Learnt My Lesson Quotes

I have learnt through bitter experience the one supreme lesson to conserve my anger, and as heat conserved is transmuted into energy, even so our anger controlled can be transmuted into a power which can move the world.

Watching my parents I've learnt a lesson many do not recognize. True love is not signaled by romantic, candle light dinners, red roses glistening with dew, or even Valentine's day celebrations. While these things may accompany our feelings, love is truly more than all those! Love is being with your spouse even when its not pleasing. Sometimes, love is walking down the hall, with your spouse hanging onto your shoulders and walking at a turtle's pace down the hall, just because surgery made life a burden. Love is patient, love is kind, love is Jesus! May we always remember love is not always tied in bows!

I learnt my best lessons from some of the worst people & I look back now and think thank fuck I let you go, I deserved to grow.

How did men make themselves loved, I wondered. I had passed all my life with men who were loved but I seemed never to have learnt the lesson.

The hardest lesson I had learnt upon my travels was patience. There are times when every muscle, every nerve, screams for movement, when every instinct urges escape. But the instinct to fly is not always a sound one. There are occasions when only stillness can save you.

Every time he said those words it was like a supernova of joy exploding inside me. I just didn’t yet know that supernovas burn so brightly because a catastrophe is taking place. That lesson would come later.

It is only the Creator that can set thy soul free from every struggle.

Sometimes we are fooled by appearances. In my opinion, we should never be sorry if we later discover that we were mistaken while doing a good deed. The need to help should be our first reaction and offering help should be the genuine manifestation of being a good human as our parents taught us to be. Sometimes, we may discover we helped the wrong person, but that should not be a reason to stop helping other people in need, even though we were fooled previously. If you want to do good there are opportunities everywhere. Don’t let the fools spoil your good heart.

Son, life is like a book. It has numerous chapters. It also has many a lesson in it. It is made up of a wide variety of experiences and resembles a pendulum where success and failure, joy and sorrow are merely extremes of the central reality. The lessons to be learnt from success and failure are equally important. More often than not, failure and sorrow are bigger teachers than success and happiness.

The Hill Breathless, we flung us on the windy hill, Laughed in the sun, and kissed the lovely grass. You said, "Through glory and ecstasy we pass; Wind, sun, and earth remain, the birds sing still, When we are old, are old..." "And when we die All's over that is ours; and life burns on Through other lovers, other lips," said I, —"Heart of my heart, our heaven is now, is won!" "We are Earth's best, that learnt her lesson here. Life is our cry. We have kept the faith!" we said; "We shall go down with unreluctant tread Rose-crowned into the darkness!"... Proud we were, And laughed, that had such brave true things to say. —And then you suddenly cried, and turned away.

God’s word is lamp that lights my path.

I would never be one of them. I knew that now. I was alone. I would always be alone. I'd learnt my lesson for good, this time.

My dad once said to me, a man who loves you wouldn't ever let you sleep with tears running down to your face. and that's something I needed to hear and remember all my life. - life skills

A lot can be changed in a span of a year. A thousand lives can be moulded, a lot many lessons can be learnt and life can show its unpredictability. Even so, one year is enough to prove to yourself that you are worth the struggle that you undertake just to reap a momentary fruit of that labour. If fighting a new fight keeps us motivated each year, so be it. Here is wishing every fighter, struggling to make a break and succeed in life a memorable New Year. Do what you do best and don't trade your passion for fame but rather earn the fame through your passion. May your fight be fruitful this year and your name engraved in hearts of horde in the form of your work. A Happy New Year to all my well wishers, peers, friends, colleagues, acquaintances and readers. May your year be blessed with good fortune and health with added wealth. My message this New Year is that in a world full of possibilities never limit yourself to the sky for what is sky when there is endless darkness beyond to lighten up. Take care.

In my journey through the ever-changing seasons of life, I have learnt that winter is inevitably followed by a gorgeous spring and every spell of rain gives way to brilliant sunshine. What’s more, I have learnt that winter snow and drenching showers can be beautiful too. We just need the right eyes to look at them.

Universe, tell me about the time when the world was kind, when words didn't shatter the soul and leave people bleeding into the crease of their smile. tell me about the time when people wouldn't hide behind sarcasm or humor to mask themselves from dying slowly on the inside. Universe, tell me the names of all the stars in your sky, because I may have met one the other night. His presence in my thoughts, his touch in my heart and no longer a dream but laying next to me now. There are marks on my body from the energy of our light. He is broken, like me, a fallen star. Yet, aspires to soar and believes he can fly. I too believe in dreams. Universe, do you think you can do something about all the lonely souls? the broken? the fallen stars? There are so many of us. And what about the hurt? the pain? the restlessness? Or is this all part of something bigger, a lesson to be learnt? so we can become a part of you? Universe, it’s me, Please hear my soul speak, my heart beat, I've learnt my lesson. Forgive me. Offer me redemption or bring me back to you. Universe, are you there?

