhibit optimism that becomes infectious to others and they feed off that optimism.
”
”
Mark Villareal (A Script for Aspiring Women Leaders: 5 Keys to Success)
“
To be a leader one has to have followers. To get others to follow is a skill, not a command.
”
”
Mark Villareal (A Script for Aspiring Women Leaders: 5 Keys to Success)
“
Women exhibit traits essential for strong, balanced leaders.
”
”
Mark Villareal (A Script for Aspiring Women Leaders: 5 Keys to Success)
“
It was my teacher's genius, her quick sympathy, her loving tact
which made the first years of my education so beautiful. It was
because she seized the right moment to impart knowledge that made
it so pleasant and acceptable to me. She realized that a child's
mind is like a shallow brook which ripples and dances merrily
over the stony course of its education and reflects here a
flower, there a bush, yonder a fleecy cloud; and she attempted to
guide my mind on its way, knowing that like a brook it should be
fed by mountain streams and hidden springs, until it broadened
out into a deep river, capable of reflecting in its placid
surface, billowy hills, the luminous shadows of trees and the
blue heavens, as well as the sweet face of a little flower.
Any teacher can take a child to the classroom, but not every
teacher can make him learn. He will not work joyously unless he
feels that liberty is his, whether he is busy or at rest; he must
feel the flush of victory and the heart-sinking of disappointment
before he takes with a will the tasks distasteful to him and
resolves to dance his way bravely through a dull routine of
textbooks.
My teacher is so near to me that I scarcely think of myself apart
from her. How much of my delight in all beautiful things is
innate, and how much is due to her influence, I can never tell. I
feel that her being is inseparable from my own, and that the
footsteps of my life are in hers. All the best of me belongs to
her--there is not a talent, or an aspiration or a joy in me that
has not been awakened by her loving touch.
”
”
Helen Keller (The Story of My Life: With Her Letters (1887 1901) and a Supplementary Account of Her Education Including Passages from the Reports and Letters of Her Teacher Anne Mansfield Sullivan by John Albert Macy)
“
A woman can tolerate delays knowing they are not denials; she is diligent, and composed. She is not easily irritated like love; she endures all things, beans all things and can be stretched to any limit.
”
”
Jaachynma N.E. Agu
“
We cannot prevail by our own might or strength, we need to plug on to the source of our strength so that we will remain resourceful always.
”
”
Jaachynma N.E. Agu (The Prince and the Pauper)
“
God wants all man's attention, thoughts and focus to be on Him.
”
”
Jaachynma N.E. Agu (The Prince and the Pauper)
“
The choice is yours. Don't let your pronouncements destroy your destiny rather let them build your future up!
”
”
Jaachynma N.E. Agu (The Prince and the Pauper)
“
Let your words glorify God and edify your hearers and then beautify your life.
”
”
Jaachynma N.E. Agu (The Prince and the Pauper)
“
Maturity of a woman is not in her age or size for age is just a number and size is figure.
”
”
Jaachynma N.E. Agu
“
A matured woman is therefore a responsible woman irrespective of her age, status and qualification.
”
”
Jaachynma N.E. Agu
“
To set high goals, to have almost unattainable aspirations, to imbue people with the belief that they can be achieved—these are as important as the balance sheet, perhaps more
”
”
John Brooks (Business Adventures: Twelve Classic Tales from the World of Wall Street)
“
The commercial media … help citizens feel as if they are successful and have met these aspirations, even if they have not. They tend to neglect reality (they don't run stories about how life is hard, fame and fortune elusive, hopes disappointed) and instead celebrate idealized identities – those that, in a commodity culture, revolve around the acquisition of status, money, fame and power, or at least the illusion of these things. The media, in other words, assist the commercial culture in “need creation”, prompting consumers to want things they don't need or have never really considered wanting. And catering to these needs, largely implanted by advertisers and the corporate culture, is a very profitable business. A major part of the commercial media revolves around selling consumers images and techniques to “actualize” themselves, or offering seductive forms of escape through entertainment and spectacle. News is filtered into the mix, but actual news is not the predominant concern of the commercial media.
