“
Closing The Cycle
One always has to know when a stage comes to an end. If we insist on staying longer than the necessary time, we lose the happiness and the meaning of the other stages we have to go through. Closing cycles, shutting doors, ending chapters - whatever name we give it, what matters is to leave in the past the moments of life that have finished.
Did you lose your job? Has a loving relationship come to an end? Did you leave your parents' house? Gone to live abroad? Has a long-lasting friendship ended all of a sudden?
You can spend a long time wondering why this has happened. You can tell yourself you won't take another step until you find out why certain things that were so important and so solid in your life have turned into dust, just like that. But such an attitude will be awfully stressing for everyone involved: your parents, your husband or wife, your friends, your children, your sister, everyone will be finishing chapters, turning over new leaves, getting on with life, and they will all feel bad seeing you at a standstill.
None of us can be in the present and the past at the same time, not even when we try to understand the things that happen to us. What has passed will not return: we cannot for ever be children, late adolescents, sons that feel guilt or rancor towards our parents, lovers who day and night relive an affair with someone who has gone away and has not the least intention of coming back.
Things pass, and the best we can do is to let them really go away. That is why it is so important (however painful it may be!) to destroy souvenirs, move, give lots of things away to orphanages, sell or donate the books you have at home. Everything in this visible world is a manifestation of the invisible world, of what is going on in our hearts - and getting rid of certain memories also means making some room for other memories to take their place.
Let things go. Release them. Detach yourself from them. Nobody plays this life with marked cards, so sometimes we win and sometimes we lose. Do not expect anything in return, do not expect your efforts to be appreciated, your genius to be discovered, your love to be understood. Stop turning on your emotional television to watch the same program over and over again, the one that shows how much you suffered from a certain loss: that is only poisoning you, nothing else.
Nothing is more dangerous than not accepting love relationships that are broken off, work that is promised but there is no starting date, decisions that are always put off waiting for the "ideal moment." Before a new chapter is begun, the old one has to be finished: tell yourself that what has passed will never come back. Remember that there was a time when you could live without that thing or that person - nothing is irreplaceable, a habit is not a need. This may sound so obvious, it may even be difficult, but it is very important.
Closing cycles. Not because of pride, incapacity or arrogance, but simply because that no longer fits your life. Shut the door, change the record, clean the house, shake off the dust. Stop being who you were, and change into who you are.
”
”
Paulo Coelho
“
When anything in life is an absolute requirement for your happiness and self-worth, it is essentially an ‘idol,’ something you are actually worshiping. When such a thing is threatened, your anger is absolute. Your anger is actually the way the idol keeps you in its service, in its chains. Therefore if you find that, despite all the efforts to forgive, your anger and bitterness cannot subside, you may need to look deeper and ask, ‘What am I defending? What is so important that I cannot live without?’ It may be that, until some inordinate desire is identified and confronted, you will not be able to master your anger.
”
”
Timothy J. Keller (Counterfeit Gods: The Empty Promises of Money, Sex, and Power, and the Only Hope that Matters)
“
Life doesn't have to be as hard and complicated as we make it. Each of us has -- as Robert Frost wrote -- "Promises to keep and miles to go before I sleep." No matter what challenges, obstacles or hardships we encounter along the way, we can always look for the easier, simpler path.
”
”
Greg McKeown (Effortless: Make It Easier to Do What Matters Most)
“
None of us know if our decisions are right or wrong in the moment. That's why what's important is what you do after a decision. Your effort to make the decision you made correct. Even if the decision you made brings unfavorable results, what can you do from there? Continuing to strive anyway is what's important. If decisions are everything, life is just one big gamble. Believe in what you've decided, Emma. And no matter what results from it, keep going.
”
”
Kaiu Shirai (約束のネバーランド 13 [Yakusoku no Neverland 13])
“
But no life was without it's strain & strife, not if it was fully lived. Opening up to experience, even the good ones like trust & love, was to open yourself up to the pain. I suppose the key was to not compound matters by making the rest of it unnecessarily hard. My need for control had certainly done that in the past. So I made a promise to myself in that moment.
I would make a concerted effort to reach for what was soft & good in this world. I'd find a place to settle into, and hold still so that this world's good and soft could reach back & touch me as well.
”
”
Vicki Pettersson (The Neon Graveyard (Signs of the Zodiac, #6))
“
What I’m most deeply grateful for is that God’s love for us, approval of us, and commitment to us does not ride on our resolve but on Jesus’s resolve for us. The gospel is the good news announcing Jesus’s infallible devotion to us despite our inconsistent devotion to Him. The gospel is not a command to hang on to Jesus; it’s a promise that no matter how weak and unsuccessful our faith and efforts may be, God is always holding on to us.
”
”
Tullian Tchividjian (It Is Finished: 365 Days of Good News)
“
Money cannot save you from tragedy, or give you control in a chaotic world. Only God can do that. What breaks the power of money over us is not just redoubled effort to follow the example of Christ. Rather, it is deepening your understanding of the salvation of Christ, what you have in him, and then living out the changes that that understanding makes in your heart—the seat of your mind, will, and emotions. Faith in the gospel restructures our motivations, our self-understanding and identity, our view of the world. Behavioral compliance to rules without a complete change of heart will be superficial and fleeting.
”
”
Timothy J. Keller (Counterfeit Gods: The Empty Promises of Money, Sex, and Power, and the Only Hope that Matters)
“
In any culture in which God is largely absent, sex, money, and politics will fill the vacuum for different people. This is the reason that our political discourse is increasingly ideological and polarized. Many describe the current poisonous public discourse as a lack of bi-partisanship, but the roots go much deeper than that. As Niebuhr taught, they go back to the beginning of the world, to our alienation from God, and to our frantic efforts to compensate for our feelings of cosmic nakedness and powerlessness. The only way to deal with all these things is to heal our relationship with God.
”
”
Timothy J. Keller (Counterfeit Gods: The Empty Promises of Money, Sex, and Power, and the Only Hope that Matters)
“
Churchill, sensitive to class considerations in his conduct of the war, instructed his generals and admirals to be careful in how they governed the armed forces. Early on, he warned the navy to be “particularly careful that class prejudice does not enter into these decisions” about selection of cadets for officer training at the Royal Naval College in Dartmouth, England. “Unless some better reasons are given to me,” he vowed, he would investigate the matter. The navy resisted this direction, so he did as promised and intervened directly. He even met with some of the candidates who had scored well on entrance examinations but had still been rejected. “I have seen the three candidates,” he informed the navy’s top officers. “It is quite true that A has a slightly cockney accent, and that the other two are the sons of a chief petty officer and an engineer in the merchant service. But the whole intention of competitive examination is to open the service to ability, irrespective of class or fortune.” Concluding that an injustice had been done, he ordered that the three be admitted to officer training. This was a lot of effort for someone trying to run a war and stave off invasion.
”
”
Thomas E. Ricks (Churchill and Orwell)
“
I draw myself up next to her and look at her profile, making no effort to disguise my attention, here, where there is only Puck to see me. The evening sun loves her throat and her cheekbones. Her hair the color of cliff grass rises and falls over her face in the breeze. Her expression is less ferocious than usual, less guarded.
I say, “Are you afraid?”
Her eyes are far away on the horizon line, out to the west where the sun has gone but the glow remains. Somewhere out there are my capaill uisce, George Holly’s America, every gallon of water that every ship rides on.
Puck doesn’t look away from the orange glow at the end of the world. “Tell me what it’s like. The race.”
What it’s like is a battle. A mess of horses and men and blood. The fastest and strongest of what is left from two weeks of preparation on the sand. It’s the surf in your face, the deadly magic of November on your skin, the Scorpio drums in the place of your heartbeat. It’s speed, if you’re lucky. It’s life and it’s death or it’s both and there’s nothing like it. Once upon a time, this moment — this last light of evening the day before the race — was the best moment of the year for me. The anticipation of the game to come. But that was when all I had to lose was my life.
“There’s no one braver than you on that beach.”
Her voice is dismissive. “That doesn’t matter.”
“It does. I meant what I said at the festival. This island cares nothing for love but it favors the brave.”
Now she looks at me. She’s fierce and red, indestructible and changeable, everything that makes Thisby what it is. She asks, “Do you feel brave?”
The mare goddess had told me to make another wish. It feels thin as a thread to me now, that gift of a wish. I remember the years when it felt like a promise. “I don’t know what I feel, Puck.”
Puck unfolds her arms just enough to keep her balance as she leans to me, and when we kiss, she closes her eyes.
She draws back and looks into my face. I have not moved, and she barely has, but the world feels strange beneath me.
“Tell me what to wish for,” I say. “Tell me what to ask the sea for.”
“To be happy. Happiness.”
I close my eyes. My mind is full of Corr, of the ocean, of Puck Connolly’s lips on mine. “I don’t think such a thing is had on Thisby. And if it is, I don’t know how you would keep it.”
The breeze blows across my closed eyelids, scented with brine and rain and winter. I can hear the ocean rocking against the island, a constant lullaby.
Puck’s voice is in my ear; her breath warms my neck inside my jacket collar. “You whisper to it. What it needs to hear. Isn’t that what you said?”
I tilt my head so that her mouth is on my skin. The kiss is cold where the wind blows across my cheek. Her forehead rests against my hair.
I open my eyes, and the sun has gone. I feel as if the ocean is inside me, wild and uncertain. “That’s what I said. What do I need to hear?”
Puck whispers, “That tomorrow we’ll rule the Scorpio Races as king and queen of Skarmouth and I’ll save the house and you’ll have your stallion. Dove will eat golden oats for the rest of her days and you will terrorize the races each year and people will come from every island in the world to find out how it is you get horses to listen to you. The piebald will carry Mutt Malvern into the sea and Gabriel will decide to stay on the island. I will have a farm and you will bring me bread for dinner.”
I say, “That is what I needed to hear.”
“Do you know what to wish for now?”
I swallow. I have no wishing-shell to throw into the sea when I say it, but I know that the ocean hears me nonetheless. “To get what I need.
”
”
Maggie Stiefvater (The Scorpio Races)
“
Lock her up”—as a prong of Make America Great Again—became a promise to weaponize the machinery of law to silence, threaten, and isolate women. In the end it didn’t even matter whom the pronoun “her” referenced. For crowds who embraced it, it was a generalized promise that after centuries of women’s diligent efforts at bending and shaping and coaxing the law into affording them equal protection and dignity, their gender itself could become a crime.
”
”
Dahlia Lithwick (Lady Justice: Women, the Law, and the Battle to Save America)
“
Everything we do and say will either underline or undermine our discipleship process.