I walk alone in the dark. But the Creator shines a light on my path.

Life made me realize that I can also live without those people with whom I want to live for the rest of my life - life goes on

The unfortunate lesson that I’ve learnt from my experience of living all these years is that people are not that good or straight.

To my child; Thank you for the good memories, and the wise lessons that I learnt through having you in my life. I knew some things before your arrival. But I know better things today.

I learnt the lesson on non-violence from my wife, when I tried to bend her to my will. Her determined resistance to my will on the one hand, and her quiet submission to the suffering my stupidity involved on the other, ultimately made me ashamed of myself and cured me of my stupidity in thinking that I was born to rule over her, and in the end she became my teacher in non-violence.

Now that I’ve reached the ripe old age of retirement, I feel it my duty to teach you everything I’ve learnt about love, so listen closely. Love is like… That’s as far as I’ve gotten I’m afraid.

That day I learnt two lessons: a teacher who has his or her student's progress in mind is the best possible friend, because the teacher knows how to make sure that you excel. And second, there is no such thing as an impossible deadline. I have worked on many tough assignments, some of which had the country's top leaders watching over my work, but the assurance I gained in my capabilities at MIT thanks to Professor Srinivasan, helped me later in life too.

I’ve been around the world twice, talked to everyone once, seen two whales fuck, been to three world fairs, and I even know a man in Thailand with a wooden cock. Push more peter, more sweeter and more completer than any other peter pusher around. I’m a hard bodied, hairy chested, rootin, tootin, shootin, parachutin, demolition double cap crimping, Frogman. “There ain’t nothing I can’t do, no sky too high, no sea to rough, no muff too tough. “Learnt a lot of lessons in my life, never shoot a large calibre man with a small calibre bullet. Drive all kinds of truck 2 bys, 4 bys, 6 bys, those big motherfuckers that bend and go tshhhh, tshhhh, when you step on the breaks. Anything in life worth doing, is worth overdoing, moderation is for cowards. I’m a lover, I’m a fighter, I’m a UDT Navy Seal Diver, I wine, dine, intertwine and sneak out the back door when the revealing is done. So, if you’re feeling froggy you better jump because this Frogman’s been there, done that, and is going back for more. Cheers Boys!

It is a fearful ordeal for Admetus, and, after his first fury, he takes it well. He comes back from his wife's burial a changed man. He says not much, but enough. "I have done wrong. I have only now learnt my lesson. I imagined I could save my happy life by forfeiting my honour; and the result is that I have lost both." I think that a careful reading of the play will show an almost continuous process of self-discovery and self-judgment in the mind of Admetus. He was a man who blinded himself with words and beautiful sentiments; but he was not thick-skinned or thick-witted. He was not a brute or a cynic. And I think he did learn his lesson … not completely and for ever, but as well as most of us learn such lessons.

Today I feel like all the doors have closed on me I just needed one more chance to get my life on track. And no matter how much I tried I couldn't get that chance again. Biggest lesson I have learnt is truly remarkable. God doesn't give you the same chances over and over.. sometimes you have to swim in the deep ocean. It's impossible but just maybe by a chance of a needle in a haystack I'll find my way out.

Ever in my life have I sought thee with my songs. It was they who led me from door to door, and with them have I felt about me, searching and touching my world. It was my songs that taught me all the lessons I ever learnt; they showed me secret paths, they brought before my sight many a star on the horizon of my heart. They guided me all the day long to the mysteries of the country of pleasure and pain, and, at last, to what palace gate have the brought me in the evening at the end of my journey?

When i lost the power to control my legs, I learnt the importance of why we must always walk in the direction of our dreams. And only when i found myself in still did i really leaen this need. We are not promised a long, healthy life. We are privledged to be taking a breath. We could be fraction in time away from a totally different existence, and i think its powerful to speak of gratitude any chance we can. It won't stop tragic moments but it will open a new way of appreciating the things that truly matter.

Life has come to a silent pause, The fear of Virus, the slowdown, Disconnecting me from moments, Heart has taken over the mind, Light now shines upon my eyes, Dreams blocked, the roads traversed, The break has broken the barrier, Me pondering, was I living my life? The days are same and so is night, The Sun, the Moon, and the stars, still rise in the east and set in the west, Trees, plants, flowers there as before, The sky, clouds rivers and oceans, Earth's precious treasures, no different, Change is in my perspective n priorities, Is it that I am learning to live my life. Monotonous tedium chores, Unpleasant hunger for wealth, Most of us are living dead, Body just awaits the soul to leave, To be buried or cremated, Waste of life and for what price, All material things cherished, Useless in our last flight. Time to fall in love with my life, Stop living for others, their expectations, I am again the owner of my choices, Not bothered to please others, Nor what they think about me, My dreams are alive and back, My treasurers are now my deeds, I have finally learnt to live!!!

