Quotes on Failure by JT

How do you win $1 million in the lottery? You don't win it by winning $1,000 one thousand times, you win it by losing 999 times and getting the 1000th one right.

So don't fear failure.

A Quote By Charlie Chaplin

"We think too much, and feel too little."

The Great Dictator, 1940

The Man In The Arena

It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.

Extract from the "Citizenship in a Republic" speech

Quote on Things Left Undone

Now I know what a ghost is. Unfinished business, that's what"
- Salman Rushdie, The Satanic Verses

It Is Never Too Late To Fly

“Dear God. Make me a bird. So I could fly far. Far, far away from here”

Do not fear the open world. Never in the history of men has the world been so vast, where human knowledge of each continents, land and sea increases every day, and yet, no corner of the world is too far away or isolated that it is inaccessible by a determined and imaginative man.

Within many of us lies a desire to travel, some more so than others, to see the majesty of what the world has to offer, to experience living in cultures far from our own, to witness the miracle of nature in its untainted, unhindered state, and to stand agog at the prowess of human science, technology and engineering.

And yet for most of us this dream is never fulfilled. We delay the pursuit of adventure and although the desire itself never goes away, the will to do something about it dies a slow sure death. We make self-defeating excuses for which we hold up as a worn-out shield against the dogged belief that we are short-changing ourselves in living a fuller life. It could be monetary limits; it may be constraints of familial obligations; maybe it is an unwilling partner who doesn’t share this dream. Whatever the excuse is, I submit that it all boils down to one thing – fear. Fear of facing the consequences of a wrong decision. Fear that there is no longer time to move to a country not of your birth as youth slips away, as they always do. Well, let me tell you, it is never too late to fly. The only time when it is too late is when you are dead. Some people may be privileged enough to be given opportunities when they were younger, but there is no law that prohibits an older person from seeking for pastures of a different type and colour, across the fences we call oceans and seas.

There is no stronger prison in the world than the prison of our own construction. We allow our fears to form steel bars and brick walls around us, and our excuses, the wardens. Only when we stop making excuses for ourselves do we regain control of the direction of our lives. And only when we regain control of the direction, can we point it towards the places we want to go.

And oh, the places you can go.

One of the giants in literature, Dr. Seuss, wrote:

“You have brains in your head.

You have feet in your shoes.

You can steer yourself

Any direction you choose.”

The things you will be amazed by, the experiences to be experienced when you travel, and really travel, not just sight-seeing or holidaying, is limited only by your imagination. Write your bucket list today, share it with your loved ones and your friends to make it real, make it a part of the world that you live in, rather than just a vague intangible list residing in the back of your heart and mind.

God did give us wings – we just call them feet.

Of course, you will certainly meet challenges along your journey. One cannot enjoy the view from the pinnacle of a mountain without enduring and conquering the ascension. This is when your creativity and ability to adapt is tested. When you are out of your comfort zone, you may surprise even yourself in discovering fortitude and talent that you would have never known you had if you had not set out on your voyage. Do not give up easily, and most importantly, do not let fear handicap you. If there is ever one advice that I hold dear to me, it is that I will always have a home back in my own country. What is the worst that I have to fear, then?

Make me a bird so that I may fly far away.

The first line of this little piece of musing is a quote from the movie “Forrest Gump”. A young Jenny prayed to be taken away from the abuses of her father. I may have hijacked it for my own purposes, but everyone has a reason to pray for flights to where their hearts desire.

What is your reason?

(Recommended reading for the young and the old, and everyone between young and old, Dr Seuss “Oh, The Places You’ll Go)

Listicles - The List of 7 Lists To End All Lists aka The List You Have To Read

I hate listicles. No, wait. I love listicles. No, I abhor them. I can't make up my mind. What do you call a relationship where you love and hate the other person at the same time?

Ah yes.

A marriage.

Some might wonder what a "listicle" is. Well, it is not a lipstick for balls, since calling that slam-dunk of a product a "lipsticle" would make more sense. Come to think of it, this is a money-making idea! I am trademarking "Lipsticle - For Women" - When applying lipsticks on your lips is just more fun for your men.