”
”
Chris Hedges (The Death of the Liberal Class)
“
-Desiderata-
Go placidly amid the noise and haste,
and remember what peace there may be in silence.
As far as possible without surrender
be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly;
and listen to others,
even the dull and the ignorant;
they too have their story.
Avoid loud and aggressive persons,
they are vexations to the spirit.
If you compare yourself with others,
you may become vain and bitter;
for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.
Keep interested in your own career, however humble;
it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.
Exercise caution in your business affairs;
for the world is full of trickery.
But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;
many persons strive for high ideals;
and everywhere life is full of heroism.
Be yourself.
Especially, do not feign affection.
Neither be cynical about love;
for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment
it is as perennial as the grass.
Take kindly the counsel of the years,
gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.
But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.
Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.
Beyond a wholesome discipline,
be gentle with yourself.
You are a child of the universe,
no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.
Therefore be at peace with God,
whatever you conceive Him to be,
and whatever your labors and aspirations,
in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul.
With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful.
Strive to be happy.
”
”
Max Ehrmann (Desiderata of Happiness)
“
Too many people glorified small-town America, making it seems like a Normal Rockwell painting, but the reality was something else entirely. With the exception of doctors and lawyers or people who owned their own business, there were no high-paying jobs in Oriental, or any other small town for that matter. And while is was in many way an ideal place to raise young children, there was little for young adults to aspire to.There weren't, nor would there ever be, middle management positions in small towns, nor was there much to do on the weekends, or even new people to meet
”
”
Nicholas Sparks (The Best of Me)
“
So you want to be a chef? You really, really, really want to be a chef? If you've been working in another line of business, have been accustomed to working eight-to-nine-hour days, weekends and evenings off, holidays with the family, regular sex with your significant other; if you are used to being treated with some modicum of dignity, spoken to and interacted with as a human being, seen as an equal — a sensitive, multidimensional entity with hopes, dreams, aspirations and opinions, the sort of qualities you'd expect of most working persons — then maybe you should reconsider what you'll be facing when you graduate from whatever six-month course put this nonsense in your head to start with.
”
”
Anthony Bourdain (Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly)
“
Today, we must look to the city of Las Vegas, Nevada, as a metaphor of our national character and aspiration, its symbol a thirty-foot-high cardboard picture of a slot machine and a chorus girl. For Las Vegas is a city entirely devoted to the idea of entertainment, and as such proclaims the spirit of a culture in which all public discourse increasingly takes the form of entertainment. Our politics, religion, news, athletics, education and commerce have been transformed into congenial adjuncts of show business, largely without protest or even much popular notice. The result is that we are a people on the verge of amusing ourselves to death.
”
”
Neil Postman (Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business)
“
After a time, my hand had become as skilled as my eyes. So if I was drawing a very fine tree, it felt as if my hand was moving without me directly it. As I watched the pencil race across the page, I would look on it in amazement, as if the drawing were the proof of another presence, as if someone else had taken up residence in my body. As I marveled at his work aspiring to become his equal, another part of my brain was busy inspecting the curves of the branches, the placement of mountains, the composition as a whole, reflecting that I had created this scene on a blank piece of paper. My mind was at the tip of my pen, acting before I could think; at the same time it could survey what I had already done. This second line of perception, this ability to analyse my progress, was the pleasure this small artist felt when he looked at the discovery of his courage and freedom. To step outside myself , to know the second person who had taken up residence inside me, was to retrace the dividing line that appeared as my pencil slipped across the paper, like a boy sledding in the snow.
”
”
Orhan Pamuk (Istanbul: Memories and the City)
“
The best things on television are its junk, and no one and nothing is seriously threatened by it. Besides, we do not measure a culture by its output of undisguised trivialities but by what it claims as significant. Therein is our problem, for television is at its most trivial and, therefore, most dangerous when its aspirations are high, when it presents itself as a carrier of important cultural conversations. The irony here is that this is what intellectuals and critics are constantly urging television to do.
