Truth for All

"The further conviction has been growing upon me that whatever is possible for me is possible even for a child, and I have found sound reasons for saying so. The instruments for the quest of truth are as simple as they are difficult. They may appear quite impossible to an arrogant person, and quite possible to an innocent child. The seeker after truth must be humbler than the dust. The world crushes the dust under its feet, but the seeker after truth should so humble himself that even the dust could crush him." (Gandhi Introduction 18)

This is quite a profound statement that Gandhi makes, even before the reader begins to delve into his book. This statement perfectly illustrates Gandhi's humbleness as he claims that much of what he has accomplished and continues to achieve can be attained by all including the young. This goes to show that Gandhi believed himself to be no more higher than any other human being in the world. Truth is out there for the taking for all those willing to pursue it. To one individual, the search can be mind numbingly difficult, but to another it can be second nature. What it boils down to is one's perspective and approach to it. But before you can gain this transcendence (although one who has reached such a level would not believe it to be such), you must bring yourself to a level, internally, to that of "dust." This thought seems quite unattainable to me, as I cannot even begin to imagine this feeling. One's thoughts and actions must not illnatured in any which way-almost flawless. In the business of our lives is this really possible? I can not think of many individuals who have reached such a state. One can only hope to gradually encompass all that Gandhi affirmed in his lifetime.

Never Take Your Eyes off the Ball

“I had believed what Business week wrote about me, ‘everything he touches turns into gold.” I said, “They are right. I’m the greatest. I’m the greatest.’ ” (Pg.227)

In this chapter Donald Trump goes back into the 1990s where he had faced difficulties in life and in business due to the recession that had struck the economy hard. In the quote above we see that Donald admits that he had believed what others had said and wrote about him either news articles or business magazines, because at this point Donald Trump was one of the richest men in New York City. At this point in his life he had expanded the business that he and his father had started from nothing to being worth billions of dollars. People all over the world were asking Donald Trump to come in and give advice to audiences of over 20,000, and from this he generated millions of dollars which he called easy money. Donald had so much media attention that he decided to get less involved in his work and more involved in the media industry. Donald was making appearances on TV reality shows and on anything that included money, TV, and popularity. But then came the recession which not only affected his TV career but also his real-estate business. Donald Trump came from being the golden man to almost becoming bankrupt and living on the streets. This chapter in the book “Think Big and Kick Ass” written by Donald Trump was called Never Take Your Eyes off The Ball. In this chapter Donald Trump explains how he had made it so big by hard work and dedication, but all fell apart when he got too caught up in the success that he was having that he let it get to his head. I believe the important lesson in this chapter is that never get caught up in the success that has come to you, but focus on the success that still to come.

Troubles and Triumphs

Jon Krakauer’s Into the Wild detailed the life and death of Chris McCandless; a young man who decided to radically change the way he was living to invent a new life for himself. Just after graduating from College McCandless donated $25,000 in savings to charity, burnt his remaining money, abandoned his car as well as most of his worldly possessions and began a new life. McCandless hitchhiked around the United States, and in doing so, he decided he would embark on an adventure; living out in the Alaskan bush for several months all alone. In leaving home, McCandless became totally disconnected from his family and his past. One day he just packed up and left without telling anyone. Chris totally changed his identity, calling himself Alexander Supertramp, and set out on his adventure.

John Krakauer was able to collect a great deal about the life of Chris McCandless through Chris’s diary, letters Chris wrote, and talking to the people Chris met along his journey. It is amazing how much insight into McCandless’s life was uncovered. Krakauer simply lays out the details he’s discovered of McCandless’s life for the reader to interpret. He allows the reader to take away what ever life lessons they want to from the troubles and triumphs of McCandless. That being said, Krakauer was quite emphatic when it came to information about McCandless’s views of society. McCandless felt that our society was too sheltered and that people were living dull and unhappy existences that could be different with a radical change in lifestyle.

Jon Krakauer does an excellent job of putting you in the mindset of McCandless, an idealistic youth seeking the meaning and beauty of life through the raw allure of nature. Krakauer definitely does Chris McCandless’s life justice in expressing the energy of a tangled soul pointed north. Krakauer also compares McCandless to several other men who have lost their lives in similar accidents in the Alaskan wilderness. Krakauer jumps back and forth from early in McCandless’s life to the end of his life throughout the book. In doing this the book can sometimes seem confusing. Also Krakauer sometimes goes to great depths to describe some things that he may not have needed to talk so much about. Other than those few points, my view of the book is that it is very well written and always kept me entertained.

Into the Wild is arguably one of the most famous contemporary non fiction biographical nature novels out there. This is definitely for good reason. The Motion Picture adaptation of the book became extremely popular, thus, popularising the book even more. Chris’s story is definitely one that is inspiring to the masses. Being free of the chains of society, taking hold of your life without any limits or boundaries and making the most of each day, being one with the world we live in and in harmony with the land. It isn’t a surprise why Chris’s story became so famous.

A tragedy

In the chapter named, 'A tragedy' Gandhi describes how he was once strayed from the path of vegetarianism by a friend. The significance of this event is easily shown through the title, as it implies that he felt this detour was a terrible mistake, and one of huge importance. Gandhi further shows the tragedy of this event in the sentence 'I was beaten.' as the battle like language used here suggests that he was forced into straying from vegetarianism, and he knew that he really didn't want to do it, he was simply swayed by others. This is further emphasised by the use of the short, emphatic sentence.

'Every time I dropped off to sleep it would seem as though a live goat was bleating inside me, and i would jump up full of remorse'

This shows how much Gandhi regretted his behavior after he ate meat for the first time,  and is particularly emphasised by the simile of the goat. It also suggests that although he believed (at that time) it was right to eat meat, he did not believe it was morally correct, and it suggests that he did not enjoy his meals of meat for the year they lasted. 

The Bohemian-Gay Index

"The second and much larger factor is reflected by our Bohemian-Gay Index, which combines the concentration of artists, musicians and designers with the concentration of gays and lesbians in a region. Regardless of which variables we applied, what version of the model we used, or which regions we looked at, the concentration of bohemians and gays consistently had a substantial correlation with housing values." (pg. 142)

Richard is referring to factors that shape housing values. This bold statement is one that has created the most controversy and has also helped Richard Florida to become the phenomenon he is today. Although Richard has statistical data to prove this, the reasoning behind this theory makes sense. It seems obvious that artists, musicians, designers, gays, and lesbians would want to live in a nonjudgemental community that value open mindedness and self-expression. Are these not qualities that the general public value as well? The lack of cultural barriers and prejudice attract a large number of people of different racial and social backgrounds thus increasing the housing values in the area. I do not feel as though Richard is encouraging people to look for the largest cluster of gays and lesbians when considering where you should move, but rather that each city is different and unique in its own way and that you should consider all of the different aspects of a place before making your final decision of where you would like to live.

Positive Thinking, Positive Results.

So far in Blink, Malcolm Gladwell has discussed how the adaptive unconscious is powerful in making the right decisions. I was beginning to wonder if these quick judgments could ever be wrong. Then I read the chapter called the "Warren Harding Error". This chapter addresses how rapid cognition can go awry. It is entitled the "Warren Harding Error" after the US president Warren Harding. In the beginning everyone thought Harding would make an excellent president. Why? Just because he looked like one. Society put all of their trust in their snap judgments and elected him as a president. Evidently, according to historians, he ended up being one of the worst presidents. For the rest of the chapter Gladwell explains why these snap judgments can be so wrong.