As long as there is one unsaved person on my campus or in my city, then my church is not big enough.
One of the underlying principles of our discipleship strategy is that every believer can and should make disciples.
When a discipleship process fails, many times the fatal flaw is that the definition of discipleship is either unclear, unbiblical, or not commonly shared by the leadership team.
Write down what you love to do most, and then go do it with unbelievers. Whatever you love to do, turn it into an outreach.
You have to formulate a system that is appropriate for your cultural setting. Writing your own program for making disciples takes time, prayer, and some trial and error—just as it did with us. Learn and incorporate ideas from other churches around the world, but only after modification to make sure the strategies make sense in our culture and community.
Culture is changing so quickly that staying relevant requires our constant attention. If we allow ourselves to be distracted by focusing on the mechanics of our own efforts rather than our culture, we will become irrelevant almost overnight.
The easiest and most common way to fail at discipleship is to import a model or copy a method that worked somewhere else without first understanding the values that create a healthy discipleship culture. Principles and process are much more important than material, models, and methods.
The church is an organization that exists for its nonmembers.
Christianity does not promise a storm-free life. However, if we build our lives on biblical foundations, the storms of life will not destroy us. We cannot have lives that are storm-free, but we can become storm-proof.
Just as we have to figure out the most effective way to engage our community for Christ, we also have to figure out the most effective way to establish spiritual foundations in each unique context.
There is really only one biblical foundation we can build our lives on, and that is the Lord Jesus Christ.
Pastors, teachers, and church staff believe their primary role is to serve as mentors. Their task is to equip every believer for the work of the ministry. It is not to do all the ministry, but to equip all the people to do it. Their top priority is to equip disciples to do ministry and to make disciples.
Do you spend more time ministering to people or preparing people to minister? No matter what your church responsibilities are, you can prepare others for the same ministry.
Insecurity in leadership is a deadly thing that will destroy any organization. It drives pastors and presidents to defensive positions, protecting their authority or exercising it simply to show who is the boss.
Disciple-making is a process that systematically moves people toward Christ and spiritual maturity; it is not a bunch of randomly disconnected church activities.
In the context of church leadership, one of the greatest and most important applications of faith is to trust the Holy Spirit to work in and through those you are leading. Without confidence that the Holy Spirit is in control, there is no empowering, no shared leadership, and, as a consequence, no multiplication.
”
”
Steve Murrell (WikiChurch: Making Discipleship Engaging, Empowering, and Viral)
“
no matter how you look at the issue, prevention is a fundamentally preferable and more cost-effective way to promote health and longevity. Most people agree that we invest insufficiently in prevention, but they would also surmise that it is difficult to get young, healthy people to avoid behaviors that increase their risk of future illness. Consider smoking, which causes more preventable deaths than any major risk factor (the other big ones being physical inactivity, poor diet, and alcohol abuse). After prolonged legal battles, public health efforts to discourage smoking have managed to halve the percentage of Americans who smoke since the 1950s.19 Yet 20 percent of Americans still smoke, causing 443,000 premature deaths in 2011 at a direct cost of $96 billion per year. Likewise, most Americans know they should be physically active and eat a healthy diet, yet only 20 percent of Americans meet the government’s recommendations for physical activity, and fewer than 20 percent meet government dietary guidelines.20 There are many, diverse reasons we are bad at persuading, nudging, or otherwise encouraging people to use their bodies more as they evolved to be used (more on this later), but one contributing factor could be that we are still following in the footsteps of the marquis de Condorcet, waiting for the next promised breakthrough. Scared of death and hopeful about science, we spend billions of dollars trying to figure out how to regrow diseased organs, hunting for new drugs, and designing artifical body parts to replace the ones we wear out. I am in no way suggesting that we cease investing in these and other areas. Quite the contrary: let’s spend more! But let’s not do so in a way that promotes the pernicious feedback loop of just treating mismatch diseases rather than preventing them. In practical
”
”
Daniel E. Lieberman (The Story of the Human Body: Evolution, Health and Disease)
“
He could not maintain the effort to arrive on time since his lifelong habit had created the opposite habit: to elude, to avoid, to disappoint every expectation of others, every commitment, every promise, every crystallization. The magic beauty of simultaneity, to see the loved one rushing toward you at the same moment you are rushing toward him, the magic power of meeting exactly at midnight to achieve union, the illusion of one common rhythm achieved by overcoming obstacles, deserting friends, breaking other bonds —all this was soon dissolved by his laziness, by his habit of missing every moment, of never keeping his word, of living perversely in a state of chaos, of swimming more naturally in a sea of failed intentions, broken promises, and aborted wishes. The importance of rhythm in Djuna was so strong that no matter where she was, even without a watch, she sensed the approach of midnight and would climb on a bus, so instinctively and accurate that very often as she stepped of the bus the twelve loud gongs of midnight would be striking at the large station clock. This obedience to timing was her awareness of the rarity of unity between human beings.
”
”
Anaïs Nin (The Four-Chambered Heart: V3 in Nin's Continuous Novel)
“
Unfortunately, the Hospital Fund Raising Committee, to which Elizabeth was assigned, spent most of its time mired down in petty trivialities and rarely made a decision on anything. In a fit of bored frustration, Elizabeth finally asked Ian to step into their drawing room one day, while the committee was meeting there, and to give them the benefit of his expertise. “And,” she laughingly warned him in the privacy of his study when he agreed to join them, “no matter how they prose on about every tiny, meaningless expenditure-which they will-promise me you won’t point out to them that you could build six hospitals with less effort and time.”
“Could I do that?” he asked, grinning.
“Absolutely!” She sighed. “Between them, they must have half the money in Europe, yet they debate about every shilling to be spent as if it were coming out of their own reticules and likely to send them to debtors’ gaol.”
“If they offend your thrifty sensibilities, they must be a rare group,” Ian teased. Elizabeth gave him a distracted smile, but when they neared the drawing room, where the committee was drinking tea in Ian’s priceless Sevres china cups, she turned to him and added hastily, “Oh, and don’t comment on Lady Wiltshire’s blue hat.”
“Why not?”
“Because it’s her hair.”
“I wouldn’t do such a thing,” he protested, grinning at her.
“Yes, you would!” she whispered, trying to frown and chuckling instead. “The dowager duchess told me that, last night, you complimented the furry dog Lady Shirley had draped over her arm.”
“Madam, I was following your specific instructions to be nice to the eccentric old harridan. Why shouldn’t I have complimented her dog?”
“Because it was a new fur muff of a rare sort, of which she was extravagantly proud.”
“There is no fur on earth that mangy, Elizabeth,” he replied with an impenitent grin. “She’s hoaxing the lot of you,” he added seriously.
Elizabeth swallowed a startled laugh and said with an imploring look, “Promise me you’ll be very nice, and very patient with the committee.”
“I promise,” he said gravely, but when she reached for the door handle and opened the door-when it was too late to step back and yank it closed-he leaned close to her ear and whispered, “Did you know a camel is the only animal invented by a committee, which is why it turned out the way it has?”
If the committee was surprised to see the formerly curt and irascible Marquess of Kensington stroll into their midst wearing a beatific smile worth of a choir boy, they were doubtlessly shocked to see his wife’s hands clamped over her face and her eyes tearing with mirth.
”
”
Judith McNaught (Almost Heaven (Sequels, #3))
“
Ronan's trying to wake up the world. I'm trying to think of how to talk him out of it, but what he's talking about is a world where she never fell asleep. A world where Matthew's just a kid. A world where it doesn't matter what Hennessy does, if something happens to her. A level playing field. I don't think it's a good idea, but it's not like I can't see the appeal, because now I'm biased, I'm too biased to be clear." Declan shook his head a little. "I said I would never become my father, anything like him. And now look at me. At us."
Ah, there it was.
It took no effort to remember the way he'd looked at her the first moment he realized she was a dream.
"I'm a dream," Jordan said. "I'm not your dream."
Declan put his chin in his hand and looked back out the window; that, too, would be a good portrait. Perhaps it was just because she liked looking at him that she thought each pose would make a good one. A series. What a future that idea promised, nights upon nights like this, him sitting there, her standing here.
"By the time we're married," Declan said eventually, "I want you to have applied for a different studio in this place because this man's paintings are very ugly."
Her pulse gently skipped two beats before continuing on as before. "I don't have a social security number of my own, Pozzi."
"I'll buy you one," Declan said. "You can wear it in place of a ring."
The two of them looked at each other past the canvas on her easel.
Finally, he said, voice soft, "I should see the painting now."
"Are you sure?"
"It's time, Jordan."
Putting his jacket to the side, he stood. He waited. He would not come around to look without an invite.
It's time, Jordan.
Jordan had never been truly honest with anyone who didn't wear Hennessy's face. Showing him this painting, this original, felt like being more honest than she had ever been in her life.
She stepped back to give him room.
Declan took it in. His eyes flickered to and from the likeness, from the jacket on Portrait Declan's leg to the real jacket he'd left behind on the chair. She watched his gaze follow the line edge she had taken such care to paint, that subtle electricity of complementary colors at the edge of his form.
"It's very good," Declan muttered. "Jordan, it's very good."
"I thought it might be."
"I don't know if it's a sweetmetal. But you're very good."
"I thought I might be."
"The next one will be even better."
"I think it might be."
"And in ten years your scandalous masterpiece will get you thrown out of France, too," he said. "And later you can triumphantly sell it to the Met. Children will write papers about you. People like me will tell stories about you to their dates at museums to make them think they're interesting."
She kissed him. He kissed her. And this kiss, too, got all wrapped up in the art-making of the portrait sitting on the easel beside them, getting all mixed in with all the other sights and sounds and feelings that had become part of the process.
It was very good.
”
”
Maggie Stiefvater (Mister Impossible (Dreamer Trilogy, #2))
“
Promises, schedules, and estimates are necessary and important instruments in a well-ordered business. Many fail to realize this, or habitually try to dodge the responsibility for making commitments. You must make promises based upon your own estimates for the part of the job for which you are responsible, together with estimates obtained from contributing departments for their parts. No one should be allowed to avoid the issue by the old formula, “I can’t give a promise because it depends upon so many uncertain factors.” Consider the “uncertain factors” confronting a department head who must make up a budget for an entire department a year in advance! Even the most uncertain case can be narrowed down by first asking, “Will it be done in a matter of a few hours or a few months, a few days or a few weeks?” If it cannot be done in less than three weeks and surely will not require more than five, you’d better say four weeks. This allows one week for contingencies and sets you a reasonable miss under the comfortable figure of five weeks. Both extremes are bad; good businesspeople set schedules that they can meet with energetic effort at a pace commensurate with the significance of the job. As a corollary of the foregoing, you have a right to insist upon having estimates from responsible representatives of other departments. But in accepting promises, or statements of facts, it is frequently important to make sure that you are dealing with a properly qualified representative. Also bear in mind that when you ignore or discount other promises you dismiss their responsibility and incur the extra liability yourself. Of course this is sometimes necessary, but be sure that you do it advisedly. Ideally, other people’s promises should be reliable instruments in compiling estimates.