”
”
Neil Postman (Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business)
“
Finally, when young people who “want to help mankind” come to me asking, “What should I do? I want to reduce poverty, save the world,” and similar noble aspirations at the macro-level, my suggestion is: 1) Never engage in virtue signaling; 2) Never engage in rent-seeking; 3) You must start a business. Put yourself on the line, start a business. Yes, take risk, and if you get rich (which is optional), spend your money generously on others. We need people to take (bounded) risks. The entire idea is to move the descendants of Homo sapiens away from the macro, away from abstract universal aims, away from the kind of social engineering that brings tail risks to society. Doing business will always help (because it brings about economic activity without large-scale risky changes in the economy); institutions (like the aid industry) may help, but they are equally likely to harm (I am being optimistic; I am certain that except for a few most do end up harming). Courage (risk taking) is the highest virtue. We need entrepreneurs.
”
”
Nassim Nicholas Taleb (Skin in the Game: Hidden Asymmetries in Daily Life (Incerto, #5))
“
His goal was to be vigilant against " the bozo explosion" that leads to a company's being larded with second rate talent:
For most things in life, the range between best and average is 30% or so. The best airplane flight, the best meal, they may be 30% better than your average one. What I saw with Woz was somebody who was fifty times better than the average engineer. He could have meetings in his head. The Mac team was an attempt to build a whole team like that, A players. People said they wouldn't get along, they'd hate working with each other. But I realized that A players like to work with A players, they just didn't like working with C players. At Pixar, it was a whole company of A players. When I got back to Apple, that's what I decided to try to do. You need to have a collaborative hiring process. When we hire someone, even if they're going to be in marketing, I will have them talk to the design folks and the engineers. My role model was J. Robert Oppenheimer. I read about the type of people he sought for the atom bomb project. I wasn't nearly as good as he was, but that's what I aspired to do.
”
”
Walter Isaacson
“
The Industrial Revolution started and made its biggest strides in England because of her uniquely inclusive economic institutions. These in turn were built on foundations laid by the inclusive political institutions brought about by the Glorious Revolution. It was the Glorious Revolution that strengthened and rationalized property rights, improved financial markets, undermined state-sanctioned monopolies in foreign trade, and removed the barriers to the expansion of industry. It was the Glorious Revolution that made the political system open and responsive to the economic needs and aspirations of society. These inclusive economic institutions gave men of talent and vision such as James Watt the opportunity and incentive to develop their skills and ideas and influence the system in ways that benefited them and the nation. Naturally these men, once they had become successful, had the same urges as any other person. They wanted to block others from entering their businesses and competing against them and feared the process of creative destruction that might put them out of business, as they had previously bankrupted others.
”
”
Daron Acemoğlu (Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty)
“
The Chicago literary tradition is born not out of its Universities, but out of the sports desk and the city desk of its newspapers. Hemingway revolutionized English prose. His inspiration was the telegraph, whose use, at Western Union, taught this: every word costs something,
This, of course, is the essence of poetry, which is the essence of great prose. Chicagoan literature came from the newspaper, whose purpose, in those days, was to Tell What Happened. Hemingway's epiphany was reported, earlier, by Keats as " 'Beauty is truth, truth beauty' --that is all ye know earth, and all ye need to know." I would add to Keats' summation only this: "Don't let the other fellow piss on your back and tell you it's raining."
I believe one might theoretically forgive one who cheats at business, but never one who cheats at cards; for business adversaries operate at arm's length, the cardplayer under the strict rules of the game, period.
That was my first political epiphany.
And now, I have written a political book.
What are the qualifications for a Political Writer?
They are, I believe, the same as those of an aspiring critic: an inability to write for the Sports Page.
”
”
David Mamet
“
On behalf of those you killed, imprisoned, tortured, you are not welcome, Erdogan!
No, Erdogan, you’re not welcome in Algeria.