Gladwell tells of a scientist who conducted an experiment and was able to prove that people can be “primed”-they could be subconsciously taught to think something. Through a series of tests these scientists discovered that with subtle hints, they could program the brain to subconsciously enter a stream of thought. I think this theory relates directly to the Harding Error. These unconscious biases influence peoples' decisions and the experiments of priming prove this.

When people thin slice, they take in little information and make assumptions about the situation. What can get in the way of this are negative first impressions. The cars salesmen is a significant example Gladwell used of how to control snap judgments. The successful cars salesmen Bob Golomb, has learned to master his thin slicing by not letting his subconscious biases get in the way of his decisions. He does not try to spot the sucker, or “lay-down” as most cars salesmen do. He treats everyone equally, and with this positive outlook he actually achieves a more consistent result rather than gaining one big sale by forsaking the minor ones.

“…outside of awareness, does not mean outside of control.” (pg 96)

I think what Gladwell is trying to convey is rapid cognition or snap judgments, are influenced by what we are exposed to. However, we can control them by exposing ourselves to positive things. With the great power of snap judgments comes great consequences if not properly managed.

"When the poet Paul Valery once asked Albert Einstein if he kept a notebook to record his ideas, Einstein looked at him with mild but genuine surprise. "Oh, that's not necessary," he replied . "It's so seldom I have one."

Albert Einstein was one of the greatest minds ever and this quote just shows that know matter how smart somebody is, they are not a genius 100% of the time and still have to work like normal people. They may get extraordinary ideas and create tools, equipment and equations that will make us all want to hate the sciences forever and for always but the ideas are such a huge benefit to the world and have no detrimental properties. (apart from giving students a hard time) Albert Einstein is most recognized by E=MC^2 or his speed of light equation was one of the few beneficial ideas he had in his entire life. Furthermore, Einstein worked in a post office as his job. He worked hard like every normal person and then when he got off work he would work at his passion which was science. Einstein was no different to anybody. We have our jobs, mine is school. During the day we work and after we get to relax and enjoy whatever we want.

"In France, a chemist named Pilatre de Rozier tested the flammability of hydrogen by gulping a mouthful and blowing across an open flame, proving at a stroke that hydrogen is indeed explosively combustible and that eyebrows are not necessarily a permanent feature of one's face."

Bill Bryson is an amusing and almost juvenile in his writing style. When I read this quote I laughed so hard I almost choked. Many people in serious positions tend to never let anything amuse them and seem to disassociate themselves from everything that could give them some joy in their lives. Chemistry is a dangerous class and Pilatre de Rozier probably had a very shortened life style from his silly antics in the chemistry lab (which Ms. Shakerinia would disapprove of very much) but at least he attempted to amuse himself doing a job that most people would see as dull and uninspiring. (Not to mention dangerous) We are all to serious in general and it makes things boring. All the boring jobs could be much more desirable if people would stop being so serious all the time and crack the occasional joke without causing damage to equipment or injure people.

"Tune your television to any channel it doesn't receive and about 1 percent of the dancing static you see is accounted for by this ancient remnant of the Big Bang. The next time you complain that there is nothing on, remember that you can always watch the birth of the universe."

This quote really showes the wondrous aspects of our life that many people do not know about. As a society, we tend to complain about the meaningless aspects of our lives that one hundred years ago would not have been an issue. Today we complain about the television, the Internet and other silly things that we take for granted. We need to open our eyes as a society and realise that even the silly things that we witness almost every day, such as the dancing static on TV channel that we don't get, has a huge significant impact in our lives no matter how silly and insignificant they may seem.

In the congress

'No one had troubled to understand the resolution, everyone was in a hurry to go and, because Gokhale had seen the resolution, it was not thought necessary for the rest to see it or understand it!'

In this chapter, Gandhi discusses the procedures of the congress of India, focusing in particular on the passing of his resolution concerning Indians who had settled in South Africa. This quote illustrates how none of the delegates really cared much about the resolutions they were voting on, and so simply voted them all through. This is emphasised by the rule of three used, and the tone suggests that Gandhi was not happy with the way in which congress was run, and wanted things to change. This quote contrasts greatly with another from later in the chapter:

'As soon as it was time for my resolution, Mr. Wacha called out my name. I stood up. My head was reeling.'

This quote emphasises the importance of this resolution to Gandhi, and this importance contrasts greatly with the lack of interest or caring from the congress as shown earlier. Gandhi conveys his commitment and passion for his cause in this quote, and this is further emphasised through the use of short, emphatic sentences which really show how important this was to him.

A Cup of Tea

Nan-in, a Japanese master during the Meiji era (1868-1912), received a university professor who came to inquire about Zen. Nan-in served tea. He poured his visitors' cup full, then kept on pouring. The professor watched the overflow until he no longer could restrain himself. "It is overfull. No more will go in!". "Like this cup", Nan-in said, "you are full of your own speculations and opinions. How can I show you Zen unless you first empty your cup?"

I find this passage to be resoundingly truthful. As I go on reading"Writings from Zen masters", I find myself not being able to understand the Eastern philosophy and Zen concepts. A “gateless gate”, being able to “Walk freely between heaven and earth” I find that I can envision it, but am far from actually being able to comprehend these notions. That is why I find that I am like the professor, already full if my own beliefs, and looking upon Zen with a lens that has already decided what it is going to see. If this book has helped me with anything, it is emptying my cup. It has helped to break down my pre-conceived ideas and realize that there is definitely more than one way to think of the world, more than one way to exist, and more than one way to think of the ultimate higher living.

Does Happiness Come From Within You?

“She had felt that love was a beautiful flower but not for her to touch, though its fragrance made the garden a place of delight.”(59)

One of Helen Keller’s mentor’s was Alexander Graham Bell; the inventor of the telephone. Dr. Bell had also dealt with deaf conflictions within his family and that is where his curiosity for the deaf began. He had met Helen when she was just a little girl and they continued to remain in contact as Helen grew older. Several times Helen had accompanied him to his conventions which embraced the deaf in order to further their learning in speech. Throughout these conventions the two would engage in conversations and at one point in time Dr. Bell told her that should the occasion ever arise, she should not hesitate to marry. He went on to tell her that her case was not hereditary and that there was hope. Yet despite all of his willingness Helen felt as if marrying her would be like “marrying a statue.” (59) Keller didn’t want to someone be burdened with the obligation of taking care of her. Helen had only been in love once and unfortunately that never ended as planned.

The question that I must ask myself now is, is it possible to be elderly, alone and happy? Though I’m not in the position to answer this question my instinct tells me no. I feel as if one could never be happy because they would have no one to share their happiness with. Anyone care to add to this question?