Monday's Motivation taken from my debut novel, "Anna Bell- The Sometimes Loner with an Unbreakable Spirit." "Sadly, with this and other experience Anna has encountered over the years, she has learnt one vital and very important lesson; that not all those you love and are loyal to, will always feel the same towards you or reciprocate." Have you ever felt that way, that persons you were once loyal to, were actually the first ones to throw you under the bus? If that was ever your experience, you're not alone but can rise above it no matter what. #annabell #reallifeexperience

Much as Joanne disliked needlework, she was quite good at it, for she had been well taught. But hearing the remark from her governess's lips was almost more than the child could bear. And as for childish games - "Cousin Ambrose has been teaching me to play chess," she said in her curiously deep voice. "And we sometimes play cribbage and ecarte." "Still, at your age, there is so much to learn that I think we must dedicate this hour to sewing each night. And now, tell me, what is your favourite lesson?" Joanne eyed the lady for a moment. Then, "Latin and 'cello," she said sweetly. She was not disappointed. Miss Mercier's face fell. "Latin? Oh my dear, I am very sorry to hear that. Latin is essential for boys, of course; but I cannot think it necessary for a girl in your position. But you cannot have gone very far in it yet?" "We were doing the Aenid at school when I left," said Joanne briskly. "Fourth book. And Caesar, of course. I've learnt Latin for years." "My dear child, you mustn't exaggerate. That is most unladylike. I suppose you began two years ago? You cannot call two years "years" in the sense you did." "I didn't. I began Latin when I was seven. My father taught me." This was worse than Miss Mercier had expected.

What if every dream you ever dreamt was a part of a dream that you're living? To my Smiling Soul, If there is one thing I have learnt over Time that stands solid and can pass the test of Time in every Universe then that is the Strength of our Soul when we live through the Smile of our Heart. It doesn't matter, how much time goes by, how many detours or losses fell on your path, as long as you stand your ground, as long as you don't let regret or failure to get the better of you, you win, you walk with slow but steady steps knowing there is someone watching over you, holding onto integrity and grace. You remember to bury your pain, your loss, your sorrow and plant a seed of Love instead with a Hope that someday, Somewhere in some corner of this Universe you will find your due, something that only He alone can give you, something that is yours, entirely yours. Until then, keep reminding the world that a Unicorn doesn't need to be a lion or a wolf in the wilderness of Life. - your Smiling Dream To every Dreamer, keep weaving that halo of dream for you never know where you might end up in the Smile of Time, because Life knows exactly the Dream that Life weaves around us. Love & Light, always - Debatrayee

Cups and Rings and Drawings. I stopped by a famed park, Picked a blank sheet And drew a cup. For me, it represented me holding myself up in a storm, It represented the start of life, Something to pour out every lesson learnt Out of every misfortune we’ve ever been. The cup — the container to hold chocolate drink Water. Wine and strawberries. I drew a ring, A marriage between blessing and joy The bloom of flowers in spring The sprouting of leaves in midsummer And the smell of fresh grasses at night. I drew Monalisa I painted art I became Michaelangelo Da Vinci I became the Renaissance I healed through art “Don’t you know that you are gods?” So the first day, I cleared the storms out of my life. The second day, I dried all my tears The third day, I reinvented myself. The fourth day, I finally remembered what it felt like to be happy Like two children drawing arts on a canvass. Delilah & Annabelle Arts curled out of girls trying to reinvent the world Or the colours of the rainbow. The fifth day, I opened the windows wide To let the lights shine in. “When I’m down on my knees you’re how I pray.” The sixth day I created my favourite masterpiece — Baroque. The seventh day, I admired myself in the mirror. I missed me I missed the time I had so much optimism I miss you And I miss writing so innocently.

You touched my heart by your kindness.

will always remember the game for other reasons, because I learnt a very important personal lesson. It taught me never to resort to unethical ways and to play the sport with honesty and integrity at all times.

Life has let me down several times, that I have learnt to cope with my pain in different situations while at the same time, learning through comparing my past problems and the current obstacles am facing.