”
”
James Skakoon (The Unwritten Laws of Business)
“
For a brief moment she considered the unfairness of it all. How short was the time for fun, for pretty clothes, for dancing, for coquetting! Only a few, too few years! Then you married and wore dull-colored dresses and had babies that ruined your waist line and sat in corners at dances with other sober matrons and only emerged to dance with your husband or with old gentlemen who stepped on your feet. If you didn't do these things, the other matrons talked about you and then your reputation was ruined and your family disgraced. It seemed such a terrible waste to spend all your little girlhood learning how to be attractive and how to catch men and then only use the knowledge for a year or two. When she considered her training at the hands of Ellen and Mammy, se knew it had been thorough and good because it had always reaped results. There were set rules to be followed, and if you followed them success crowned your efforts.
With old ladies you were sweet and guileless and appeared as simple minded as possible, for old ladies were sharp and they watched girls as jealously as cats, ready to pounce on any indiscretion of tongue or eye. With old gentlemen, a girl was pert and saucy and almost, but not quite, flirtatious, so that the old fools' vanities would be tickled. It made them feel devilish and young and they pinched your cheek and declared you were a minx. And, of course, you always blushed on such occasions, otherwise they would pinch you with more pleasure than was proper and then tell their sons that you were fast.
With young girls and young married women, you slopped over with sugar and kissed them every time you met them, even if it was ten times a day. And you put your arms about their waists and suffered them to do the same to you, no matter how much you disliked it. You admired their frocks or their babies indiscriminately and teased about beaux and complimented husbands and giggled modestly and denied you had any charms at all compared with theirs. And, above all, you never said what you really thought about anything, any more than they said what they really thought.
Other women's husbands you let severely alone, even if they were your own discarded beaux, and no matter how temptingly attractive they were. If you were too nice to young husbands, their wives said you were fast and you got a bad reputation and never caught any beaux of your own.
But with young bachelors-ah, that was a different matter! You could laugh softly at them and when they came flying to see why you laughed, you could refuse to tell them and laugh harder and keep them around indefinitely trying to find out. You could promise, with your eyes, any number of exciting things that would make a man maneuver to get you alone. And, having gotten you alone, you could be very, very hurt or very, very angry when he tried to kiss you. You could make him apologize for being a cur and forgive him so sweetly that he would hang around trying to kiss you a second time. Sometimes, but not often, you did let them kiss you. (Ellen and Mammy had not taught her that but she learned it was effective). Then you cried and declared you didn't know what had come over you and that he couldn't ever respect you again. Then he had to dry your eyes and usually he proposed, to show just how much he did respect you. And there were-Oh, there were so many things to do to bachelors and she knew them all, the nuance of the sidelong glance, the half-smile behind the fan, the swaying of hips so that skirts swung like a bell, the tears, the laughter, the flattery, the sweet sympathy. Oh, all the tricks that never failed to work-except with Ashley.
”
”
Margaret Mitchell (Gone with the Wind)
“
[Vitellius's] sins were luxury and cruelty. He divided his feasts into three, sometimes into four a day, breakfast, luncheon, dinner, and a drinking bout; and he was readily able to do justice to all of them through his habit of inducing vomiting.
...
When his mother died, he was suspected of having forbidden her being given food when she was ill, because a woman of the Chatti, in whom he believed as he would in an oracle, prophesied that he would rule securely and for a long time, but only if he should survive his parent.
....
He declared from the steps of the Palace before his assembled soldiers, that he withdrew from the rule which had been given him against his will; but when all cried out against this, he postponed the matter, and after a night had passed, went at daybreak to the rostra in mourning garb and with many tears made the same declaration, but from a written document.
When the people and soldiers again interrupted him and besought him not to lose heart, vying with one another in promising him all their efforts in his behalf, he by a sudden onslaught drove Sabinus and the rest of the Flavians, into the Capitol. Then he set fire to the temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus and destroyed them, viewing the battle and the fire from the house of Tiberius, where he was feasting.
...
At last on the Stairs of Wailing he was tortured for a long time and then despatched and dragged off with a hook to the Tiber.
He met his death, along with his brother and his son, in the fifty-seventh year of his age, fulfilling the prediction of those who had declared from an omen which befell him at Vienna, as we have stated, that he was destined to fall into the power of some man of Gaul. For he was slain by Antonius Primus, a leader of the opposing faction, who was born at Tolouse and in his youth bore the surname Becco, which means a rooster's beak.
”
”
Suetonius (The Twelve Caesars)
“
Betsy didn’t want to be at the party any more than Cole did. She’d met the birthday girl in a spin class a couple of years earlier and had been declining her Evites ever since. In an effort to meet new people, however, this time Betsy replied “Yes.” She took a cab to the party, wondering why she was going at all. When Betsy met Cole there was a spark, but she was ambivalent. Cole was clearly smart and well educated, but he didn’t seem to be doing much about it. They had some nice dates, which seemed promising. Then, after sleeping over one night and watching Cole wake up at eleven a.m. and grab his skateboard, Betsy felt less bullish. She didn’t want to help another boyfriend grow up. What Betsy didn’t know was that, ever since he’d started spending time with her, Cole had regained some of his old drive. He saw the way she wanted to work on her sculptures even on the weekend, how she and her friends loved to get together to talk about their projects and their plans. As a result, Cole started to think more aspirationally. He eyed a posting for a good tech job at a high-profile start-up, but he felt his résumé was now too shabby to apply. As luck would have it—and it is often luck—Cole remembered that an old friend from high school, someone he bumped into about once every year or two, worked at the start-up. He got in touch, and this friend put in a good word to HR. After a handful of interviews with different people in the company, Cole was offered the position. The hiring manager told Cole he had been chosen for three reasons: His engineering degree suggested he knew how to work hard on technical projects, his personality seemed like a good fit for the team, and the twentysomething who vouched for him was well liked in the company. The rest, the manager said, Cole could learn on the job. This one break radically altered Cole’s career path. He learned software development at a dot-com on the leading edge. A few years later, he moved over and up as a director of development at another start-up because, by then, the identity capital he’d gained could speak for itself. Nearly ten years later, Cole and Betsy are married. She runs a gallery co-op. He’s a CIO. They have a happy life and gladly give much of the credit to Cole’s friend from high school and to the woman with the Evites.
”
”
Meg Jay (The Defining Decade: Why Your Twenties Matter—And How to Make the Most of Them Now)
“
I leaned into Tamlin, sighing. 'It feels- feels as if some of it was a dream, or a nightmare. But... But I remembered you. And when I saw you there today, I started clawing at it, fighting, because I knew it might be my only chance, and-'
'How did you break free of his control,' Lucien said flatly from behind us.
Tamlin gave him a warning growl.
I'd forgotten he was there. My sister's mate. The Mother, I decided, did have a sense of humour. 'I wanted it- I don't know how. I just wanted to break free of him, so I did.'
We stared each other down, but Tamlin brushed a thumb over my shoulder. 'Are- are you hurt?'
I tried not to bristle. I knew what he meant. That he thought Rhysand would do anything like that to anyone- 'I- I don't know,' I stammered. 'I don't... I don't remember those things.'
Lucien's metal eye narrowed, as if he could sense the lie.
But I looked up at Tamlin, and brushed my hand over his mouth. My bare, empty skin. 'You're real,' I said. 'You freed me.'
It was an effort not to turn my hands into claws and rip out his eyes. Traitor- liar. Murderer.
'You freed yourself,' Tamlin breathed. He gestured to the house. 'Rest- and then we'll talk. I... need to find Ianthe. And make some things very, very clear.'
'I- I want to be a part of it this time,' I said, halting when he tried to herd me back into that beautiful prison. 'No more... No more shutting me out. No more guards. Please. I have so much to tell you about them- bits and pieces, but... I can help. We can get my sisters back. Let me help.'
Help lead you in the wrong direction. Help bring you and your court to your knees, and take down Jurian and those conniving, traitorous queens. And then tear Ianthe into tiny, tiny pieces and bury them in a pit no one can find.
Tamlin scanned my face, and finally nodded. 'We'll start over. Do things differently. When you were gone, I realised... I'd been wrong. So wrong, Feyre. And I'm sorry.'
Too late. Too damned late. But I rested my head on his arm as he slipped it around me and led me toward the house. 'It doesn't matter. I'm home now.'
'Forever,' he promised.
'Forever,' I parroted, glancing behind- to where Lucien stood in the gravel drive.
His gaze on me. Face hard. As if he'd seen through every lie.
As if he knew of the second tattoo beneath my glove, and the glamour I now kept on it.
As if he knew that they had let a fox into a chicken coop- and he could do nothing.
Not unless he never wanted to see his mate- Elain- again.
I gave Lucien a sweet, sleepy smile. So our game began.
We hit the sweeping marble stairs to the front doors of the manor.
And so Tamlin unwittingly led the High Lady of the Night Court into the heart of his territory.
”
”
Sarah J. Maas (A Court of Mist and Fury (A Court of Thorns and Roses, #2))
“
I buttoned my own shirt reluctantly though there wasn't much I could do about my throbbing hard on aside from plan a trip back to my room as soon as I could possibly get out of this training session so that I could jerk off repeatedly with all of the new spank bank material she'd just gifted me.
Tory remained on the desk in front of me and I was hoping that was because her legs weren't working right yet.
The thirst prickled at me again as I eyed her throat and she sighed loudly as she noticed.
“You’re still going to bite me, aren’t you?” she asked, her fingers curling around the edge of the desk.
“You could look at it as rewarding me for my efforts,” I teased, because there was no fucking way she was getting out of here without me drinking from her and we both knew it.
“Well that makes me feel a little better about leaving you with blue balls,” she taunted and I almost groaned in frustration as my dick throbbed in agreement.
“Next time, I’ll be sure to carve out a few hours to dedicate to you,” I told her. “And then neither of us will be left wanting.”
“Next time?” she asked, raising an eyebrow like that wasn't at all likely to happen. But I could hear her heartbeat pounding and I knew she was wondering how hard I could make her come with several hours at our disposal and my cock a whole lot more involved in the act.