Illumination

"The upshot of Swedenborg's teaching was that the essence of divine life is love and that men are dead unless they are animated by it. Without love they are in a state of spiritual death, while abandonment of self is another name for heaven and self-will is the cause of the torment of hell." pg 101

Van Wyck Brooks, author of Sketch for a Portrait, makes many references to past philosophers, important figures and knowledgeable people. Perhaps the most influential person in Helen Keller’s life which was remarked to in the novel was Emanuel Swedenborg. Swedenborg was a philosopher more than anything. His main objective was to “make Christianity a living reality upon earth” (100) He was a firm believer in the spiritual sense, which claimed to present no difficulty.

In the chapter “My Religion” Helen Keller, the native Catholic, observed different aspects of the religious world and admits that the Bible is something which she could not come to terms with. It baffled her, even though she was naturally a strong believer in God. Ms. Keller longed for a “practical religion” (98) which strived to perfect man and depend on love. Both Swedenborg and Keller had undergone an “illumination” which defined their devotion to this practical belief. For Helen it was the kindle which showed her the world of acquired knowledge. Opposed to this idea was Anne Sullivan who had no religion at all. Notwithstanding, Helen continued to look deeper in this new religion. She felt that Swedenborg had not made a new Bible, but had “made the Bible all new to her.”

Confidence in Your Ideas

“The first principle is that you must not fool yourself - and you are the easiest person to fool.” (Feynman, 343)

Throughout much of his autobiography, Richard Feynman tells stories about his collaborations with famous minds ranging from the theoretical, such as Albert Einstein, to the much less so, such as Nick the Greek. During his time at Los Alamos, he worked with many of the great names in physics, such as Edward Teller and J. R. Oppenheimer, assisting them with calculations. He found that many of these physicists, with such illustrious accolades and distinctions, chose to discuss their theories with him before anyone else. At first he questioned this practice, since he was hardly as qualified as many of his contemporaries. However, it was Neils Bohr who explained to him the difficulty there was in finding someone with whom he could openly discuss theories without that person being intimidated by reputation. Feynman found that when he discussed theories and ideas, he focused on the concept as opposed to the person who was conveying it. Feynman uses this anecdote to explain his quotation above. Often times, people have a tendency to second-guess themselves and reject their own ideas. This tendency brings up the hidden difficulty in the thought process of defending one’s own ideas. This, again, comes back to the idea of having a comprehensive knowledge-base in order to defend ideas. However, from the quotation above, Feynman tells that having such a knowledge-base is never enough. Having the courage and vigour to follow through with the idea is just as necessary. He draws attention to the famous example of Millikan’s oil-drop experiment that was used to find the elementary charge constant (electric charge of a single electron). Millikan’s experiment found the value, but had a fundamental flaw in it: he incorrectly measured the viscosity of air. Thus, for years, scientists who reproduced the experiment would bias their results towards the accepted value of the time. Never had the possibility entered their minds that Millikan’s value could be wrong because they lacked the confidence to defend their own results.

The Thought of Leaving

“I stared at the plans. “Dad,” I said, you’ll never build the Glass Castle.”
“Are you saying you don’t have faith in your old man?”
“Even if you do, I’ll be gone. In less than three months, I’m leaving for New York City.”
“What I was thinking was you don’t have to go right away,” Dad said. I could stay and graduate from Welch High and go to Bluefield State, as Miss. Katona had suggested, then get a job at The Welch Daily News. He’d help me with the articles, like he’d helped me with my piece on Check Yeager. “And I’ll build the Glass Castle, I swear it. We’ll all live in it together. It’ll be a hell of a lot better than any apartment you’ll ever find in New York City, I can guaran-goddamn-tee that.” (pg. 238)

Jeannette, like her sister has made the decision to leave Welch and pursue her dream of living in New York City. At this point in her life she has realized that her father does not keep the promises he makes. She knows that even if he promised that he will build the Glass Castle it most likely will not happen. I think Jeannette’s father, Rex, realizes that if Jeannette leaves then his main supporter will be gone. Because of this realization Rex tries everything he can to persuade Jeannette to stay in Welch. He tries to show her that she will be happy finishing school at Welch High, and can go to the neighbouring state university. Now that she was leaving he felt abandoned, and most likely realized that he let his family down. We can understand why Jeannette wants to leave, she spent many of her years in school rifling through trash cans looking for food, doing the “skedaddle” in the middle of the night from hospitals in order to avoid paying the bill, or waiting for Dad to come home after another night at the bar. Rex Walls was an alcoholic who felt that a simple life was too ordinary for him, but whose big dreams he promised for his family never seemed to come to life. The title of the book refers to a great glass house that he was going to build once he made his fortune from finding gold and becoming rich. Yet despite his many flaws, Jeannette never speaks badly of the person he was. Rather seeing him as a father she loved and admired, while being profoundly disappointed by him. As the children grew older, Rex seems to be away from home more often, draining the family’s resources that his young adolescent son and daughters worked for. When the children confront him about his disloyalty to the family, he becomes offended because he used to pride himself on being able to provide and protect them. Despite the many attempts to become and stay sober, Rex always returned to alcohol.

When One of the Walls Leave

We all stood watching as the car disappeared down little Hobart Street. Lori never once looked back. I took that as a good sign. When I climbed the staircase to the house, Dad was standing on the porch, smoking a cigarette.
“This family is falling apart,” he said.
“It sure is,” I told him. (pg 230)

In this quote we can picture the Walls family watching their sister and daughter leave Welch and not once look back. Lori left the muddled town of Welch, and her family; she did this because she knew that if she did not go now she would most likely never leave. Leaving was the best decision for Lori, it was the perfect chance to escape the troubles of her life. As teenagers the Walls children suffered physical and sexual abuse at the hand of their grandmother, and were plain out excluded by the everyday folk of the town. Why would Lori want to continue to live in this wretched place? Perhaps this is what the Rose Mary and Rex Walls planned for, for their children to become independent and venture off and create a life for themselves. At this point Lori would not acknowledge her father, Rex’s alcoholic behavior had destroyed their relationship long before that. This quote invoked me with the feeling of shock. How would Lori manage to live any better in New York? She left with the little money she had saved, which was not even enough to purchase a bus ticket to New York. Lori planned to babysit a family for the summer in return for a train ticket. In New York she would know no one, but planned on starting a new life there. The short phrase Jeannette mentions after they watch Lori leave, struck me as significant, why did Jeannette take this as a good sign that Lori did not look back? Maybe this allowed her to understand that leaving wasn’t so bad, that if Lori could get out of Welch then she could as well. We also should look at Jeannette and Rex’s relationship, when she was younger she adored her father, and looked up to him. As they have grown older they have a passive relationship; Jeannette seems to have given up on her father, and her disappointment has become increasingly significant. The comment made about their family falling apart was very ironic. This is because it seems that this is the first time this idea has been voiced. In Jeannette’s mind she has known this for a long time, and maybe has always known. This was the first time that Rex admits how dysfunctional their family really is.

You break it you buy it.

"Officially, the company boasted of its forces "join[ing] the hurricane relief effort." But its men on the ground told a different story." (Scahill, 321)

What is happening here is that the Blackwater troops landed on home soil claiming to help out with Hurricane Katrina. The reality is that upon arrival, they did little to help and treated the wasteland of New Orleans like a playground. Their presence actually had a negative effect on New Orleans. Does anyone else see a problem here?