We are a country which has already paid its price of blood and tears to those who wanted to impose their caliphate on us, those who put their ideas before our bodies, those who took our children hostage and who attempted to kill our hopes for a better future. The notorious family that claims to act in the name of the God and religion—you’re a member of it—you fund it, you support it, you desire to become its international leader.
Islamism is your livelihood
Islamism, which is your livelihood, is our misfortune. We will not forget about it, and you are a reminder of it today. You offer your shadow and your wings to those who work to make our country kneel down before your “Sublime Door.” You embody and represent what we loathe. You hate freedom, the free spirit. But you love parades. You use religion for business. You dream of a caliphate and hope to return to our lands.
But you do it behind the closed doors, by supporting Islamist parties, by offering gifts through your companies, by infiltrating the life of the community, by controlling the mosques. These are the old methods of your “Muslim Brothers” in this country, who used to show us God’s Heaven with one hand while digging our graves with the other.
No, Mr. Erdogan, you are not a man of help; you do not fight for freedom or principles; you do not defend the right of peoples to self-determination. You know only how to subject the Kurds to the fires of death; you know only how to subject your opponents to your dictatorship.
You cry with the victims in the Middle East, yet sign contracts with their executioners. You do not dream of a dignified future for us, but of a caliphate for yourself. We are aware of your institutionalized persecution, your list of Turks to track down, your sinister prisons filled with the innocent, your dictatorial justice palaces, your insolence and boastful nature.
You do not dream of a humanity that shares common values and principles, but are interested only in the remaking of the Ottoman Empire and its bloodthirsty warlords. Islam, for you, is a footstool; God is a business sign; modernity is an enemy; Palestine is a showcase; and local Islamists are your stunned courtesans.
Humanity will not remember you with good deeds
Humanity will remember you for your machinations, your secret coups d’état, and your manhunts. History will remember you for your bombings, your vengeful wars, and your inability to engage in constructive dialogue with others. The UN vote for Al-Quds is only an instrument in your service. Let us laugh at this with the Palestinians. We know that the Palestinian issue is your political capital, as it is for many others. You know well how to make a political fortune by exploiting others’ emotions.
In Algeria, we suffered, and still suffer, from those who pretend to be God and act as takers and givers of life. They applaud your coming, but not us. You are the idol of Algerian Islamists and Populists, those who are unable to imagine a political structure beyond a caliphate for Muslim-majority societies.
We aspire to become a country of freedom and dignity. This is not your ambition, nor your virtue.
You are an illusion
You have made beautiful Turkey an open prison and a bazaar for your business and loved ones. I hope that this beautiful nation rises above your ambitions. I hope that justice will be restored and flourish there once again, at least for those who have been imprisoned, tortured, bombed, and killed. You are an illusion, Erdogan—you know it and we know it.
You play on the history of our humiliation, on our emotions, on our beliefs, and introduce yourself as a savior. However, you are a gravedigger, both for your own country and for your neighbors. Turkey is a political miracle, but it owes you nothing. The best thing you can do
”
”
Kamel Daoud
“
I never leave home without my cayenne pepper. I either stash a bottle of the liquid extract in my pocket book or I stick it in the shopping cart I pull around with me all over Manhattan. When it comes to staying right side up in this world, a black woman needs at least three things. The first is a quiet spot of her own, a place away from the nonsense. The second is a stash of money, like the cash my mother kept hidden in the slit of her mattress. The last is several drops of cayenne pepper, always at the ready. Sprinkle that on your food before you eat it and it’ll kill any lurking bacteria. The powder does the trick as well, but I prefer the liquid because it hits the bloodstream quickly. Particularly when eating out, I won’t touch a morsel to my lips ‘til it’s speckled with with cayenne. That’s just one way I take care of my temple, aside from preparing my daily greens, certain other habits have carried me toward the century mark.