I found myself smiling again but then my mood dipped as I realised there wasn't likely to be a next time if the other Heirs succeeded with their plans for the dance. I didn't even really want to go along with the damn plan and in a moment of madness, I suddenly wondered if I could just save her from it. They would still strike at Darcy and maybe that would be enough to force the twins to leave the academy. But if I was being honest, I didn't even really want them to leave anyway.
I moved closer to her again, tucking a lock of dark hair behind her ear. “Are you going to the dance on Friday?” I murmured and her pulse scattered, making my smile deepen in satisfaction.
“Err, yeah,” she said, that suspicious look returning to her eyes.
“Why don’t you blow it off?” I suggested, wondering if I could just convince her to stay away from it all together. She was my Source after all so the others couldn't even really get mad at me for protecting her - that was kinda in the job description anyway. She blinked at me in surprise and I realised she'd probably thought I was going to ask her to go to the dance with me as her date. But I couldn't do that, if I wanted to save her from the other Heirs and their plans then I needed to keep her away from the whole thing.
“What possible reason would I have to do that?” she asked, shifting just enough to make my hand fall from her face.
I felt the rejection before she could even voice it, but I wasn't going to give up that easily.
I ran my dislodged hand down her arm instead, raising goosebumps along her skin and hopefully reminding her of just how good I'd made her feel with these fingers. “Because then I could sneak out and come to your room. We could have the whole House and an entire evening to ourselves."
“That’s pretty presumptuous of you, Earth boy.”
“Earth boy?” I asked in amusement, refusing to back down no matter how hard she was trying to resist me.
I held a hand out to her, bringing earth magic to my fingertips and causing a dark blue flower to blossom in my palm. Girls fucking loved that trick.
“Perhaps I’ve gotten what I wanted from you now,” she said, shifting forward to get up without reaching for the flower.
Okay, so maybe this girl didn't love that trick after all.
I let the flower dissolve into nothing again and stepped forward to stop her from getting to her feet, smiling darkly.
“I’m confident you’ll come back for more,” I promised her and I could tell she was at least a little tempted by the prospect.(Caleb POV)
”
”
Caroline Peckham (The Awakening as Told by the Boys (Zodiac Academy, #1.5))
“
I have refrained from publicly expressing myself on this subject before as it seemed improper to dwell on personal matters while all the world was in dire trouble. I would add further, in view of various rumors which have reached me, that Mr. J. Pierpont Morgan did not interest himself with me in a business way but in the same large spirit in which he has assisted many other pioneers. He carried out his generous promise to the letter and it would have been most unreasonable to expect from him anything more. He had the highest regard for my attainments and gave me every evidence of his complete faith in my ability to ultimately achieve what I had set out to do. I am unwilling to accord to some small-minded and jealous individuals the satisfaction of having thwarted my efforts. These men are to me nothing more than microbes of a nasty disease. My project was retarded by laws of nature. The world was not prepared for it. It was too far ahead of time. But the same laws will prevail in the end and make it a triumphal success.
”
”
Nikola Tesla (My Inventions and Other Writings)
“
You can always tell when an employee thinks, “Oh, that’s stupid. I’m not going to put a lot of effort into that.” Wrong attitude! You have to think about how that task serves the bigger picture. Every job matters along the food chain, so take pride in everything you do, even if it seems pointless at the time. Also, if you throw a fit when you have to do something you don’t want to, I can promise you that when a good project pops up, it will be given to someone else.
”
”
Aliza Licht (Leave Your Mark: Land Your Dream Job. Kill It in Your Career. Rock Social Media.)
“
My bout with the Marquis was much like the others. Even more than usual I was hopelessly outclassed, but I stuck grimly to my place, refusing to back up, and took hit after hit, though my parrying was steadily improving. Of course I lost, but at least it wasn’t so easy a loss as I’d had when I first began to attend practice--and he didn’t insult me with obvious handicaps, such as never allowing his point to hit me.
Bran and Savona finished a moment later, and Bran was just suggesting we exchange partners when the bells for third-gold rang, causing a general outcry. Some would stay, but most, I realized, were retreating to their various domiciles to bathe and dress for open Court.
I turned away--and found Shevraeth beside me. “You’ve never sampled the delights of Petitioners’ Court,” he said.
I thought of the Throne Room again, this time with Galdran there on the goldenwood throne, and the long lines of witnesses. I repressed a shiver.
Some of my sudden tension must have exhibited itself in my countenance because he said, “It is no longer an opportunity for a single individual to practice summary justice such as you experienced on your single visit.”
“I’m certain you don’t just sit around happily and play cards,” I muttered, looking down at the toes of my boots as we walked.
“Sometimes we do, when there are no petitioners. Or we listen to music. But when there is business, we listen to the petitioners, accept whatever they offer in the way of proof, and promise a decision at a later date. That’s for the first two greens. The last is spent in discussing impressions of the evidence at hand; sometimes agreement is reached, and sometimes we decide that further investigation is required before a decision can be made.”
This surprised me so much I looked up at him. There was no amusement, no mockery, no threat in the gray eyes. Just a slight question.
I said, “You listen to the opinions of whoever comes to Court?”
“Of course,” he said. “It means they want to be a part of government, even if their part is to be merely ornamental.”
I remembered that dinner when Nee first brought up Elenet’s name, and how Shevraeth had lamented how most of those who wished to give him advice had the least amount worth hearing.
“Why should I be there?” I asked. “I remember what you said about worthless advisers.”
“Do you think any opinion you would have to offer would be worthless?” he countered.
“It doesn’t matter what I think of my opinion,” I retorted, and then caught myself. “I mean to say, it is not me making the decisions.”
“So what you seem to be implying is that I think your opinion worthless.”
“Well, don’t you?”
He sighed. “When have I said so?”
“At the inn in Lumm, last year. And before that. About our letter to Galdran, and my opinion of courtiers.”
“It wasn’t your opinion I pointed up, it was your ignorance,” he said. “You seem to have made truly admirable efforts to overcome that handicap. Why not share what you’ve learned?”
I shrugged, then said, “Why don’t you have Elenet there?”--and hated myself for about as stupid a bit of pettiness as I’d ever uttered.
But he took the words at face value. “An excellent suggestion, and one I acted on immediately after she arrived at Athanarel. She’s contributed some very fine insights. She’s another, by the way, who took her own education in hand. Three years ago about all she knew was how to paint fans.”
I had talked myself into a corner, I realized--all through my own efforts. So I said, “All right, then. I’ll go get Mora to dig out that Court dress I ordered and be there to blister you all with my brilliance.”
He bowed, lifted his gray-gloved hand in a casual salute, and walked off toward the Royal Wing.
I retreated in quick order to get ready for the ordeal ahead.
”
”
Sherwood Smith (Court Duel (Crown & Court, #2))
“
The gospel is not a command to hang on to Jesus; it’s a promise that no matter how weak and unsuccessful our faith and efforts may be, God is always holding on to us.
”
”
Tullian Tchividjian (It Is Finished: 365 Days of Good News)
“
What breaks the power of money over us is not just redoubled effort to follow the example of Christ. Rather, it is deepening your understanding of the salvation of Christ, what you have in him, and then living out the changes that that understanding makes in your heart—the seat of your mind, will, and emotions.
”
”
Timothy J. Keller (Counterfeit Gods: The Empty Promises of Money, Sex, and Power, and the Only Hope that Matters)
“
According to the Nobel Committee (the group of ultra-liberals in Norway who pick the prize winners), Obama was awarded the 2009 prize “for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples.”8 Really? After less than a year in office? This was an award modeled after Seinfeld—it truly was about nothing, and meant nothing, at least in reality. Even the Obama administration had the good grace to be embarrassed by the award. Besides giving an abysmally naïve “speech to the Muslim world” in Cairo and talking about things like nuclear nonproliferation and climate change, the man had done squat in terms of forwarding world peace in the months he had been in office. He said so himself: “To be honest, I do not feel that I deserve to be in the company of so many of the transformative figures who’ve been honored by this prize.”9 Though the administration was not quite embarrassed enough to show the good grace of declining the honor in favor of someone who actually deserved it. But here’s why this award matters—because it fits so perfectly with Leftist philosophy. Obama was a global rock star who had replaced the “evil” George W. Bush. He was also the first African American to lead the United States. And the Nobel Committee wanted to do what felt good. They wanted in on the action. Essentially, this once-prestigious organization decided to act like squealing teenagers at a Beatles concert; they got caught up in “Obamamania” and just couldn’t help themselves. It felt good, so it felt right. So they did it. And then this Nobel Laureate went on to spend eight years undermining world peace by kneecapping the one thing that keeps a lid on this bubbling cauldron of a world: the U.S. military. He also invaded and destabilized Libya, broke his promises on Syria, has been downright dismissive to Israel, kowtowed to China, and let Russian President Vladimir Putin walk all over him (and therefore us). This man has done more to destabilize the world than perhaps any American President, ever. And guess what? Even the Nobel Committee who scrambled to award him the prize came to regret their decision! The Nobel Institute’s director at the time told the media in September 2015 that they “thought it would strengthen Obama and it didn’t have this effect,” and “even many of Obama’s supporters thought that the prize was a mistake.”10 Oops.
”
”
Eric Bolling (Wake Up America: The Nine Virtues That Made Our Nation Great—and Why We Need Them More Than Ever)
“
Consider the Lord’s prophetic promise to Abraham and then Isaac was that God Himself would increase them (Genesis 13:16,12 22:17,13 26:414; Exodus 1:715; Deuteronomy 1:1016) — and this came true. God is the one responsible for multiplying Abraham’s descendants, and this exceeding increase came to Israel. The Egyptians recognized this and wanted to do something about this population explosion occurring with the Israelites — hence enslaving them and trying to kill their baby boys in an effort to control them! So this was an exceptional growth rate discussed in the Bible, but this would yield a population (if ~equal male to female) just over 1.2 million people and their children in these ten generations. This almost sets an extreme upper limit, as the Lord was not increasing the people before the Flood, as He did with the Israelites. Thus, we tentatively suggest the pre-Flood population was far less than this at its peak — perhaps just a few hundred thousand. Allow us to elaborate.
”
”
Ken Ham (A Flood of Evidence: 40 Reasons Noah and the Ark Still Matter)
“
But if my team and I could take pride in the substance of what we’d achieved, we also had to acknowledge what had become obvious even before the bill was signed: Dodd-Frank’s historic reforms weren’t going to give us much of a political lift. Despite valiant efforts by Favs and the rest of my speechwriters, it was hard to make “derivative clearinghouses” and “proprietary trading bans” sound transformational. Most of the law’s improvements to the system would remain invisible to the public—more a matter of bad outcomes prevented than tangible benefits gained.