This really articulates a major problem with this type of task force; if something like this does happen and people know about it, how can you cover it up or defend yourself? The amount of trust given to this task force in order for them to have a massive budget, operate independently and have little restriction on what they do is colossal, and the fact that they abuse it is a kick in the face to everyone involved. You've got a bunch of children loose in a candy store, except this time there are ramifications extending past "you break it you buy it".

There are serious moral issues with this as well, which Scahill draws on to justify his thoughts on mercenary armies. He is drawing on peoples knowledge of how awful it is to kick someone when they are down, and on people's patriotism to create negative opinions on this event. Being Canadian I can't identify with this particular example, but worldwide people know that if your city is hurting, the last thing you will stand for is someone (who should be on your side!) furthering the damage. By both demeaning the task force and drawing on people's personal emotions Scahill forcefully imposes his opinion on the reader, which makes me wonder whether or not I should believe all that I am reading...

From Wobbling Plates to Quantum Electrodynamics

“It was effortless…There was no importance to what I was doing, but ultimately there was. The diagrams and the whole business that I got the Nobel Prize for came from that piddling around with the wobbling plate.” (Feynman, 174)

Although he has won many other awards, Richard Feynman’s crowning achievement would arguably have to be his Nobel Prize in Physics, which he won in 1965 for his work with quantum mechanics. Throughout his autobiography, he repeatedly tells stories of how he would play around with technology and use science to create devices that would make everyday life easier. For example, in his youth, he gained quite a reputation for fixing radios and would salvage broken ones from the local market and repair them. In this quote from his autobiography, Surely You’re Joking Mr. Feynman, Feynman explains how his interest in the mechanics behind simple, everyday phenomena would lead him to make more complex connections. In this example specifically, he talks about how he began by modelling the movement of a wobbling plate, which then, through a series of connections, led to his work in quantum electrodynamics. This work was what won him his Nobel Prize. I find it interesting that his ground-breaking research started with such a simple idea, one that everyone is familiar with. I believe that this shows that, in addition to a solid educational background, a person must have a perpetual curiosity in the mechanics behind basic phenomena in order to succeed. Later once, a solid foundation is made, I think that the more advanced connections will follow.

What Caused the Crash?

"Twenty years before the crash of KAL 801, a Korean Air Boeing 707 wandered into Russian airspace and was shot down by a Soviet military jet over the Barents Sea...Then, two years later, a Korean Air Boeing 747 crashed in Seoul. Two accidents in two years is not a good sign. Three years after that, the airline lost another 747 near Sakhalin Island, in Russia, followed by a Boeing 707 that crashes in 1989 in Tripoli and Seoul, and then another in 1994 in Cheju, South Korea." (179-180)
-Malcolm Gladwell, Outliers

In the chapter, "The Ethnic Theory of Plane Crashes," Gladwell talks about how plane crashes were more likely to occur depending on the pilots cultural background. In Avianca flight 052, the plane didn't crash due to any problems of the aircraft, airport, or pilots. The plane crashed because it "had run out of gas." (186) When referring to the plane ran out of fuel, it was not because the plane did not have enough fuel to get from Columbia to New York, however the cause of the crash was fuel exhaustion. (186) The crash that killed seventy-three out of the 158 passengers, could have been prevented if there wasn't a lack of communication between the pilot (Laureano Caviedes) and co-pilot (Mauricio Koltz), and between Koltz and Air Traffic Control (ATC). Koltz mentioned to ATC that they were "running out of fuel" (193), but that phrase has no meaning to ATC as all planes start to run low on fuel when approaching their destinations. Caviedes was ordering Koltz, "Tell them [ATC] we are in an emergency!" (193) But Koltz did identify that there was an emergency.

Why would a pilot put so many lives at risk? Gladwell uses the term "mitigate speech" to describe why Koltz acted they way he did during this extreme situation. Mitigate speech "refers to any attempt to downplay or sugarcoat the meaning of what is being said." (194) Koltz felt inferior to ATC, he was trying to be polite, but in a situation that Koltz was in one can not use mitigate speech, instead he should have said "Listen, buddy. I have to land." (202) However, this did not happen because Koltz was Colombian and he saw himself as a subordinate. (207) He did not think he had any authority to tell ATC what to do. When Koltz advised ATC that his plane was running low on fuel he felt that he had offended those in the control tower.

CAVIEDES: What did he say?

KLOTZ: the guy is angry. (208)

Gladwell explains something called the Power Distance Index (PDI) which refers to attitudes of an individual and how much a particular culture values and respects authority. Koltz, being a Colombian, had a high PDI. This meant that although he was the co-pilot of the Avianca, he felt that he was unable to speak up if he saw a problem or saw a bad decision that was made. Koltz felt this way because he had an inferior position on the aircraft. "But he's using his own cultural language, speaking as a subordinate would to a superior." (207)

David Greenberg, from Delta Air Lines, was brought in to help Korean Air with their flight operations. His first step to achieve this airlines success was to evaluate the pilots English skills. His second step was that to have a firm take over the company's training and instruction programs. (218) This firm made sure that every pilot who wanted to keep their job at the company was fluent in the English language. "Their problem was that they were trapped in roles dictated by the heavy weight of their country's cultural legacy." (219) Greenberg was trying to give these pilots a chance to improve their communications skills which allowed them to transform their relationship to their work.

"When we understand how much culture and history and the world outside of the individual matter to professional success - then we don't have to throw up our hands in despair at an airline where pilots crash planes into the sides of mountains. We have a way to make successes out of the unsuccessful." (220) David Greenberg did a wonderful thing for this airline, he changed the style of these pilots. Instead of feeling inferior, they now take initiative, take charge in the role they play, and they do not wait for someone to direct them; they just do it.

Colour Bar

'Fate has purposely made her blind, in order that she may not judge a person from his exterior but from his intrinsic worth. But the Law Society of Natal set out to persuade the Supreme court to act in contravention of this principle and to belie its symbol'

In this quote, Gandhi shows how the prejudice and racism in South Africa made it extremely difficult for him to become a member of the Law Society in Natal. By using the metaphor of the blind woman holding the scales, the symbol of a court of justice, he emphasises how this prejudice is not fair, and how it goes against the fundamental beliefs of the justice system. The juxtaposition between the description of the symbol of a court of justice and the institutionalised racism in the Natal court of justice makes the unfairness of the situation even more apparent to the reader. Racism is a recurring theme throughout Gandhi's time in South Africa, and further on in this chapter he shows the difficulties he had to go to, just to be accepted in the courts of justice in Natal, as he had to go through a much more rigorous application process than a european barrister would have had to.

'Natal owed its growth to European enterprise, and therefore it was necessary that the European element should predominate in the bar' 

This shows why prejudice was so apparent in the courts of justice, as without the Europeans, the people of Natal would not have any enterprise or the economy it did, and so they feel that the Europeans were owed the majority of seats in the bar, and by letting in an Indian man, the people of Natal were worried that it would upset the Europeans and they would leave, taking their trade and enterprise with them. They were also worried that if they let Gandhi be admitted, gradually more and more non Europeans would start joining, and then the Europeans would be outnumbered, and not happy. By using forceful words such as 'owed' and 'necessary' it shows how important it was to the people of Natal that Europeans dominated the bar, and very few, if not none, Indians or other non Europeans were admitted.  