No. A listicle is an article, or what passes for one nowadays, made up almost entirely of a list. For example, just scrolling down Facebook, one is bound to come across links to listicles with titles such as "Top Ten Rules Every Marriage Should Live By" or "Six Ways To Get Ripped For The Summer".

It is a boon for writers and writers wannabes since it is so easy to write. Grammar are usually thrown out of the window. Structural no sense it needs to make. there is no need to worried about punctuation there is NO NEED TO PAY HEED TO CAPITALISATION.

It is however, a form of writing that is so easy that many budding writers are jumping on to the bandwagon (or "bad"wagon, as I like to call any trend that annoys me. Haha. I am so funny). Online magazines and websites are publishing them by the truckloads since publishing nowadays means clicking a button and releasing 'em articles into the public domain, fingers-crossed, hopping that they go viral. This has inevitably lead to good listicles, rare as they may be, getting lost among the rubbish ones.

The digital generation is also to blame for the rise and rise of the listicles. People just do not have the necessary attention span to read anything that takes more than five minutes. In fact, if you are still reading this at this point, Congratulations! You are only two out of ten who has stuck with me this far. The other eight have flipped me off and switch their mobile screens to Flappy Bird.

So what is an aspiring peddler of words to do in the face of such literature calamity?

Well, join them of course.

The following is a list of listicles that in my humble and yet infuriatingly spot-on opinion, have been recycled and regurgitated too many times, and listicles that I really wish writers would write:

1. 10 Reasons Why My Marriage Rules, and Your Marriage Sucks
2. 12 Pictures of Muscled/Lean Men/Women doing Workouts That You Will Never Do
3. 64 Reasons Why He Hates You (But Is In Love With Your Whore of a Good Friend) (Tip: You make all your friends look hotter just by standing next to them)
4. 78 Reasons Why Listicles Are Making People Think They Are Writers (and a bonus 10 Reasons Why They Are Not)
5. 241 Reasons Why Every Writer Should Love Writing Listicles
6. 2 Reasons Why I Hate Listicles
7. 892 Reasons Why People Don't Give A Rat's Arse About This List

So why did I only list seven things in my listicle? Well, I had reached seven, and then something more interesting than writing came up on the television (the Real Housewives of Melbourne). That is one more advantage of the listicle. You can stop anytime you want and no one can accuse you of quitting halfway.

Yeah. I definitely love listicles.

Trim Your Guest List by Ranking Your Friends

 

 

The biggest challenge one faces in planning a party is the guest list.

 

If, like me, you are very likable, popular and have a large social circle, and yet not rich enough to own a mansion like Mr. Jay "Old Sport" Gatsby to throw large extravagant parties inviting everyone in town, you will likely be forced to whittle down a guest list to a number which your humble apartment can accommodate.

 

And with the cost of holding functions in hotels and restaurants reaching astronomical heights, one can only reserve a limited number of tables before one unconsciously begins to Google the process of applying for bankruptcy.

 

While discussing this with a friend of mine who is planning his wedding luncheon, I suggested that when faced with the predicament of pruning the guests list, one must put aside the vague arbitrary concept of emotions and feelings, and adopt a rational approach.

 

The strategy that I proposed, which I will trademark soon in case any event planners plagiarise it, is a point ranking system, where each potential guest is given points based on certain established criteria and the guests with the lowest points are given the boot.

 

CRITERIA

 

1. Guest you are in constant contact vs. guests you haven't seen in a decade

 

Friends whom you see at least once a week gets awarded 5 points each, while those whom you see at least once a month must only be contented with 3 points. Those whom you have socialised with at least in the past one year deserves only 1 point. Anybody whom you haven't seen in more than twelve months gets zero points.

 

Special bonus points goes to people whom you don't see as often, but still keeps in contact over the phone. (Note: Facebook or other forms of social media's birthday messages don't count)

 

2. People who are lights up the room vs. people who wears grim and sombre like a pair of earrings.

 

We all know people who are able to almost immediately command the attention of any room they walk into, and are able to have interesting conversation with a group of strangers only introduced to them a few minutes ago. These people deserves 5 points. Having these guests in your party implies that you, the host, is interesting too, that such charming personalities would grace your event.