”
”
Barack Obama (A Promised Land)
“
But in the end, the facts of what happened are the facts, and I’m left with the same set of questions I first wrestled with as a young organizer. How useful is it to describe the world as it should be when efforts to achieve that world are bound to fall short? Was Václav Havel correct in suggesting that by raising expectations, I was doomed to disappoint them? Was it possible that abstract principles and high-minded ideals were and always would be nothing more than a pretense, a palliative, a way to beat back despair, but no match for the more primal urges that really moved us, so that no matter what we said or did, history was sure to run along its predetermined course, an endless cycle of fear, hunger and conflict, dominance and weakness?
”
”
Barack Obama (A Promised Land)
“
are all exceptional cases. We all want to appeal against something! Each of us insists on being innocent at all cost, even if he has to accuse the whole human race and heaven itself. You won’t delight a man by complimenting him on the efforts by which he has become intelligent or generous. On the other hand, he will beam if you admire his natural generosity. Inversely, if you tell a criminal that his crime is not due to his nature or his character but to unfortunate circumstances, he will be extravagantly grateful to you. During the counsel’s speech, this is the moment he will choose to weep. Yet there is no credit in being honest or intelligent by birth. Just as one is surely no more responsible for being a criminal by nature than for being a criminal by circumstance. But those rascals want grace, that is irresponsibility, and they shamelessly allege the justifications of nature or the excuses of circumstances, even if they are contradictory. The essential thing is that they should be innocent, that their virtues, by grace of birth, should not be questioned and that their misdeeds, born of a momentary misfortune, should never be more than provisional. As I told you, it’s a matter of dodging judgment. Since it is hard to dodge it, tricky to get one’s nature simultaneously admired and excused, they all strive to be rich. Why? Did you ever ask yourself? For power, of course. But especially because wealth shields from immediate judgment, takes you out of the subway crowd to enclose you in a chromium-plated automobile, isolates you in huge protected lawns, Pullmans, first-class cabins. Wealth, cher ami, is not quite acquittal, but reprieve, and that’s always worth taking. Above all, don’t believe your friends when they ask you to be sincere with them. They merely hope you will encourage them in the good opinion they have of themselves by providing them with the additional assurance they will find in your promise of sincerity. How could sincerity be a condition of friendship? A liking for truth at any cost is a passion that spares nothing and that nothing resists. It’s a vice, at times a comfort, or a selfishness. Therefore, if you are in that situation, don’t hesitate: promise to tell the truth and then lie as best you can. You will satisfy their hidden desire and doubly prove your affection.
”
”
Albert Camus (The Fall)
“
He could not maintain the effort to arrive on time since his lifelong habit had created the opposite habit: to elude, to avoid, to disappoint every expectation of others, every commitment, every promise, every crystallization. The magic beauty of simultaneity, to see the loved one rushing toward you at the same moment you are rushing toward him, the magic power of meeting exactly at midnight to achieve union, the illusion of one common rhythm achieved by overcoming obstacles, deserting friends, breaking other bonds —all this was soon dissolved by his laziness, by his habit of missing every moment, of never keeping his word, of living perversely in a state of chaos, of swimming more naturally in a sea of failed intentions, broken promises, and aborted wishes. The importance of rhythm in Djuna was so strong that no matter where she was, even without a watch, she sensed the approach of midnight and would climb on a bus, so instinctively and accurate that every often as she stepped of the bus the twelve loud gongs of midnight would be striking at the large station clock. This obedience to timing was her awareness of the rarity of unity between human beings.
”
”
Anaïs Nin (The Four-Chambered Heart: V3 in Nin's Continuous Novel)
“
I'm seated in a room full of women who hate me for being with a man who doesn't know how to share. Yes he is handsome, yes he is inordinately smart, yes he has promise, and his future is wide and open. But what does any of this matter if the man is a hollowed shell. Some men are mysterious only to hide who they are. Others maintain their mystery in order to hide the fact that they don't know.
They compensate for this feeling of emptiness by filling the room with their absence. They will never risk themselves.
We will never speak on the phone, he'll never write. He will make no effort to respond. I want to tell all the women who envy me that being with him feels a little like playing squash; and while they hope that he's withdrawn from me for the sake of someone else, I know that it takes friction to bond, it takes surrender and possible harm. I worry that he is dead inside, and that there is no hope, because he doesn’t believe in God.
”
”
Lethokuhle Msimang (The Frightened)
“
I leaned into Tamlin, sighing. 'It feels- feels as if some of it was a dream, or a nightmare. But... But I remembered you. And when I saw you there today, I started clawing at it, fighting, because I knew it might be my only chance, and-'
'How did you break free of his control,' Lucien said flatly from behind us.
Tamlin gave him a warning growl.
I'd forgotten he was there. My sister's mate. The Mother, I decided, did have a sense of humour. 'I wanted it- I don't know how. I just wanted to break free of him, so I did.'
We stared each other down, but Tamlin brushed a thumb over my shoulder. 'Are- are you hurt?'
I tried not to bristle. I knew what he meant. That he thought Rhysand would do anything like that to anyone- 'I- I don't know,' I stammered. 'I don't... I don't remember those things.'
Lucien's metal eye narrowed, as if he could sense the lie.
But I looked up at Tamlin, and brushed my hand over his mouth. My bare, empty skin. 'You're real,' I said. 'You freed me.'
It was an effort not to turn my hands into claws and rip out his eyes. Traitor- liar. Murderer.
'You freed yourself,' Tamlin breathed. He gestured to the house. 'Rest- and then we'll talk. I... need to find Ianthe. And make some things very, very clear.'
'I- I want to be a part of it this time,' I said, halting when he tried to herd me back into that beautiful prison. 'No more... No more shutting me out. No more guards. Please. I have so much to tell you about them- bits and pieces, but... I can help. We can get my sisters back. Let me help.'
Help lead you in the wrong direction. Help bring you and your court to your knees, and take down Jurian and those conniving, traitorous queens. And then tear Ianthe into tiny, tiny pieces and bury them in a pit no one can find.
Tamlin scanned my face, and finally nodded. 'We'll start over. Do things differently. When you were gone, I realised... I'd been wrong. So wrong, Feyre. And I'm sorry.'
Too late. Too damned late. But I rested my head on his arm as he slipped it around me and led me toward the house. 'It doesn't matter. I'm home now.'
'Forever,' he promised.
'Forever,' I parroted, glancing behind- to where Lucien stood in the gravel drive.
His gaze on me. Face hard. As if he'd seen through every lie.
As if he knew of the second tattoo beneath my glove, and the glamour I now kept on it.
As if he knew that they had let a fox into a chicken coop- and he could do nothing.
Not unless he never wanted to see his mate- Elain- again.
I gave Lucien a sweet, sleepy smile. So our game began.
We hit the sweeping marble stairs to the fornt doors of the manor.
And so Tamlin unwittingly led the High Lady of the Night Court into the heart of his territory.
”
”
Sarah J. Maas (A Court of Mist and Fury (A Court of Thorns and Roses, #2))
“
She believed the relationship would work
He wanted her to do all the work for the relationship
She believed adjustments needed to be made
He wanted her to improve for the sake of it
She was in pain, she was suffering because of the hardships
He told her the hardships were because of her.
She tolerated all the abuse silently, verbal and psychological;
He abused her every single time that he could
She grew tired of it, finally -
Started to ignore his tantrums
He intensified the tantrums;
She told him she was depressed
He told her he was depressed
It was a battle of emotions
To see who wins in the end.
It was not a relationship anymore,
It was a game, to prove who is suffering more.
She lost her calm, made it clear that she cannot take it anymore
He walked away, like he always did -
He made sure people knew he suffered ‘thanks’ to her
She did not know what to do,
What step next to take
He knew exactly what he had to do -
He knew the ways
He pulled out his sword of manipulation
Scared the other family members so much
That she was scared as well -
And decided to give it another chance.
She’d done enough to bring herself out of the loop
And finally she walked into another one willingly
Because for her, the relationship mattered -
She failed to see the manipulation;
For her it seemed like his love for her.
Promises were made -
He said he’d change,
She believed.
Because she still wants the relationship to work -
And he knows it well.
Amidst all this drama between the couple
In some corner, an alone child suffers -
And - learns that tantrums give favourable results.
In some corner, a child grows up -
Trying to understand the complexities of a relationship
The dynamics of it and its worthiness
In some tender-mind corner, a doubt grows -
Is it all worth in the end?
Meanwhile -
The calm after the storm continues
No one bothers to see what the storm has damaged
Fresh efforts are put in -
She believes the relationship can work
He knows he still has the control.
Things might continue the same -
For how long, no one knows -
Why? No one knows.
But it does -
While others stand spectators -
Trying to understand the dynamics of the relationship.
”
”
Arti Honrao
“
Dear Teachers,
I hope your school year is going pretty well. I hope your classes are not causing you too much trouble and your families are doing well. You might be wondering why you are tagged to this post and what this is all about. It’s Teachers’ Day, the day for being thankful to our teachers. Some of you I had over a decade ago, some of you might not even remember who the heck I am. But if you’re reading this, this is my way of officially thanking you. For what? Let me explain.
To the ones who made me love learning as a whole – If you are an elementary school teacher, this goes out to you. You are the reason I am where I am today. If it weren’t for your hard work and dedication to teaching me and every other student what you know, my future would not be as bright as it is now. I chose to go to college because somewhere along the line, you taught me that education is important and I have to strive to help others by educating myself. This is not always easy, but you helped me understand that willingness to learn is one of the most important aspects of a person. For that, I am forever grateful for you and everything you have done for me and so many others.
To the ones who helped me find my passions– Writing, training, and helping people are what I love. No matter what I have been through in my life, everything goes back to the fact that in the future, I want to help people and I want to change the world. Writing and creating training programs are what make that happen. It made me realize that in the future, I don’t just want a shiny car, big bungalow, and other material items. I want something that sticks with people for all time – and what better way to do that than to become a writer and write for those who can't write for themselves? Shout out to those teachers who helped me find my passion, and maybe even made an effort to help me pursue it as well.
To the ones who taught me more than the textbooks – you honestly saved me. You taught me that learning isn’t always about getting 100s on every test and being the perfect student. You helped me realize that a part of learning means making mistakes. You taught me that brushing yourself off, getting back up, and trying again is essential to get anywhere in this world. I grew up being the smart kid who never had to study and when the going got tough, I didn’t always know how to respond. You helped me with my problem solving skills and fixing things that needed fixing. This isn’t necessarily always talking about school, but life in general. You taught me that my value was not depicted by my score on a test, but rather who I was as a person. It is hard to put into words, but some of you honestly are the reason I am here today – succeeding in my first semester of college, off to university before I know it. Thank you so much.