       

Our Spiky World

“And because modern communication makes the world smaller at the same time that globalization makes it spikier, those trapped in the valleys are looking directly up at the peaks, the growing disparities in wealth, opportunity, and lifestyle staring them right in the face.” (pg. 40)

This quotation is referring to how ‘spiky’ our world has become. There are a select number of cities in North America and globally for that matter that are attracting a mass number of talented, innovative and creative individuals. For example,Tokyo, Seoul, New York, San Francisco, Toronto, and Vancouver are cities that stand out in terms of their innovation and economic growth. Whereas the rural areas, in comparison, that surround these cities are unable to compete with this growing trend.

Globalization is a powerful movement where places that have previously not had a chance to participate in the world economy are now an active part of it. The “clustering force” is one outcome of globalization. This force involves creative and innovative people and companies coming together, generally forming around large urban cities. This dense population of skilled workers promote the flow of ideas and increase the talent and productivity of each individual.

However, many will argue that globalization is becoming an increasingly negative part of our global economy. One way of putting it is the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. The disparity and extremes between these urban centers or the world’s ‘spikes’, and the rural areas with a much lower level of economic activity is increasing at a startling rate. Lacking the skill, education, or mobility, these people are falling further behind in our fast paced society. According to Richard Florida, these peaks are “staring them right in the face” creating a feeling of inequality. One possible reaction includes a political backlash opposing this movement. Feelings of fear, insecurity and anger can also be found within these regions. Overall, globalization is an innovative breakthrough that has affected a smaller minority for the better, but poses as a serious threat to the rest of the world.

The Hard Work Will Pay Off

"They learned the same lesson that Alex Williams would learn nearly a century later - a lesson crucial to those who wanted to tackle the upper reaches of a profession like law or medicine: if you work hard enough and assert yourself, and use your mind and imagination, you can shape the world to your desires." (151)
-Malcolm Gladwell, Outliers

"The Three Lessons of Joe Flom," is a chapter the explains the relationship between the success and hard work of an individual. Gladwell tells a story about a Jewish immigrant, Louis Borgenicht, who moved to New York with his wife (Regina Borgenicht) and their child, with enough money that would only last them a few weeks. (139) Once Louis and his family got settled in an apartment, he started walking the streets during the day to look for a job that would pay for his rent. Louis tried selling fish, towels, tablecloths, notebooks, bananas, socks and stockings. None of which would be able to feed his family of three plus a newborn on the way. Louis continued to walk the streets until he found something that was unique and no one had been selling already. It soon came to him, "It was clothes." (140) Louis was good at making clothes, which made him determined to find a piece of clothing that people were wearing but that wasn't being sold. "One of the girls [playing hopscotch] was wearing a tiny embroidered apron over her dress...he had never seen one of those aprons for sale." (141) Louis then went home and started making and selling aprons with Regina, until he started hiring immigrants to work for him, and then he became his own boss. (149) If the hard work being done has a relation between effort and reward, it is independent and creative, and it has a level of difficulty, the hard work is meaningful. (149-150)

Although one may have a lot of work to do at one point in time, if that individual works hard and pushes themselves for that time being, their hard work will pay off in the end. As grade twelve students, I think everyone of us can relate to this as our workload does get overwhelming at times but it is just going to prepare us in our future.

Unwarranted Celebration?

"The weeks after the Fallujah killings, Blackwater announced plans to build a massive new facility-a twenty-eight-thousand-square-foot-administrative building-on its Moyock property for its operations" (Scahill, 151)

Because of their "success" at Fallujah, Blackwater begins to expand. This raises the question of how this organization measures triumph. Furthermore, do the people paying for this force think that this is successful? The theme of secrecy and appearance vs. reality is really evident here, as all of this is going on without the majority of world forces having any knowledge of it. Furthermore, they seem to be operating on a basis of profit>morals and no one is questioning it until now.

The fact that this organization is able to take their increasing success through immoral means and turn it into a healthy profit without anyone knowing or questioning it is appalling. Anyone who has any hope at stopping it has their morals circumvented by a large paycheck, and I think that is one of the true messages Scahill is trying to put across.

A Powerful Paradox.

"The home where young Erik Prince, founder of Blackwater USA, gruew up sits along the sleepy banks of Lake Macatawa, an inlet of Lake michigan in the American Midwest. Trees shimmer along the edges of the driveway on a summer day; the sun glints peacefully off the lake." (Scahill, 1)

Upon re-examining the text, I found it interesting to note that Scahill chose to begin his book with such a serene image. The journey through Blackwater is one during which I was tormented by a concern of "if this went on without notice, what else could be happening". Because of this, Scahill's choice to begin his novel with a seemingly ironic statement, starting with this seemingly perfect world and then diving into the harsh reality is one worth examining. My belief is that although at first investigation it seems ironic, Scahill could be trying to portray the blissful ignorance in which we all live, emphasizing the fact that people try to block out the truths they don't want to hear. Upon re-examining the book you notice a very subtle yet always present idea that we are ignorant by our own will, and Scahill seems to scorn us for this mentality. I did not notice this until scanning through the text a second time, and I was being thorough on my first read-through so either I missed what was intended to be obvious, or he left it deliberately subtle for a reason I cannot understand.

Almanac Advantage

"It is those who are successful, in other words, who are most likely to be given the kinds of special opportunities that lead to further success. It's the rich who get the biggest tax breaks. It's the best students who get the best teaching and most attention. And it's the biggest nine- and ten-year-olds who get the most coaching and practice." (30)
-Malcolm Gladwell, Outliers

In the novel Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell explains that the success of a person is derieved from their culture,community, family, and generation. in the first chapter "The Matthew Effect," Gladwell studies the months in which professional athletes and students are born and how their birth dates relate to their superior skills and intelligence. At a young age there is a significant difference, with respect to maturity and size (29), for when a child is born at the beginning of the year versus being born at the end of the year. In sports and academics young children are divided up into groups depending on their skill and aptitude. the children born in the first few months of the year are favoured by being chosen for a rep squad (24) or bring put into an advanced learning class (28). This is because "in preadolescence, a twelve-month gap in age represents an enormous difference in physical maturity," (24) and "it locks children into patterns of achievement and underachievement, encouragement and discouragement, that stretch on and on for years."(28)

It is quite astonishing how much of an impact our culture has on deciding which individuals have a better possibility of succeeding. It is amazing how such a great percent of our population has a disadvantage in activities because of what month they were born in. This pattern also continues through postsecondary education as 11.6% of the youngest groups of students are under-represented in their classes. (29) Gladwell states that "students who attempt suicide are also more likely to be born in the second half of the school year." (29) This is because during exam time there is usually a build up of work which sometimes leads to poor school performance which can also lead to depression and suicide. (29)

The first chapter of this novel illustrates that there is a lot more to becoming successful other than being a hard worker and having determination. Although Canada is known for being a country where everyone is equal to one another, the way our society selects an individual to allow them to become successful is ultimately biased.