Hard Time" [CHORUS:] Hard time forgiving Even harder forgetting Before you do something You might regret friend Hard time forgiving Even harder forgetting Before you do something You might regret friend Took me for granted But call it love if you will I'm aware of this I did let you in Sink for you to swim Dancing on the ledge Tried to let you stay I did let you win Broke to what became Became you & me Try to mend it but I can't bend the truth Bricks are caving in Oh how sweet this sin I left you the keys You won't let me in [CHORUS] Left me on the floor Now I'm at the shore Here's change you can keep Sold yourself too cheap Thought you got away This here ends today You thought hell was hard Let me show you now [CHORUS] This time I will be Louder than my words Walk with lessons that Oh, that I have learnt Show the scars I've earned In the light of day Shadows will be found I will hunt them down [CHORUS]

What did you learn?” “Letting go of my past, because it’s all soot, nothing is left of it, if I wandered there for long I would be running in circles in the dark, no hope, no life. And if I chose to live in those places rebuilt from ashes, I can never get rid of the darkness which would prevail underneath.” “The present is my ray of hope. I could have stayed there, complaining about the gloominess of the light, and regretting not having turned a corner to explore a new horizon at the same time I needed to respect that light because it was my savior from the dark. I learnt it finally and that’s why I reached here today and found you

It's okay, you broke me. And in doing so you made me more complete than I would ever have been if you hadn't. You made me ready to face anything the world could possibly throw at me after that moment that you took away everything. In the last two years even I can see myself evolve, the fun part is it's far from over. I'm flawed of course, like everybody else. I know my weaknesses. But I also know what I can achieve alone. Turns out that's quite a lot more than many can do with others supporting them. So it excites me to imagine what I can achieve now I have those few special people behind me, giving me support and further enabling me. So, two years on from when we last spoke, thank you, you taught me well. That last lesson was the hardest to get through, I wouldn't be over dramatic if I said it very nearly killed me, but I learnt so much from it, I always learnt from you. You were so busy being my teachers you forgot to be my parents. Your problem was never that I grew up too fast. Maybe it was that I grew up at all, or more likely that I simply grew in the wrong direction.

Every time, I am lost and said a little prayer, I divine force, reach out to help me find my way.

Lesson learnt: I am maintaining happiness in the moment, and this gives me the results of always having happy memories. Affirmation: I am creating things that bring me joy in my life every day.

Let me have the boy!” “Beg pardon?” “You mean to kill me, so do it. But let me have the boy. A kiss, Sir, that’s all I ask. A kiss, that is the world. I’m too drunk for anything else!” “Please, Master, I can’t endure this,” I said. “Then, how will you endure eternity, my child? Don’t you know that’s what I mean to give you? What power under God is there that can break me?” He threw a fierce glance at me, but it seemed more artifice than true emotion. “I’ve learned my lessons,” I said. “I only hate to see him die.” “Ah, yes, then you have learnt. Martino, kiss my child if he’ll allow it, and mark you, be gentle when you do.” It was I who leant across the table now and planted my kiss on the man’s cheek. He turned and caught my mouth with his, hungry, sour with wine, but enticingly, electrically hot. The tears sprang to my eyes. I opened my mouth to him and let his tongue come into me. And with my eyes shut, I felt it quiver and his lips become tight, as if they had been turned to hard metal clamped to me and unable to close. My Master had him, had his throat, and the kiss was frozen, and I, weeping, put out my hand blindly to find the very place in his neck where my Master’s evil teeth had driven in. I felt my Master’s silky lips, I felt the hard teeth beneath them, I felt the tender neck. I opened my eyes and pulled myself away. My doomed Martino sighed and moaned and closed his lips and sat back in my Master’s grip with his eyes half-mast. He turned his head slowly towards my Master. In a small raw drunken voice, he spoke. “For Bianca…” “For Bianca,” I said. I sobbed, muffling it with my hand. My Master drew up. With his left hand, he smoothed back Martino’s damp and tangled hair. “For Bianca,” he said into his ear. “Never…never should have let her live,” came the last sighing words from Martino. His head fell over my master’s right arm. My Master kissed the back of his head, and let him slip down onto the table. “Charming to the last,” said he. “Just a real poet to the bottom of his soul.

How mysterious it is that I was betrayed by seeing through the eyes and only my blind heart showed me the right path - the interior life

I have learnt my lessons. I have realized that the world is real and our existence a necessity. Life and death are certainties and so are all the gamut of emotions that we experience on our journey. The earlier we accept this, the easier would it be to live. One does not learn by moving away. One learns by sticking it out and facing the truth of our fallibilities and that alone is the only way to overcome them

I have stopped asking about the wounds in my life. The truth is that everyone has wounds. For some, they're even scarier, deeper, and bigger. For what it's worth, I have learnt that my wounds, regardless of their size, are there for my lessons and growth.

I have never feared death. Never had in mind it existed. The last few days have taught me the most important lesson of my life. No matter how I led my life - being lost in the realm of euphoria or being in the most intricate process of earning a livelihood, death had always been there. Having said that, it never shows up until the day your life takes a toll on you. Sometimes, life hits hard to remind you that it doesn't like your sole obsession with living. It persuades you to remember death so that you can realize the real value of being alive. Love your life & respect death.