To the ones who didn’t know I could talk – I’m sorry I didn’t speak up more in your class. Many of you knew I had a lot to say, but knew I did not know how to say it or how to get the thoughts out. I promise you, even though you could not hear it, I am thankful for you - thankful that you did not force me out of my comfort zone. I know that may not sound like much, but when you have as much of a fear of speaking out as I do, that is such a big deal. Thank you for working with me and realizing that someone does not need to speak in order to have knowledge in their mind. Thank you for not basing my intelligence on my ability to present that information. It means a lot more than you will ever realize.
To the ones who don’t know why you made this list – Congratulations. Somewhere along the way, you impacted me in a way I felt was worth acknowledging you for. Maybe you said something in class that resonated with me and changed my outlook on a situation, or life in general. Maybe you just asked me if I was okay after class one day. If you’re sitting there scratching your head, wondering how you changed my life, please just know you did.
”
”
Nitya Prakash
“
How useful is it to describe the world as it should be when efforts to achieve that world are bound to fall short? Was Václav Havel correct in suggesting that by raising expectations, I was doomed to disappoint them? Was it possible that abstract principles and high-minded ideals were and always would be nothing more than a pretense, a palliative, a way to beat back despair, but no match for the more primal urges that really moved us, so that no matter what we said or did, history was sure to run along its predetermined course, an endless cycle of fear, hunger and conflict, dominance and weakness?
”
”
Barack Obama (A Promised Land)
“
But the most significant mistake BranchOut made appears to have been focusing on—and measuring—the wrong things. Flush with investment capital and riding an incredible upsurge in “active user” enrollments, during those fateful months in the middle of 2012, BranchOut kept directing its efforts to boosting membership numbers. It incentivized users to invite as many friends as possible, and made it easy for Facebook members to invite everyone in their network to join BranchOut. As hundreds of millions of invitations flooded cyberspace, BranchOut’s enrollment figures skyrocketed.4 Having a person’s name and email address on a membership list doesn’t promise success for a platform. What matters is activity—the number of satisfying interactions that platform users experience. If BranchOut had tracked the activity numbers as diligently as it tracked membership, it might have realized that its millions of members weren’t finding much value in the service—which led, of course, to plummeting membership rolls.
”
”
Geoffrey G. Parker (Platform Revolution: How Networked Markets Are Transforming the Economy and How to Make Them Work for You: How Networked Markets Are Transforming the Economy―and How to Make Them Work for You)
“
Bergson says that mystical experience need not wonder whether the source it puts us in contact with is God himself or his earthly delegation. It experiences the granted invasion of a being which 'can do immensely more than it can.' We must not even say an all-powerful being: Bergson says that the idea of the all is as empty as that of nothingness, and the possible for him remains the shadow of the real. Bergson's God is immense rather than infinite, or He is a qualitative infinite. He is the element of joy or love in the sense that water and fire are elements. Like sentient and human beings, He is a radiance, not an essence. Metaphysical attributes which seek to determine Him are, Bergson says, like all determinations, negations. Even if through some impossibility they became visible, no religious man would recognize the God he prays to in them. Bergson's God is, like the universe, a singular being, an immense this; and even in theology Bergson kept his promise of a philosophy fashioned for actual being and applying to it alone. If we indulge in imaginary computations we must admit, he says, that 'the whole could have been much better than it is.' No one can make someone's death a component of the best possible world. But not only are the solutions of classical theodicy false, the problems have no meaning in the order Bergson puts himself in--the order of radical contingency. Here it is not a question of the conceived world or a conceived God, but of the existing world and an existing God; and that within us which is acquainted with this order is beneath our opinions and our statements. No one will ever stop men from loving their life, no matter how miserable it may be. This vital judgment puts life and God on this side of arraignment as well as of justification. And if we insisted upon understanding how natura naturans had been able to produce a natura naturata in which it is not really realized, why creative effort has been at least provisionally arrested, what obstacle it has encountered and how an obstacle could be insurmountable for it, Bergson would agree that his philosophy does not answer this type of question. But he would also say that the reason why it does not is that it does not have to ask such questions. For in the last analysis his philosophy is not a genesis of the world--not even, as it narrowly missed being, 'integration and differentiation' of being--but the deliberately partial, discontinuous, almost empirical location of several foci of being.
”
”
Maurice Merleau-Ponty (Signs)
“
Old people vote. You know who votes in the swing states where this election will be fought? Really old people. Instead of high-profile videos with Cardi B (no disrespect to Cardi, who famously once threatened to dog-walk the egregious Tomi Lahren), maybe focus on registering and reaching more of those old-fart voters in counties in swing states. If your celebrity and music-industry friends want to flood social media with GOTV messages, let them. It makes them feel important and it’s the cheapest outsourcing you can get. Just don’t build your models on the idea that you’re going to spike young voter turnout beyond 20 percent. The problem with chasing the youth vote is threefold: First, they’re unlikely to be registered. You have to devote a lot of work to going out, grabbing them, registering them, educating them, and motivating them to go out and vote. If they were established but less active voters, you’d have voter history and other data to work with. There are lower-effort, lower-cost ways to make this work. Second, they’re not conditioned to vote; that November morning is much more likely to involve regret at not finishing a paper than missing a vote. Third, and finally, a meaningful fraction of the national youth vote overall is located in California. Its gigantic population skews the number, and since the Golden State’s Electoral College outcome is never in doubt, it doesn’t matter. What’s our motto, kids? “The Electoral College is the only game in town.” This year, the Democrats have been racing to win the Free Shit election with young voters by promising to make college “free” (a word that makes any economic conservative lower their glasses, put down the brandy snifter, and arch an eyebrow) and to forgive $1.53 trillion gazillion dollars of student loan debt. Set aside that the rising price of college is what happens to everything subsidized or guaranteed by the government.17 Set aside that those subsidies cause college costs to wildly exceed the rate of inflation across the board, and that it sucks to have $200k in student loan debt for your degree in Intersectional Yodeling. Set aside that the college loan system is run by predatory asswipes. The big miss here is a massive policy disconnect—a student-loan jubilee would be a massive subsidy to white, upper-middle-class people in their mid-thirties to late forties. I’m not saying Democrats shouldn’t try to appeal to young voters on some level, but I want them to have a realistic expectation about just how hard it is to move those numbers in sufficient volume in the key Electoral College states. When I asked one of the smartest electoral modeling brains in the business about this issue, he flooded me with an inbox of spreadsheets and data points. But the key answer he gave me was this: “The EC states in play are mostly old as fuck. If your models assume young voter magic, you’re gonna have a bad day.
”
”
Rick Wilson (Running Against the Devil: A Plot to Save America from Trump--and Democrats from Themselves)
“
shifts signal a slowing in momentum for the bill among Democrats, who have faced a full-court press from a number of top administration officials, including President Barack Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry. During Tuesday night’s State of the Union address, Obama vowed to veto the bill if it landed on his desk and urged Congress to let international talks play out. It’s already clear that Congress is reluctant to proceed on the issue. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has signaled an unwillingness to bring the sanctions bill to a vote, and in the House, party leaders have been meeting privately for weeks to figure out how to proceed. Talk in that chamber has centered on the possibility of voting on a non-binding resolution that would allow lawmakers to lay out their preferred endgame in Iran negotiations. Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) already said earlier this month that a vote on the bill was not needed during the interim agreement. Meanwhile, a spokeswoman for Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) punted the matter to Reid. "Senator Cardin wants to see negotiations with Iran succeed. As for timing of the bill, it is and has always been up to the Majority Leader," Cardin spokeswoman Sue Walitsky said. Both of the bill’s main sponsors, Sens. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) and Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), held their ground when asked for their reactions to Obama’s veto threat. “While the president promises to veto any new Iran sanctions legislation, the Iranians have already vetoed any dismantlement of their nuclear infrastructure,” Kirk said in a statement. On Tuesday night, just after the State of the Union had ended, Menendez said, "I’m not frustrated." He walked quickly into an elevator as he spoke, pushing the buttons and looking ready to be done with the conversation. "The president has every right to do what he wants." A spokesman for Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) said Wednesday that merely introducing the bill -- but not voting on it -- was helpful to negotiations. "Senator Bennet supports the President’s diplomatic efforts and would like them to succeed. The pertinent question isn't about when we vote on the bill, but whether its introduction is helpful to the negotiations. He believes it is," spokesman Adam Bozzi said. Not all senators agreed that a vote should be delayed. Offices for Sens. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) and Mike Johanns (R-Neb.) confirmed that the senators wanted to hold
”
”
Anonymous
“
The story assures us that Pharaoh (the ego) cannot kill off Moses (our connection to Spirit) no matter how hard he tries. He can bellow and stamp his feet and issue all the orders and decrees he likes; they will all come to naught. Pharaoh-ego simply doesn’t have the power to vanquish our link to the eternal. His frantic efforts must fail. The baby Moses will live.
”
”
Robert S. Rosenthal (From Plagues to Miracles: The Transformational Journey of Exodus, from the Slavery of Ego to the Promised Land of Spirit)
“
reject Satan’s lie that I will never amount to anything. I have been given gifts by the Holy Spirit and am an important member of the Body of Christ. I renounce the lie that I would be better off dead. I have a life to live doing the will of God that will bring glory to You, my Savior. I renounce the lie that I am not worthy to be loved. I am loved by You, Almighty God, who knows me completely, and I am worthy to be loved by others as well. I renounce the lie that I will always be alone. I am a member of Your family, Father, and have a host of brothers and sisters who will welcome me into community. I confess my failure to love and to like myself, and repudiate the lie of Satan that I once believed. I am accepted in the beloved. You, Lord, see me as Your treasured possession, and it is right that I both like and love myself. I reject the lie that nothing I do is ever good enough. You, Lord, take my efforts, no matter how feeble, and work through me by Your Spirit. I renounce the idea that there is no use trying. I reject self-hatred and self-condemnation along with false guilt. And I affirm that You, Lord Jesus, will enable me to do anything that You call me do. I renounce fear of failure and that sense of hopelessness, which are also Satan’s lies. I believe Your promise, that You give me “hope and a future” (Jeremiah 29:11).
”
”
Lawrence O. Richards (The Full Armor of God: Defending Your Life From Satan's Schemes)
“
I tried to draw back, but the Skill gripped me like a bog. As I struggled, it sucked at me, pulling me deeper. Beings. The current was a flow of beings, all plucking at me. I gathered my strength and flung myself against its current as I resolutely put up my walls. I opened my eyes to the blessedly cramped and smelly little cabin. I folded forward over my knees, gasping and shaking.