The Best Tool

"Above all, your mind-set makes the difference. You can take care of yourself and pay attention to your surroundings. You can persevere with willpower." pg. 287

This excerpt from the final chapter of the book (The Survivors Club), really encompasses everything that this book has been getting at. Through reading each of the different survival stories of different people and the science behind each situation encountered, this specific quote is the backbone to all. As described by survivors, scientists and doctors, the concept of being in the proper state of mind is of the utmost importance when it comes to showing adversity and tackling life's challenging hurdles. This "advice" does not only have to be applied to situation survivals but can relate to students and adults alike. No matter what tough times we are going through now and in the future a simple switch in the mind can change how everything turns out. As many throughout this book have said, it is the most useful tool at our disposal.‏ The second part of the quote, taking care and paying attention to surroundings is something that is hard to ignore after reading such a book. The message however is not to keep you so cautious that you are paranoid of your surroundings but to always be in a mental state of alertness depending on where you are, simply because of the fact you never know when your life can all of a sudden be at risk. Its something many of us should take into account in our daily lives, when we are alone traveling, etc. Again, to do this your mind must be set in the right direction in order to stay clear and organized. Alot can be accomplished when absorbing this entire message.

Broken Windows

"The impetus to engage in a certain kind of behavior is not coming from a certain kind of person but from a feature of the environment." (page 142)

This quote is taken from the power of context chapter of Malcolm Gladwell's, "The Tipping Point". In this quote, Gladwell is saying that people don't normally act based on the kind of person they are. The actions of certain people are based on a feature of the environment around them, or as Gladwell likes to put it, their actions are based on something called the "Broken Windows theory". The "Broken Windows theory", is based on the idea that crime is contagious. In other words, it's an epidemic theory of crime, just as ideas or products can "tip", so can crime rates. A simple explanation of the reasoning of this theory is as follows, "If a window is broken and left unrepaired, people walking by will conclude that no one cares and no one is in charge. Soon, more windows will be broken, and the sense of anarchy will spread from the building to the street on which it faces, sending a signal that anything goes." (pg 141). As you can see from this example, the root of the tipping point does not stem from an individual but from a feature of their environment. A more elaborate example that Gladwell provides is the New York Transit system. When a passenger of one of the subway cars would see that there was graffiti painted on the walls of the car, they would feel that it was alright, they were being invited, to graffiti the walls themselves. What the New York Transit system did to ensure they maintained clean cars was replace any cars with graffiti on them as soon as they could. They would take a car with graffiti off the track, replace it with a clean one and then repeat this process ensuring that they dealt with any problems as soon as they could. This strategy was very successful as it ensured that any "broken windows" were fixed before the problem got increasingly difficult to deal with. The Broken Windows theory allows for insight into why crime epidemics occur. If discipline is enforced for smaller crimes, the environment in which much more serious crimes take place will be taken away, ultimately lowering crime rates and keeping the streets safe.

Summer Vacation

"The wealthiest kids come back in September and their reading score have jumped more than 15 points. The poorest kids come back from the holidays and their reading score have dropped almost 4 points. Poor kids may out-learn rich kids during the school year. But during the summer, they fall far behind." (pg. 258) -Malcolm Gladwell, Outliers

I was at first surprised to find out that poorer kids forget more than richer kids. I was also surprised that poorer kids learn more over the school year. This means that it is not truly the education that richer kids tend to receive, but the attitude of the environment that they live in. The richer families can afford to send the kids to summer camps and continue activities throughout the summer, which can maintain and increase their education. The families also tend to encourage reading more at home and doing educational activities. The poorer schools have not encouraged their students to love reading and learning enough for them to continue over the summer.

Gladwell pointed out that a shorter summer break would be incredibly beneficial to our education system. Though I feel like our summer breaks fly by, when I heard about how short some other nation's breaks were I felt that ours was very leisurely. The United States has a school year approximately 180 days long, while South Korea has 220 days and Japan has 243 days long. A shorter vacation time (or smaller vacations dispersed throughout the year) may be the "solution" to our education system's problems.

To Good to be True

"Its not easy to be in the spotlight like he was at a young age. Theres a lot of focus. Theres a lot of scrutiny theres a lot of demands... This erases a lot of questions." (pg 255)

Coach Dan Bylsma is referring to Sydney Crosby, being at a young age of 23. He was Number one drafted in 2005 to the Pittsburg Penguins. With the talent that he has, there has to be a lot of pressure and expectancies that people have for him, he is under a lot of pressure and what the coach is explaining is what Sydney does and has to do is keep his head up focus and perform to his best possible.

For My Country

"I wanted to share the Stanley cup with the people of Russia" (pg 41)

At the beginning of the book it talks about the top hall of famers, and on that list is Igor Larionov, he played for the Detroit Red Wings in 1997, 1998 and 2002. Igor was called the "Wayne Gretzky of Soviet Hockey" (pg 42). What the average person does not seem to know is that Larionov fought the Soviet system on behalf of Russian hockey players to be able to play in the NHL. Claims were that they were being treated more like servants then human beings Igor demanded freedom. He was one of the highlights in Soviet hockey making the breaking point and made it possible for Russians to play in the NHL. He therefore he says this quote because he wants to prove to Fetisov (the Russian Coach who wouldn't let them play in the NHL) what he is all about and also to show that Russia can make an impact on a relatively North American Sport.

Everyone is Important

"When you look at team that win championships, it’s the guys you don't hear much about that make the real difference" (pg 150)

This quote is taking from the book “Then Wayne Said to Mario”, it talks about four of the greatest hockey players of all time and Bobby Orr said this at a Boston Bruins reunion 20 years after he helped win the Stanley cup. When he says this he is saying, that every team has its big shot players that you expect good playing from, but it is the guys on the team that you do not expect much from that make a difference in a game. "That’s why it’s the guys you don't always read about that become the key guys." (pg 150). Continuing to say that to play a good game of hockey, you have to keep a keen eye on everyone, because it is whole teams that win, not just a few players.

Be careful when you fist pump

"Alaskan hunters know the easiest way to preserve meat in the bush is to slice it into think strips and then air-dry it on a makeshift rack. But McCandless, in his naiveté, relied on the advice of hunters he'd consulted in South Dakota who advised him to smoke his meat, not an easy task under the circumstances."

This passage was taken from John Krakauers Into the Wild. Upon reading about how Chris lost the majority of the meat due to the fact that he did not know how to cook it properly, it reminded me of a man Krakauer compared chris too. It was Carl McCunn, an amateur photographer, who got  man to fly him out into the woods where he would live for the summer. The problem was McCunn did not arrange for a flight back. Running out of food at the end of the summer and growing hungrier with every day, McCunn was in serious need of some help. He heard a plane come over head and waved a bright orange sleeping bag. The plane spotted McCunn but when he raised on arm in the air in celebration, the pilot assumed he was alright and left. McCunn later looked on the back of his gun license where it said two arms up if you are in distress and one if you are alright. Both men had the chance at salvation. McCunn a trip out of the wilderness and McCandless more than enough meat to last him for many meals. Even though McCandless died from the mould in the way he stored his berries, this would have strengthened him enough so that he could have made it out of the wild alive. The men were so wrapped up in the idealistic view of the wild that they missed it's harsh reality. 