Ashok stopped for breath, and was surprised to see his father smiling. Then Ramnath said, ‘My son, you have finally realized how hard it is to earn even the smallest sum. Now you know the effort one has to put in to bring home an honest day’s wage. I think you are ready to start off on your own. I will help you in your business. Never forget the virtues of hard work and honesty.’ Ashok smiled and nodded. He had learnt a very valuable lesson from his wise father. The Bird with Golden Wings Varsha lived with her mother, who worked as a cook in a rich man’s house. Every evening, her mother returned from work with a little rice, which she would then cook for herself and her daughter. Varsha and her mother lived happily enough, satisfied with what they had. One evening, Varsha’s mother brought home some extra rice. Before leaving the next morning, she cleaned it and spread it on a mat to dry in the terrace. Then she called Varsha and said, ‘Sit here and see that no bird pecks at the rice. I will cook this for us when I return in the evening.’ Varsha sat down by the rice with a little stick in her hand. After a while, a tiny sparrow came hopping by. It looked hungrily at the grains. Varsha took pity on it and gave it a few grains. The bird ate those and flew away. Then an old crow came and cawed loudly beside her. ‘I’m hungry!’ it seemed to say. So Varsha gave it some grains too, and it flew away after eating them. Then, the strangest thing happened. A big bird with shining golden wings came and perched next to her. It was clearly very old. The bird looked at the rice spread out on the mat. Then it spoke in a beautiful voice, ‘Will you give me some rice too?’ Varsha was very surprised. ‘Go ahead,’ she said, ‘but take only a few grains, or else my mother will scold me.’ The old bird hopped forward and, in an instant, gulped down all the rice! Varsha looked in dismay at the empty mat. What would her mother say? ‘Why did you do that?’ she asked the bird. It bent its head and said softly, ‘I’m sorry. I was hungry and could not stop myself. But don’t worry, come with me to my house in the big banyan tree and I’ll give you something which will make your mother forget her anger.

Here’s sharing some true, realistic lessons I learnt in six decades of life after I took birth on this beautiful planet in 1960: LESSON 1 1960-70 Identifying core values early strengthens one’s inner self and gives direction to “HOW” of living. Daily conversations with my father when I was about 08 got me to define right and wrong in a simple way: Never to harm yourself or any other person even in your thoughts in any way. It gave me a ‘burden-less’ living. LESSON 2 1970-80 Don’t let your goodness be taken as your weakness by people and use you. Instead of being focused on “getting liked” by those in demand, better to spend time on self-development thro self-discipline, self-control and focus to be the best in what comes naturally to you. LESSON 3 1980-90  Whatever be the level of comfort in life, it can simply shift in one day. Life can change in the blink of an eye. Those are the moments when the work you have done on yourself will help you stand tall, confident and get to rebuild yourself. Clarity of the choice will be defining your life ahead. LESSON 4 1990-00 Persistence, confidence, commitment, passion, hard-work, dedication and devotion are all beautiful terms. Unless you add ‘Strategy’, it works NOT. In pursuit of your goal you may have to be flexible about your values. LESSON 5 2000-10 Doesn’t matter if you are MOON, if Sun doesn’t like you and stop giving you light, you are nowhere. Very important to develop lasting relationships on a “give and take” principle. Clear and candid. Period. LESSON 6 2010-20 And if you continue to live with the basic first lesson that I got in early childhood and then what I learned later of being flexible, which I chose not to, as I wanted to pursue what I thought was right, then it is equally true that life slowly and steadily turns magical. For every one person who preys on you to cut your wings, you will find 10 angels willing to share theirs. You will learn LESS IS MORE. And you will find humility holding you tight and taking you through every storm and staying firmly rooted would also mean storms passing through you. Life will just keep flowing and you will be able to create your own small beautiful and happy world. LESSON NOW: Whatever you know is only to the extent of how YOU have experienced life. More than that is a perception and an illusion what can also be termed as Your imagined reality So finally, my lessons are MINE. May not be applicable to all. If even one person is able to relate with them and choose to restart by reconsidering any WHATSs , WHYs and HOWSs, I will be happy. LAST WORD: AGE IS NOT A NUMBER! It’s a well-earned gift of experiences. Feeling blessed!

Meeting people from all walks of life has taught me to look at all facets of an issue or problem. My views and opinions are never set in stone – a lesson I learnt in childhood, having experienced the realities of communism in Poland and then seeing the perceptions about it outside the country. Listening to a North Vietnamese soldier’s take on the war in Vietnam offers a very different perspective to the Hollywood version most of us grew up with. Based on such experiences, I have learnt to form my opinions based on interactions with many people with differing viewpoints. This has served me well in the boardroom. Respected leaders are those who have an open mind and can see matters from the perspective of a multitude of cultures. Although the internet provides a window onto the world that many believe renders travel unnecessary, it is not a substitute for real-life experiences, for actually interacting with people of different cultures and for learning to problem-solve on the spot. I have drawn many lessons from our travels that I have since translated and absorbed into my working life. Understanding different economies, policies and cultures helps one to think more globally. Global thinking is an essential skill for any business leader, as it is key to making sound business and investment decisions, domestically and internationally. Travelling the world, even for short periods of time with your family, is a valuable way to gain this skill.