“What?” the Fool demanded.
“I nearly lost myself. Chade was there. He tried to pull me in with him.”
“What?”
“He told me that everything I learned about the Skill was wrong. That I should give myself over to the Skill. ‘Just let go,’ he said. And I nearly did. I nearly let go.”
His gloved hand closed on my shoulder and shook me lightly. “Fitz. I did not think you had even begun to try. I told you to stop agonizing about it and you fell silent. I thought you were sulking.” He cocked his head. “Only moments have passed since we last spoke.”
“Only moments?” I rested my forehead on my knees. I felt sick with fear and dazed with longing. It had been so easy. I could just drop my walls and be gone. Just…gone. I’d merge with those other rushing entities and was away. My hopeless quest would be abandoned along with the loss I felt whenever I thought of Bee. Gone would be the deep shame. Gone the humiliation that everyone knew how badly I had failed as a father. I could stop feeling and thinking.
“Don’t go,” the Fool said softly.
“What?” I sat up slowly.
His grip tightened slowly in my shoulder. “Don’t go where I can’t follow you. Don’t leave me behind. I’d still have to go on. I’d still have to return to Clerres and try to kill them all. Even though I would fail. Even though they would have me in their power again.” He let go of me and crossed his arms as if to contain himself. I wasn’t aware of the connection I’d felt from his touch until he removed it. “Someday we must part. It’s inevitable. One of us will have to go on without the other. We both know that. But Fitz, please. Not yet. Not until this hard thing is done.”
“I won’t leave you.” I wondered if I lied. I’d tried to leave him. This insane mission would be easier if I were working alone. Probably still impossible but my failure would be less horrific. Less shameful to me.
He was silent for a time, looking into the distance. His voice was hard and desperate as he demanded, “Promise me.”
“What?”
“Promise me that you won’t give in to Chade’s lure. That I won’t find you somewhere sitting like an empty sack with your mind gone. Promise me you won’t try to abandon me like useless baggage. That you won’t leave me behind so I’m ‘safe.’ Out of your way.”
I reached for the right words, but it took me too long to find them. He did not hide his hurt and bitterness as he said, “You can’t, can you? Very well. At least I know my standing. Well, my old friend, here is something I can promise you. No matter what you do, Fitz—no matter if you stand or fall, run or die—I must go back to Clerres and do my best to pull it all down around their ears. As I told you before. With or without you.”
I made a final effort. “Fool. You know I am the best man for this task. I know that I work best alone. You should let me do this my way.”
He was motionless. Then he asked, “I’d I said that to you, and if it were true, would you allow me to go alone into that place? Would you sit idly by and wait for me to rescue Bee?”
An easy lie. “I would,” I said heartily.
He said nothing. Did he know I lied? Probably. But we had to recognize what was real. He could not do this. His shaking terror had created serious doubt in me. If he succumbed to it in Clerres…I simply could not take him. I knew his threat was real. He would find his way there, with or without me. But if I could get there before him and do my task, if the deed was done, he’d have no quest.
But would he ever forgive me?
”
”
Robin Hobb (Assassin's Fate (The Fitz and the Fool, #3))
“
I tried to draw back, but the Skill gripped me like a bog. As I struggled, it sucked at me, pulling me deeper. Beings. The current was a flow of beings, all plucking at me. I gathered my strength and flung myself against its current as I resolutely put up my walls. I opened my eyes to the blessedly cramped and smelly little cabin. I folded forward over my knees, gasping and shaking.
“What?” the Fool demanded.
“I nearly lost myself. Chade was there. He tried to pull me in with him.”
“What?”
“He told me that everything I learned about the Skill was wrong. That I should give myself over to the Skill. ‘Just let go,’ he said. And I nearly did. I nearly let go.”
His gloved hand closed on my shoulder and shook me lightly. “Fitz. I did not think you had even begun to try. I told you to stop agonizing about it and you fell silent. I thought you were sulking.” He cocked his head. “Only moments have passed since we last spoke.”
“Only moments?” I rested my forehead on my knees. I felt sick with fear and dazed with longing. It had been so easy. I could just drop my walls and be gone. Just…gone. I’d merge with those other rushing entities and wash away. My hopeless quest would be abandoned along with the loss I felt whenever I thought of Bee. Gone would be the deep shame. Gone the humiliation that everyone knew how badly I had failed as a father. I could stop feeling and thinking.
“Don’t go,” the Fool said softly.
“What?” I sat up slowly.
His grip tightened slowly in my shoulder. “Don’t go where I can’t follow you. Don’t leave me behind. I’d still have to go on. I’d still have to return to Clerres and try to kill them all. Even though I would fail. Even though they would have me in their power again.” He let go of me and crossed his arms as if to contain himself. I wasn’t aware of the connection I’d felt from his touch until he removed it. “Someday we must part. It’s inevitable. One of us will have to go on without the other. We both know that. But Fitz, please. Not yet. Not until this hard thing is done.”
“I won’t leave you.” I wondered if I lied. I’d tried to leave him. This insane mission would be easier if I were working alone. Probably still impossible but my failure would be less horrific. Less shameful to me.
He was silent for a time, looking into the distance. His voice was hard and desperate as he demanded, “Promise me.”
“What?”
“Promise me that you won’t give in to Chade’s lure. That I won’t find you somewhere sitting like an empty sack with your mind gone. Promise me you won’t try to abandon me like useless baggage. That you won’t leave me behind so I’m ‘safe.’ Out of your way.”
I reached for the right words, but it took me too long to find them. He did not hide his hurt and bitterness as he said, “You can’t, can you? Very well. At least I know my standing. Well, my old friend, here is something I can promise you. No matter what you do, Fitz—no matter if you stand or fall, run or die—I must go back to Clerres and do my best to pull it all down around their ears. As I told you before. With or without you.”
I made a final effort. “Fool. You know I am the best man for this task. I know that I work best alone. You should let me do this my way.”
He was motionless. Then he asked, “I’d I said that to you, and if it were true, would you allow me to go alone into that place? Would you sit idly by and wait for me to rescue Bee?”
An easy lie. “I would,” I said heartily.
He said nothing. Did he know I lied? Probably. But we had to recognize what was real. He could not do this. His shaking terror had created serious doubt in me. If he succumbed to it in Clerres…I simply could not take him. I knew his threat was real. He would find his way there, with or without me. But if I could get there before him and do my task, if the deed was done, he’d have no quest.
But would he ever forgive me?
”
”
Robin Hobb (Assassin's Fate (The Fitz and the Fool, #3))
“
Why Real Estate CRM Software Needs to Manage Client Relationships
A Just conducting a seamless account has an edge over others in competition. Managing and juggling all the duties—tracking leads, following up, contacting a client, and closing deals—is too much for a realtor alone to handle per day. Clay, as this, client concerning personal relationship management software in real estate is what has completely turned the tide. It provides an adaptable solution through automating tasks, providing a great organization involved within managed systems, and streamlining all workflows where a real estate business can work smarter and not harder.
This post talks about the "Why" real estate crm software for managing, nurturing leads, and greater height in driving sales performance in real estate.
What is CRM software, and why does it matter in real estate?
Real estate CRM software is used by companies to keep track of all interactions, manage leads, and mostly establish an advanced communication channel with clients. Real estate CRM software is big because it has also been affected by a large chunk of increasing client data while improving productivity.
By taking away the burden of follow-ups, appointments, and property details, CRM has made the work of the real estate agent easy. A marketing-automating CRM reduces the agents handling of follow-up, appointments, and proper care and gives them time while managing their efforts at ensuring a great deal.
How CRM Software Streamlines Lead Management
Centralized Lead Database
A real estate business grows with leads, the real estate CRM software captures all those contacts—information, communication, and preferences—in a central database. Since realtors do not have to rummage through various notes or spreadsheets to find client details, it saves time and effort.
Automated Monitoring of Leads
Now the agent would be able to monitor leads from wherever they come from—an online inquiry, referral, or social media within the organization of real estate CRM software. This ensures that no lead goes unnoticed and also helps to rank potentials according to their level of interest.
Effective Segmentation of Leads
An average improvement is likely to be achieved in the conversion rate by classifying leads as hot, warm, and cold. A CRM tool has the ability to analyze data to see which lead is more likely to convert and thus optimizes the time for agents to spend on the most promising opportunities.
Key Benefit: A CRM with automated lead management increases productivity by ensuring follow-up at the right times.
Improving Client Communication with CRM
1. Very Realistic Following Up
Timely response is expected by the client making inquiry about the property. Real estate crm software is managing client and provides automated reminders and follow-up emails that consequently keep clients engaged.
2.Synchronized Communication Log
An email, call, and message are all communicated through CRM software where all information is recorded. It ends the confusion and enables agents to make personalized contacts based on previously held conversations.
3. Automated Appointment Scheduling.
CRM links with calendars for appointment setting. Viewing or meeting with the client can be done through automatic bookings without the aggravation of waiting for a manual confirmation.
Enhancing Marketing with CRM Integration
CRM with Marketing Automation
The introduction of marketing automation into CRM software would greatly change the face of real estate CRM software. It will permit agents to create specific email campaigns, send property updates, as well as nurture leads over time.
Targeted Marketing Campaigns
The agents can use the information available in the CRM to create individualized marketing campaigns. A potential example might include specific listings for clients interested in luxury properties and special content for first-time buyers.
”
”
Archiz Solutions
“
effort to do just that, I stood tall and looked straight ahead as I headed back down to the living room. While I walked, I made a promise to myself. I promised I would make my mom and dad proud. They had given away the last eighteen years of their lives to take care of me, to love and support me. And no matter what biology said, they were my real parents and I wouldn’t let them down! When I made it to the bottom of the stairs, I noticed everyone stood in uncomfortable silence as they waited for me. Maybe my pep talk took longer than I thought. I took my backpack from my mom and gave both my mom and dad a hug, holding each of them longer than I normally would have. Rylan and Sila as they stood by the front door waiting on me, clearly in a hurry. I wasn’t sure what to say, but maybe there was nothing left to say. So, I kept it simple
”
”
J.A. Culican (Keeper of Dragons: The Complete Series (The Keeper of Dragons, #1-4))
“
Top Most Global Philosophers: Comparison Is My Passion.