A Little Change Goes a Long Way

“But we need to remember that small changes in context can be just as important in tipping epidemics, even though that fact appears to violate some of our most deeply assumptions about human nature.” (Pg. 166)

This is a quote from Malcolm Gladwell’s book, The Tipping Point, and explains the third reason as to why social epidemics and certain trends spread. He calls his third theory, “The Power of Context,” which suggests that a specific trend or action can “tip” by changing the smallest detail in the environment. Gladwell feels that social epidemics are responsive to the conditions of the time and place in which they occur. He explains this theory through looking at New York City crime. In this case study, he sets out to justify why crimes dramatically “tipped” in the early 1990’s in New York City. In the 1980’s, New York City was in the midst of one of the worst crime outbreaks but suddenly crime went into a steep decline; murders dropped by two-thirds and felonies dropped by fifty percent. Gladwell believes the crime epidemic “tipped” because of “The Power of Context” and he seems to be correct. A criminologist, George Kelling, was hired by the New York Transit Authority to test his theory called, Broken Windows. This theory was based on the idea that crime was contagious. Crime in New York City was so high due to so much disorder throughout the city. Kelling, along with the help of David Gunn, started to crack down on the subway system. If a train came to the end of the line and had been vandalized, they’d clean it off instantly. Next, with the participation of transit police, they cracked down on fare-beating. These changes to the subway system had a huge impact on the decline of crime. Felonies on the system dropped seventy-five percent from what they were from the beginning of the 1980’s. City officials began focusing on those small goals throughout the whole city in order to reverse the trend of crime. This relates directly to “The Power of Context” because minor and insignificant changes were made to the environment (context) and as a result, the crime epidemic “tipped.”

After reading about all three of Gladwell's theories, I feel I have a better understanding of the world of trends. I come across social epidemics and fads every day of my life and I think Gladwell’s book really helped me to truly see the reasoning behind them.

The wild bit back

"Same story: idealistic, energetic young guys who overestimated themselves, underestimated the country, and ended up in trouble."(P.71)

This is a quote taken from John Krakauer's Into the Wild. Chris McCandless, a drifter that travelled into the Alaskan wilderness, was not a terrible unique case. Krakauer gives many examples of young and old men that are under-prepared and have an idealistic view of Alaska. Edward Hogland wrote that Americans have a tradition of "taking their wounds to the wilderness for a cure" and "if your wounds aren't too bad, it works. But this isn't Michigan. This is Alaska." This quote fits perfectly with the Chris's story. Chris wouldn't even acknowledge that he had parents to a lot of people because of his childhood. Chris turned to the call of the wild as a way to heal his wounds but the wild ended up biting back and taking his life.

The Pursuit of Happiness

“Since it normally requires both time and effort to achieve either higher income or a stable social relationship with someone, the weight attached to each individual’s investment decision thus depends upon the type of possession -money or friendship- that he or she believes will yield a larger impact on happiness than the other”

The book I am reading entitled, Who’s You’re City? written by Richard Florida is about ‘how the creative economy is making where to live the most important decision of your life’. In the chapter titled ‘The Mobile and the Rooted’, Richard Florida quotes the University of York economist, Nattavudh Powdthavee, who gives voice to the struggle that occurs while trying to maintain a balanced work and social life.

At first I was skeptical of this broad statement: it is difficult if not impossible to put a price-tag on personal relationships. However, this statement does contain some truth. Where you invest your time and effort is where you will be most likely to succeed, which in turn will affect your overall happiness. Many people choose to stay rooted or closer to friends and family, despite the economical advantages they would have if they chose to move elsewhere. It seems as though these people are aware of the true value of close relationships and of the ‘investment’ they are making.

This quotation has also given me a new perspective. I realize I must look at my priorities and determine what is most important to me. If my goal in life is to be happy doing something I love, how am I going to go about achieving this as I build upon relationships. How will these aspects interplay and support each other? For some people, hard work, dedication, and having a passion for their work is what is most important. For others it is the personal relationships they form and the love and support that these relationships provide that determine their overall happiness. Throughout my life I hope to find the right balance between these two worlds as I discover where my priorities lie and where I would like to ‘invest’ my time.

Suck the juices out of life Mr. Franz

"It is simply waiting out there for you to grasp it, and all you have to do is reach for it."p.58

This quote was taken from John Krakauer's Into the Wild. This quote was taken from a letter by Chris McCandless to Robert Franz. McCandless was a drifter, out to see the raw appeal of nature, and thought that Robert Franz was living a stale and dull existence. Robert Franz was an older man that saw Chris hitchhiking on the side of the road and decided to give him a lift. McCandless and Frans immediately had a connection and became friends. Chris McCandless had a goal, that goal was to go on a great Alaskan adventure, and to live in the wild for several months. When he made it to Alaska he sent his final letter to Robert Franz. It told Franz he needed rethink the way he lived. He had the same old routine, day after day, and McCandless thought he could break free of this lifestyle. He thought Franz should "loose his inclination for momentous security"p.57 and he would truly suck the juices out of life and live to the fullest.

Art of Luck

"Most people define luck as an unpredictable phenomenon that leads to good or bad outcomes in life. In this view luck is something that happens by pure chance. If you look more closely, there may be more to the story than dumb luck."pg.190

This passage taken from the chapter on the science of luck, investigates a topic that many people of different ages all tend to cross. Specifically in this quote, the author Ben Sherwood goes a little bit more in depth with the art of luck and its misconception. He brings up the point of surviving an airplane crash in one seat while the person beside you dies. Many would think this is pure luck however although this survival might have been by chance, what really could have been a true factor of the person's survival was their attitude and actions that may have increased their odds of surviving. As skeptic as it may sound in this situation there is proof provided to back up the statement. For example, this person may have paid attention to the safety briefing, plan an escape route, and evacuated without waiting or mourning. This I find is a unique way of looking at the idea of luck. Many of us assume that certain things occur just by dumb luck but sometimes, not all the time, we don't pay careful attention to what the underlying cause was in order to make that person lucky. Sometimes we assume certain things happen because of luck. However, this is just a hypothesis of one of the ways that luck can be overlooked or analyzed. There are also many cases where luck just occurs, in these cases sometimes there is no explanation. But one piece of advise that the researcher of luck leaves off with, is that (he believes) 90% of luck is truly defined by your state of mind and the way you think as opposed to 10% being pure randomness. In many cases, it is believed that your attitude and behaviour towards life are what create luck for you. Does more control over our lives really mean a better chance of creating luck for ourselves?

Frankie Says Don't Relax

"But when you relax with too much cash in your account and no need to hustle for a buck every day, you risk extinguishing the fire in your belly that drove you to become an entrepreneur in the first place." (pg. 186)

This quote is taken from the book 'Driven' by Robert Herjavec who is referring to an important lesson he has learnt while running his most current company, 'The Herjavec Group'. He explains that one of the most common problems for entrepreneurs is insufficient capital to carry foreword and promote their ideas, however what most people don't realize is that excess capitalization can also lead to problems. Robert explains that when he first launched 'The Herjavec Group' he was already very successful and so was able to back the company with millions of dollars. This luxury of excess capital meant that Robert and his team were able to relax more than most entrepreneurs in their position and as a result were not over concerned with short-term losses. However these losses continued to rise until Robert Herjavec had lost $650,000 in total, enough to bankrupt most start-up companies. However after reassessing the company Robert concluded that the excess capitalization he was providing had created a relaxed atmosphere in his company which now lacked the drive and commitment of a company fighting to brake even and as a result they were not growing. This conclusion relates directly to one of Robert's main theories on business which is that "your business either grows or it dies. Expansion isn't a goal or a business strategy. It is an undeniable fact of life." (pg.142) In this case the Herjavec Group was not growing and was therefore slowly dying, in fact the excess capital that Robert had provided originally was used to save his company rather that expand it. However after reassessing his companies values and goals Robert managed to redirect his company by being more aggressive in business pitches and focusing more on customer value. Robert successful managed to re-ignite the drive in himself and his employees that has lead to his success in the past.