From My Mother’s Classroom I looked at her As she spoke Every word Each lesson Profound wisdom And valuable guidance I held it so close to me I was the curious learner She, the passionate teacher The same teachings Have carried me across oceans Helped me climb mountains Walked me through the darkest valleys Kept me safe in the wilderness I conquered battles Beat the odds Pursued my purpose Fearlessly dreamt Lived a life so great That is why today I still appreciate Everything I learnt From my Mother’s classroom

I don’t want the brain of my twenty-one-year-old self. Or the impulses or the bloody … inner turmoil. I want everything I have now – I want all the lessons I’ve learnt and the experiences I’ve had and to know all the stuff I know. But I want to transpose myself back to the physical state of being twenty-one for ever, with all my life ahead of me.’ ‘Right.

Some years ago, I felt that Iexperienced more limitations than possibilities in a spiritual organization, which I had belonged to for a long time. It became clear for me that I was prepared to expand, and take a new step in my spiritual growth. To be spiritual does not mean to belong to a spiritual group. I felt that I had grown out of the kindergarten, and my inner tree was bearing fruit. Too many large trees cannot grow in a narrow area. This was a lesson to stand on my own feet; it was a lesson for me to live my own life, to live my own truth, without following anybody else. I do not belong to any spiritual group or tradition. I am only interested in exploring what it means to live with open eyes. This lesson developed and expanded my inner being. Many years ago, when I sat and meditated by a slow flowing river in India, it taught me that if I learnt to listen to the river, if I surrendered and became one with the river, I did not need any other teacher in meditation. This river could teach me all the mysteries of life. In the same way, everything can become a door to the secrets of life, for example a man or a woman, a tree, a bird, a stone or the blue sky, if we know how ro listen and surrender. It is such a deep joy, such a deep inner satisfaction, to feel that I belong to life, that I am one with Existence. When Buddha was lying on his deathbed, and the disciples asked him if he had any last words for them, he said: Be a light to yourself. You are born with a light within you. You are enough to yourself. You are sufficient to yourself. Listen to the still small voice within, and that will guide you. Buddha defines wisdom as living in the light of our own consciousness. Buddha's message to be a light to yourself is a message to all seekers of truth and all meditators on the path of enlightenment. You have to be silent, so that you can listen to the still small voice within you. Follow your own voice in silence, love and deep trust. You have to follow the still, small voice within you and you have to follow your being.

Am I whingeing, moaning about my life? It is a life of my choosing, God knows. Much I have learnt and how much more I must learn. When can I get down to some serious reading, something instinctive and beneficial?

If I shine in the light of sun then will I be visible after the sunset? One thing I learnt very early... Because life had decided to hit me hardest. I made a conscious choice to face my own darkness and deep dive because below there swam some dots of light..

Confucius identified five central virtues that make us good: compassion (ren), ritual propriety (li), justice (yi), knowledge (zhi) and integrity (xin). Crucially, Confucius felt that these five had to be worked on over a whole lifetime. He told his followers: ‘At fifteen, I had my mind bent on intellectual learning. At thirty, I was busy and practical. At forty, I had no doubts. At fifty, I started to learn. At sixty, my ear was an obedient organ for the reception of truth. At seventy, I had learnt to follow the five virtues.’ In other words, training to be good takes a lot of time.

That's the thing, isn't it, when you grow with Time, you learn to value your Time more than anything in this world. You safeguard your peace from literally anything that seems to pull it down, even if that means transient happiness. I learnt long back that Life is a series of lessons, some bitter and well some very very bitter, but all of them assimilate into something so serene, so beautiful actually when looked from a distance. Because each time you're broken, you're made once again, some from the pieces that lay scattered on the ground while some entirely new coming from all across the Sky where He Smiles at You, knowing that your fall was nothing but a blur in the Time that would clutch you later in Life into understanding the Truest Meaning of Life, the virtue of Patience and Perseverance, the lesson on Time, that Time alone has the biggest Smile and if you evolve with it you would walk the fire with the Zeal of your Soul that never ages, you will find wrinkles and scars but those are like battle ropes that get you motivated to walk this Earth one more time, to know that you're still alive, only your core never changes, You in your heart is always that child, the one who is always eager to embrace as much colour from this moment as your senses can. I am not hushing the child but patting it with the serenity of a grey hair, knowing that Life has been kind even at the battles that were thrown along the way, and eventually letting my heart know that the biggest war I'd ever face is within, the war that demands me to hold on too tightly all while letting go too spontaneously, the least I could find is a victory of Knowing I have done it all with an Honest Heart and a Soul that thrives on Faith. If colours were hued on my Soul, let Integrity be my Sun and as for the Moon, I'd always be Kindness' arm. Thank You, Life And to every momentary transient passerby of this beautiful journey, no matter where we left off, I wish your journey finds the course it's meant to walk.