 

At the end of the spectrum are people who tried being happy once, and it almost killed them. They go around the room complaining about their jobs, their spouses, the food, other people who complains too much; and they just kill any mood you may have tried to imbued into your party. These people get only 1 point (Just so that they have one less reason to complain).

 

The middle rung in this are the people who just stand around, nodding at everything the charmers say, and smiling politely. They usually only talk to the person next to them and never address a group of more than one. Give them 3 points for being the pedestals for the charmers to stand on.

 

3. People who are good looking vs. people who aren't

 

Your party may not make the event pages of Esquire or GQ, but there will be tonnes of photos taken, and shared insouciantly on Instagram even before the last spit or puke is cleaned from the toilet floor.

 

Hence, it is important to ensure that your guest list is filled with people who have got ten pounds to spare for the camera lenses.

 

Go through their Facebook profiles and identify people who are photogenic, with an average of 1,000 likes for their profile pictures and selfies. Give these people 5 points.

 

The second tier would be people who may not look good from the neck up, but has the moral flexibility to show a little more skin, hence upping the "Hot" quotient. Give them 3 points for, well, fashion sense.

 

For those who are average looking and dresses like they do not care about being seen, award them 1 point. These are the ones who will fit in nicely at the sides of the group photos, enhancing the looks of the beautiful people in the middle. They can also be the designated photographers for the night, thus eliminating the risk of them appearing in too many photos of that night.

 

(Note: Be wary of people with pictures of pets, cartoons or landscapes, on their profile pictures. If you have to hide behind Spot's photo with his slobbering tongue hanging out, you have some serious grooming to do my friend)

 

Bonus points to yourself if you are able to locate enough beautiful people and yet, as the host, remain in the top 1 percentile of the lookers in your party.

 

4. People who are useful vs. people who sits on their ass

 

Anyone who offers to bring the booze and/or clean up after the party automatically gets a place in your guest list, whether or not they are good looking or charismatic. These naturally helpful, essential, unofficial, crew of the event will make or break your evening and having them around means having people to boss. 5 points to them!

 

There will also be people in your draft guest list who has a reputation of being voracious eaters. These are people you want in your party, but not at the very beginning, but towards the end when they can help to ensure that there are no leftovers. Try lying to them that the party starts at 9pm when in fact you have told the other guests to come at 7pm. These folks gets 3 points.

 

Those who refuses to lift a finger other than to indicate the number of champagne they want, deserves a finger to their face themselves. No points for such seat fillers.

 

5. People whose weddings, birthdays, etc. you want to attend vs. those you don't

 

I have known people who have been forced to invite people whom they loathe to their parties, just because the former was previously invited to an earlier event by the latter.

 

Thus if you turn it around, say, you know that a rich person throws lavish parties that you would like to be invited to. Award them 5 points, if these rich folks aren't assholes (they usually aren't...rich people are mostly quite nice people) then you have a foot through their heavy and expensive mahogany doors.

 

Anybody else gets zero points for this criterion.

 

6. People who pays your salary vs. people who leeches off you

 

Look. There are inherently more important people in this world than others. They have reached their station in life through hard work and determination, and hence have been granted authority over certain areas of your life.

 

Such as promotion.

 

Job security.

 

And to repay their mercy in ensuring your kids have food to eat and iPads to waste their lives on, these bosses of yours deserves at least 5 points each.

 

Speaking of kids, your leeching children can be left out of your guest list. Zero points.

 

So there you have it, a fool proof system of ensuring that you have the most dynamic guest list possible for your party. Be prepared for a lot of hurt feelings and offences being taken by people who do not make the list, but fortify yourself for you know that this was what science has dictated - and that only deserving people have made it to your party, no doubt making it an event people will be talking about for years to come.

 

Even if talking about it means cursing it like a sailor with a stubbed toe.