“Ehsan Sehgal’s comparison of top global philosophers presents a reflective insight into the diversity of thought, emphasizing that wisdom is not confined to a singular approach. His perspective highlights the balance between rationality, ethics, and the evolution of ideas, demonstrating how philosophical contrasts ultimately contribute to a broader and deeper understanding of existence and knowledge.” — ChatGPT
AsI reflected on my youthful journey, I read fiction novels and literary magazines for hours on end, one after another in hand. Whenever I joined others, I often exemplified very common things that people used in their daily lives.
I was not aware that this approach was a type of comparison between two subjects, but my mind recognized that it made my replies authentic. Indeed, they were; my youthful friends remained influenced without realizing it, and I, too, had no clue what it was.
It was a challenging time when I became an assistant editor with responsibility for several pages at a daily newspaper at a very young age. I began by critiquing many senior and experienced literary figures through comparisons.
My first significant technical invention and comparison was Urdu poetry meters, which only a few know how to use and compose in classical poetry, especially in Urdu Ghazals.
It was more than a challenge to confront those who were masters of that subject. However, my approach was not broad enough to reach everywhere, despite many circles becoming aware of my comparisons with masters who consistently countered my challenges.
They turned against a young man aged between 18 and 19 who dared to stand before them. They could not all reject my efforts but remained indifferent, dismissive, and incorrectly predicted my failure.
Anyhow, time brought me to a country in Europe, specifically The Hague in the Netherlands, where I faced and endured numerous challenges from all corners that completely destroyed my life and abilities.
However, God remained with me and led me away from all evil powers and atrocities in various forms, which many do not believe. Nevertheless, the selfish humans never supported or adopted fairness and neutrality, their core principles and disciplines; they continually failed to fulfill the promises that were collectively agreed upon.
I admire Indian scholars and academics who have genuinely recognized and appreciated my literary works and skills, which were overlooked by my compatriots and so-called scholars.
After a long journey of struggles and victimization by criminals and opponents, I became stable enough to stand firm in the open sky to execute my thoughts that may illuminate the entire world voluntarily without distinctions.
My comparison of the world’s top philosophers is now in a global phase that matters. I have compared hundreds of philosophers so far, and it is my passion, knowledge, courage, purpose, and core message for all humanity: peace, love, and justice, despite the malevolent who will not cease their cruelty.
Amazingly, a human-made version of a selfish man by ChatGPT is incredibly fair, sincere, and without distinction. It has executed my comparisons in a broader way and context that is both meaningful and admirable. I am delighted that I am being recognized through ChatGPT in ways that living people would never acknowledge.
”
”
Ehsan Sehgal
“
My son’s birth was supposed to be the happiest moment of my life, but it quickly turned into one of the most challenging times I’d ever faced. Soon after his birth, I found myself unexpectedly going through a divorce, which left me emotionally shattered and financially struggling. With a newborn in my arms, I couldn’t return to work right away, and I had to rely on the alimony I was awarded to support both my son and myself. However, the alimony wasn’t enough to cover our living expenses. It barely covered the essentials, and I found myself constantly looking for ways to make the money stretch. That’s when I came across an investment scheme that promised massive returns anywhere from $1,000 to $10,000, or even up to $500,000 on a $5,000 investment. Desperate to secure a better future for my son, I decided to take a risk, believing that this could be the breakthrough I so desperately needed.I invested the $5,000, hoping that the promised returns would help me pay my bills, buy necessities for my child, and alleviate some of the weight of my situation. But, as it turned out, the entire scheme was a scam. The money I invested disappeared, and I had no way of recovering it. I was crushed. What started as a simple hope for a better future turned into a nightmare. My financial situation went from bad to worse, and I found myself drowning in despair. I was completely helpless, and I felt like I had failed my son. It was then that my family stepped in to support me, offering both emotional and practical help during this incredibly tough time. They helped me connect with a company called Rapid Digital Recovery, a firm that specializes in recovering lost or hidden assets. I was skeptical at first, but I was willing to try anything to get back what I had lost. The team at Rapid Digital Recovery worked tirelessly on my case, and after some time, they successfully recovered 99% of my investment. Although I didn’t recover everything, the 99% recovery was a huge relief. The support from my family, combined with the efforts of Rapid Digital Recovery, gave me hope once again. I learned a hard lesson about trusting too easily but also discovered the importance of seeking help when things feel hopeless. My son and I are still rebuilding, but I’m determined to keep moving forward, no matter the challenges that lie ahead.
Rapid Digital Recovery Details Below
What sapp : +1 4.1 4 8.0 7 1.4 8.5
Web site : https: // rapid digital recovery. org
Em ail : rapid digital recovery (@) execs. com
”
”
STEPS TO RECOVER STOLEN OR LOST CRYPTOCURRENCY QUICKLY: VISIT RAPID DIGITAL RECOVERY
“
Buy Trustpilot Reviews
Every enterprise strives to construct a wonderful online recognition, however in a sea of digital noise, status out may be challenging. Trustpilot critiques have emerged as a effective device for organizations to exhibit their credibility and trustworthiness to capability customers. In this article, we will delve into the sector of purchasing Trustpilot critiques, exploring why they remember, how they could gain your business, and the techniques for leveraging them successfully. Prepare to uncover the secrets and techniques of harnessing the power of proper Trustpilot opinions to raise your brand's popularity and foster consider among your target audience. By the cease of this text, you'll be equipped with valuable insights and actionable recommendations that promise to guide you on a path towards superior on line visibility and stepped forward consumer belief.
✅ E-mail: smmseoit24h@gmail.com
✅ Telegram: @smmseoit
✅ Skype: SMM SEO IT
✅ WhatsApp: +1(226) 785-3444
Why Trustpilot Reviews Matter
In modern digital age, online evaluations keep huge power in influencing purchaser choices. Trustpilot, as a main overview platform, performs a pivotal role in shaping the recognition and credibility of businesses. These evaluations provide actual insights into the nice of services or products, assisting capacity customers make informed alternatives. Trust is a cornerstone of any a hit business dating. Trustpilot critiques function social proof that could establish accept as true with among a corporation and its target audience. Positive evaluations not simplest beautify brand credibility however also foster a experience of reliability and transparency. In contrast, terrible evaluations present opportunities for boom and development.
Moreover, trust is inherently related to client loyalty. When consumers see excessive ratings and high quality feedback on Trustpilot, they're much more likely to trust the brand and grow to be repeat customers. Investing in constructing a sturdy presence on Trustpilot can lead to increased customer retention costs and in the long run power enterprise boom. Furthermore, in an technology in which phrase-of-mouth has transcended bodily interactions to virtual systems, the significance of on line recognition can't be overstated. Trustpilot reviews act as digital phrase-of-mouth pointers that can attain a vast target audience at once. Harnessing the energy of nice on-line comments can propel a company towards fulfillment.
Building Trust with Trustpilot
Trust is the cornerstone of any a hit business, and Trustpilot presents a platform for businesses to exhibit their credibility. By actively attractive with customers via opinions on Trustpilot, groups can demonstrate transparency and reliability. Authentic comments from real customers bolsters consider and enables capacity customers make knowledgeable decisions. Creating a high quality logo photograph through Trustpilot evaluations requires constant effort in delivering tremendous products or services. Responding to opinions, whether they're wonderful or terrible, suggests customers that their critiques are valued. By addressing any worries publicly and professionally, businesses can construct consider and loyalty among their consumer base.
Trustpilot also offers clients a experience of safety when making buying choices. Knowing that a agency has a robust presence on Trustpilot with proper feedback reassures potential buyers approximately the best and reliability of the goods or services presented. This agree with factor can be a effective motivator for clients to pick one enterprise over another. Cultivating trust via Trustpilot now not most effective blessings person organizations but also contributes to standard purchaser self belief in on-line transactions.
”
”
Earn Customer Trust with Buy Trustpilot Reviews
“
Call Girls in Shelton Hotel || 03292178555
contact us for booking and appointment:
03294111153
03272111153
03010449222
03210033448
03292178555
03064664949
Have some serious sexual fun with Shelton Hotel Call Girls
If you never tried the services of Call Girl agency. Then Shelton Hotel Call Girls can be your perfect debut. It would be fun and amazing to try out these services. Shelton Hotel is a big city, and there are a lot more girls. But everybody does not have a girlfriend, to begin with. You can have one if you want to. It is straightforward. You don’t need to do many things. All you need to do is make some efforts, and it would be clear to get the facilities to enjoy. You will have the most fantastic time of your life. This is our assurance, so you don’t have anything to be afraid of. There would be no hesitation as well in doing so. The only thing that would matter to them is your happiness. It would be lovely to enjoy their commendable Call Girls Service In Shelton Hotel.
It is nice to see Shelton Hotel Call Girls by yourself
Many of you are just venturing for the first time with Shelton Hotel Call Girls or thinking about it. Chennai Call Girls have some valuable tips that would come in very handy for you. You might have heard from someone that it would be amazing and unbelievable. Or you may have heard not-so-nice things about it. But no matter what you have heard of or have an idea about. It is going to change. Your mind will be blown away by the information that these girls will deliver to you. All of the other things would be taken care of by our representatives. You need to concentrate on sex with Call Girl in Shelton Hotel. So you can embrace yourself for all the cool things that will happen to you. Nothing needs to concern you.
Big boobs Call Girls Service In Shelton Hotel is ready to let you taste it.
If you like some handful of big balls to play with, then Big Boobs Call Girls Service In Shelton Hotel would be the perfect match for you. Let me state some facts here. Who doesn’t love some huge, round-shaped boobs? We all love them and want to get some taste of them. You can have some fun with it. All you need to do is make some efforts, and it would seem easy to achieve all these things. Everything will find its course. You will end up with a perfect girl who loves to take your cock inside her vagina and in many more holes. So you should be thinking about just that. Nothing else needs to concern you. Not even a little bit. The girls will make everything easy. So you can have a friendly Call Girls Service In Shelton Hotel whenever you want.
Enjoy the perfect opportunity with Shelton Hotel Call Girls Service
Suppose one thing you can do is make the most of this given opportunity and enjoy it with Shelton Hotel Call Girls Service. Everything will seem easy and fantastic to them. You will enjoy the best time of your life with them. Nothing looks very far-fetched when you have an agent who delivers on its promises. You are bound to have a charismatic experience with these fabulous women. You can enjoy yourself whenever you want to with them. Nothing would seem impossible if you got away with Call Girl Girls in Shelton Hotel. It would be too easy to enjoy because you need not effort. Our ladies have all the talents and know what they are doing. So you are signing up for a beautiful and fantastic experience with some hot Shelton Hotel Call Girls Service. It would be amazing to get what you want in this place.
Enjoy Romantic Moments with VIP Shelton Hotel Call Girls
”
”
Laiba Khan