If my journey was so easy, I would have missed out on life's invaluable lessons. From misery I learnt to comfort those in tears, from lack I learnt to give to the needy; from uncertainty I learnt to understand others and from my silence I learnt to listen to the voiceless.

my grandfather was an ordinary British citizen in the time of British Raj. He used to have Bengali friends from whom I learnt Bengali”.

Hindsight is the best science, and I know now that what I picked up and learnt from my mother was the best informal education and training I could ever have received

longing to suck that bottle of warm, delicious milk. I hadn’t been weaned off it for very long. I couldn’t resist. I pulled the bottle gently out of my brother’s mouth and hands, popped it hastily into my own mouth, lay back on the sofa and enjoyed the trickle of something warm down my throat - something I still enjoy today. Warm milk is heaven for a toddler, a pleasure beyond measure. That was until my younger brother’s legs began shaking, his fists clenched and his breath started puffing away. This was not a good sign. I turned my head to look at him, the bottle still locked in my mouth, when all of a sudden his face turned red and distorted, like he was about to poop. Instead, he let out a high-pitched scream that didn’t quite shatter the front window – though it must have come close – but shattered my eardrums and froze my whole body. Unfortunately for me, it also ignited my mum and dad, who both dropped whatever they had been doing in the kitchen and came running immediately into the living room. ‘What the hell is going on?’ shouted Dad. ‘Brett’s taken Trevor’s bottle,’ shrieked Mum as she ripped it out of my mouth – with my only tooth still stuck in the teat. She shoved it straight back into my brother’s mouth to disable the alarm. ‘He needs a bloody good hiding.’ ‘Little bastard. Get up and come here now!’ bellowed Dad. He yanked me off the sofa and held me dangling in the air by one arm as if he were holding up the biggest fish he ever caught, but with much less pride. My world was spinning and so was I as Dad whacked my petite bottom. I must have blacked out from the pain as I don’t remember anything after that. What I do remember, however, is resenting my little brother for making me lose both my tooth and my taste for dairy products. I also learnt one of life’s important lessons: be very careful what you put in your mouth.

One of the helpful lessons I have learnt in leadership is the need to appreciate my strength zone and then lead from there.

God, he could be a prick. A moody, stubborn prick who I would avoid if I knew what was good for me. It seemed I never quite learnt my lessons very well in life.

I'll go out and feed the whole world if i can, i have heart like that, but when it comes to eating at my table - it takes a special kind of soul to invite into the space i've spent years building from the destruction left behind by the people i fed before i Even had the chance to eat; myself. I'm all soul, but i have learnt many a lesson and this is the stage in my life where i apply it all.

I, too, once was ignorant. I had been over the same road several times before but never in the same frame of mind because I prized that more which cost an effort to win and I won because I used my dome, now I sit on a throne of my own dominion. A majesty of mastery.

My lesson had been learnt through having to visit our previous colleagues, the Cloak and Dagger Brigade. The first detachment had abandoned the St Ermins Hotel at St James’s Park in favour of a foothold at Bletchley Park at Bletchley, Bucks. Bletchley Park was a super-secret station run by the Foreign Office, inhabited mainly by brilliant, long-haired youths who contrived to break the enemy’s codes every so often.

That is the lesson that I have learnt to-night. By an act of betrayal I begot unknown to me a son who, whilst as ignorant as myself of our relationship, has come to be the evil genius of my life, to cross and thwart me, and finally to help to pull me down in ruin. It is just—poetically just. My full and resigned acceptance of that fact is the only atonement I can offer you.

59. Creature Comforts Are Only Temporary It was one of the most painful lessons of my life. It was during the first time I attempted SAS selection. I was totally lost in a vast boggy wetland, torrential rain was driving down, and I was utterly spent. I was also way behind time, and I knew it. When I finally made it to the penultimate checkpoint, the corporals kept me there doing endless press-ups in the wet marsh with my heavy pack still on my back. I knew this was costing me even more valuable time and energy. I was feeling fainter and fainter; I knew things were bad. I was soon off again, wading across a fast-flowing, waist-deep stream, before climbing up through knee-deep mud towards the next 2,000-foot (600-metre) mountain ridge-line. I just had to keep going. Ten miles. Twenty miles. ‘Nothing good comes from quitting,’ I told myself, over and over again. ‘If I keep going, I will pass.’ But I was getting more and more delirious with fatigue. I didn’t know why this was happening, and I couldn’t control it. Maybe I hadn’t eaten or drunk enough, or perhaps it was just that the months of this relentless pace were finally taking their toll and I was at my limit. Every couple of paces, my knees would buckle. If I stumbled, I couldn’t stop myself from falling. Eventually I saw the trucks in the distance below me, symbolizing the end point. Wisps of smoke from army Hexi stoves curled upwards from the woods. Soon I would be warm, soon I would have a cup of hot tea. It was all I wanted. But when I reached the end checkpoint I was told I had been failed - I had been too slow. My world fell inwards. I was sent off to make camp in the woods and rest for the night. The remaining recruits would be heading out for the night march in a few hours. The next morning I would be returned to camp with the others who hadn’t made the grade. I was totally dejected. That night in those woods, warm and dry under my shelter, blisters attended to, dry socks on, and out of the wind and rain, I learnt an enduring lesson: warm and dry doesn’t mean fulfilled and happy.