First thing I do every morning is drink four glasses of water. People think this water business is a joke. But I’m here to tell you that it’s not. I’ve known two elderly people who died of dehydration, one of whom fell from his bed in the middle of the night and couldn’t stand up because he was so parched.
Following my water, I drink 8 ounces of fresh celery blended in my Vita-mix. The juice cleanses the system and reduces inflammation. My biggest meal is my first one: oatmeal. I soak my oats overnight so that when I get up all I have to do is turn on the burner. Sometimes I enjoy them with warm almond milk, other times I add grated almonds and berries, put the mixture in my tumbler and shake it until it’s so smooth I can drink it. In any form, oats do the heart good.
Throughout the day I eat sweet potatoes, which are filled with fiber, beets sprinkled with a little olive oil, and vegetables of every variety. I also still enjoy plenty of salad, though I stopped adding so many carrots – too much sugar. But I will do celery, cucumbers, seaweed grass and other greens. God’s fresh bounty doesn’t need a lot of dressing up, which is why I generally eat my salad plain. From time to time I do drizzle it with garlic oil. I love the taste.
I also love lychee nuts. I put them in the freezer so that when I bite into them cold juice comes flooding out. As terrific as they are, I buy them only once in awhile. I recently bit into an especially sweet one, and then I stuck it right back in the freezer. “Not today, Suzie,” I said to myself, “full of glucose!”
I try never to eat late, and certainly not after nine p.m. Our organs need a chance to rest. And before bed, of course, I have a final glass of water. I don’t mess around with my hydration.
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Cicely Tyson (Just as I Am)
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He was the one, however, with whom no one wanted his or her picture taken, the one to whom no one wanted to introduce his son or daughter. Louis and Gage knew him; they had met him and faced him down in New England, some time ago. He was waiting to choke you on a marble, to smother you with a dry-cleaning bag, to sizzle you into eternity with a fast and lethal boggie of electricity—Available at Your Nearest Switchplate or Vacant Light Socket Right Now. There was death in a quarter bag of peanuts, an aspirated piece of steak, the next pack of cigarettes. He was around all the time, he monitored all the checkpoints between the mortal and the eternal. Dirty needles, poison beetles, downed live wires, forest fires. Whirling roller skates that shot nurdy little kids into busy intersections. When you got into the bathtub to take a shower, Oz got right in there too—Shower with a Friend. When you got on an airplane, Oz took your boarding pass. He was in the water you drank, the food you ate. Who’s out there? you howled into the dark when you were frightened and all alone, and it was his answer that came back: Don’t be afraid, it’s just me. Hi, howaya? You got cancer of the bowel, what a bummer, so solly, Cholly! Septicemia! Leukemia! Atherosclerosis! Coronary thrombosis! Encephalitis! Osteomyelitis! Hey-ho, let’s go! Junkie in a doorway with a knife. Phone call in the middle of the night. Blood cooking in battery acid on some exit ramp in North Carolina. Big handfuls of pills, munch em up. That peculiar blue cast of the fingernails following asphyxiation—in its final grim struggle to survive the brain takes all the oxygen that is left, even that in those living cells under the nails. Hi, folks, my name’s Oz the Gweat and Tewwible, but you can call me Oz if you want—hell, we’re old friends by now. Just stopped by to whop you with a little congestive heart failure or a cranial blood clot or something; can’t stay, got to see a woman about a breach birth, then I’ve got a little smoke-inhalation job to do in Omaha. And that thin voice is crying, “I love you, Tigger! I love you! I believe in you, Tigger! I will always love you and believe in you, and I will stay young, and the only Oz to ever live in my heart will be that gentle faker from Nebraska! I love you . . .” We cruise . . . my son and I . . . because the essence of it isn’t war or sex but only that sickening, noble, hopeless battle against Oz the Gweat and Tewwible. He and I, in our white van under this bright Florida sky, we cruise. And the red flasher is hooded, but it is there if we need it . . . and none need know but us because the soil of a man’s heart is stonier; a man grows what he can . . . and tends it.
”
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Stephen King (Pet Sematary)