Words can never amount to experience

"A hundred hearings cannot surpass one seeing
But after you see the teacher, that one glance cannot surpass a hundred hearings.
His nose was very high
But he was blind after all"

This quatrain from "Writings from Zen Masters", follows a story in which a scholar who writes a large book on Zen sayings, is baffled when a peasant asks a single simple question about his form of Zen. This scholar spent years writing his book, never venturing out into the world. Before the question he ran his own temple and had his own disciples, but afterwards he realizes that he still has much to learn and submits to the nearest temple master. This just shows that people may be able to write large books, and speak eloquently and elaborately on certain subjects, but still be naive due to their lack of experience. This goes to show that there is no substitute to real experience, and even the greatest of books cannot teach us as a single incident can. This is typical with the human experience; we can be told a thousand times not to touch the flame, but until we are burnt we will never truly understand the power of fire.

I am a child.

"I am from Sierra Leone, and the problem that is affecting us children is the war that forces us to run away from our homes, lose our families, and aimlessly roam the forests. As a result, we get involved in the conflict as soldiers, carriers of loads, and in many other difficult tasks. All this is because of starvation, the loss of our families, and the need to feel safe and be a part of something when all else has broken down. I joined the army really because of the loss of my family and starvation. I wanted to avenge the deaths of my family. I also had to get some food to survive, and the only way to do that was to be part of the army. It was not easy being a soldier, but we just had to do it. I have been rehabilitated now, so don't be afraid of me. I am not a soldier anymore; I am a child. We are all brothers and sisters. What I have learned from my experiences is that revenge is not good. I joined the army to avenge the deaths of my family and to survive, but I've come to learn that if I am going to take revenge, in that process I will kill another person whose family will want revenge; then revenge and revenge and revenge will never come to an end."

Once war touched Ishmael Beah's life for the first time, he seemed to meet endless challenges. After being rescued by UNICEF from his life as a child soldier, Ishmael had to undergo a rehabilitation process that was also very challenging for him. When Ishmael’s mind and body had recovered from the cocaine and heroin withdrawal, and when he was mentally sound enough to be considered rehabilitated, he was chosen to represent Sierra Leone at the UN conference in New York City. The speech quoted above is the one Ishmael gave, on behalf of the children of his country, to the Economic and Social Council while attending the conference.

This point in the book is very relieving for the reader, because it shows that Ishmael recognizes what caused him to become a child soldier, and that he knows the unfortunate situations he was put in, were not his fault. I think the line, “I am not a soldier anymore; I am a child”, is a particularly moving one because Ishmael is admitting that he thinks that while in the army, he was not a child but a soldier. Ishmael does not see any connection between the two, but rather sees them as separate; you are a child or you are a soldier, but not both at the same time. It is almost as if Ishmael was a child before the war, was forced to grow up when he lost his family and became a soldier, and that upon rehabilitation he has remarkably gained back some sense of childhood. I consider Ishmael to be a very lucky and strong boy. He is lucky because UNICEF, perseverance, and hope, gave him a second chance at being a child. There are many other boy soldiers who never got that chance, and who will never be able to get their childhood back.

Ishmael learned many things from his experiences, including a major lesson about revenge. One way that we can learn without having to experience things ourselves is through trusting the experiences of others and the lessons they have learned. We should listen to the words of Ishmael's speech, because he truly understands the domino effect that it has on people and the devastation that revenge can cause. Though taking revenge can be tempting, it does nothing but lead to more revenge, and next to nothing good stems from it. I think that particular lesson is something valuable for everyone to learn and remember.

The Impact of Water: Metamorphosis

Helen Keller: Sketch for a Portrait

"Within a month the vixen, the furious little termagant, had been transformed into a gentle child, contentedly stringing her beads and serenely crocheting, revealing already what Anne called the beautiful intelligence that she was to spend years developing with the unheard-of devotion."

The revelation of Helen Keller's life is not one to be hidden. This quote discloses something very interesting; Helen Keller was not always a devoted and well-behaved child. In fact, she was quite the opposite. As a young child Helen became very sick and was left with a permanent scar. She was to remain blind and deaf for eternity. Due to such a harsh destiny her parents offered her the world and let her do as she pleased. Her actions unfortunately were not always well presented. Through tamper-tantrums Helen would achieve her way,that is until Anne Sullivan entered her life.

Anne Sullivan was Helen's personal teacher, who herself had defected eye vision. Anne struggled dreadfully with Helen in order to teach her respect and discipline. Moreover, Helen did not understand that words existed and could be used to comprehend situations and life. It was clear though that Helen was very bright because she seemed to repeat letters very quickly. Anne had tried to spell words into Helen's hand and connect them with objects, but sadly there were no resuts. Nothing seemed to work until one day when Anne had stuck Helen's hand under a water pump and vigorously spelled W-A-T-E-R into it.

At that very moment, Helen paused. Suddenly she had realized that words were tools used in forms of communication. Helen had spent the rest of her day memorizing and absorbing whatever she possibly could. From this very instant Helen's life was about to dramatically change for the better. For five years Helen had been isolated and left in the shawdows of her own life. This astounding experience had opened the gates for Helen, unleashed the barriers that lead her to escape the silence.

Stop Dreaming And Just Go For It

“Passion is more important than brains or talent. I have seen some really talented, brainy people fail because lack of passion. They are what I call “idea people.” You have probably seen them, too. They always seem to have a great new ideas they are thinking about doing someday-but they never do anything about them.” (pg.46)

In this quote taken from the book ‘Think Big & Kick Ass’, written by Donald Trump he is suggesting to the readers how you should follow your dreams by taking action and not just thinking or dreaming about stuff that you hope to accomplish in the future. In this book there are many advises that Donald Trump shares with us and all of them start with passion as it is passion that will take you to the next step and without passion you will not love what you do and if you don’t love what you do then you will not do as much or as a good. Another advice that is given by Donald is that you have to act and not follow. What this means is although everyone in the world doesn’t want to do something, because it is too risky you have to do what you think is right and not just follow everyone else. He says this because Donald believes that the doors that are open for you today they might not be open tomorrow. The example Donald gave us was when he had bought a office tower on Wall St. for one million dollars which was a lot back then, and he bought this during very bad economic times and all the businesses were going bankrupt Donald saw a good opportunity which was not going to be open for ever. Donald had bought this building while everybody called him crazy for doing it and today it is worth over $530 million. This is a great example of taking advantages of good opportunities when you see them and not listening to others. Donald also mentions that if you think that your dreams can’t come true or you doubt your ability to do something you will fail and never succeed. He believes if you are dreaming then dream big, because there are no limits of what can be accomplished in life.