The next morning I would be returned to camp with the others who hadn’t made the grade. I was totally dejected. That night in those woods, warm and dry under my shelter, blisters attended to, dry socks on, and out of the wind and rain, I learnt an enduring lesson: warm and dry doesn’t mean fulfilled and happy. Only a few hours earlier I had been longing to be warm and dry and safe. Yet lying there, knowing that my buddies were starting out on a grueling night march without me, was pure agony. Never has anyone wanted to be cold, wet and tired as much as I did right then. And never have the comforts of shelter and food meant so little to me. You see, being dry and warm in life, but with no purpose, is no consolation for being in the heat of the arena in pursuit of your goals. Don’t get me wrong, warm and dry is great as a reward ‘afterwards’, and we should all regularly enjoy some time chilling, doing ‘nothing’ - but if all you do is ‘nothing’, you will find it a very hollow existence. (So yes, I went back on the next Selection course and went through those 11 months of SAS hell again - and I passed. I was cold, wet and exhausted throughout, so that now, when I relax, I feel that huge sense of pride for having endured.) Once you commit to your goal, don’t get swayed by the temporary lure of creature comforts and easy feelings - instead, keep focused, and remember the pain never lasts for ever, but the pride in having followed your calling will.

40. From Those To Whom Much Is Given, Much Is Expected When I left school, I worked for six months running a series of self-defence classes around London to earn some money so I could go backpacking. Finally, I saved enough to travel to India, where I had always wanted to go and see the mighty Himalayas with my own eyes. I knew it would take my breath away. But it was the other things I witnessed in India that really blew my mind. In the back streets of Calcutta I saw sights that just should not happen: legless, blind, ragged bodies, lying in filth-strewn gutters, holding out their blistered arms to beg for a few rupees. I felt overwhelmed, inadequate and powerless - all at once. I sought out the mission run by Mother Teresa and saw there how simple things - cleanliness, calm, care and love - made a difference to those in need. These are not costly things to give, and the lesson I learnt was simple: that we all have it within our power to offer something to change a life, even if our pockets are empty. We’ve come to think of charity as being about big telethons or rock stars setting up foundations, but at its heart, charity is about small acts of kindness. No matter the circumstances in which you were brought up, no matter what your job or how much you earn, we all have the capacity to give something - whether it’s time, love or a listening ear to someone in need. And the thing to remember is this: don’t wait until you have more time, money or energy. Mother Teresa said: ‘Never worry about numbers. Help one person at a time and always start with the person nearest you.’ It is a great lesson, and the more we try to do this with whatever little we have, the more real success will gravitate toward us. People will love you back, your own sense of purpose and achievement will grow, and your life will have influence beyond the material. That is a great way to be known and to live your life. For the record: I am definitely still a work in progress on this one, but we all benefit from trying to aspire to this more. So look around you for those in need - you won’t have to look far - and your own life will grow in meaning. Success is not success unless you live this one.

From My Mother’s Classroom I looked at her As she spoke Every word Each lesson Profound wisdom And heartfelt guidance I kept so close to me I was the curious learner She, the passionate teacher The same teachings Have carried me across oceans Helped me climb mountains Walked me through the darkest valleys Kept me safe in the wilderness I conquered battles Beat the odds Pursued my purpose Fearlessly dreamt Lived a life so great That is why today I still appreciate Everything I learnt From my Mother’s classroom

I learnt my first lesson of bureaucracy. “Never be open about your plans with anybody who may oppose you.” Common sense really. Animal cunning is the order of the day, especially when you are a small business mammal avoiding the far larger, carnivorous predator, whether he is a bureaucrat or a big greedy competitor. A good tactician would never consider such an approach. Giving information freely to an adversary was pure stupidity on my part.

If you don't like me , it's my problem and I'm happy with that , If I don't like you it's your problem and I'm still happy .

I have learnt a very important lesson about eliminating time wasters in my life ~ and the lesson is to ALWAYS INVEST TIME ON PURPOSE.

I’ve lost my pride a few times over the years and it does shake your confidence, but the lessons I learnt were invaluable. Hardest of all though is when a family member turns on you – it’s a hurt that never goes away.