This phrase has stuck on since Literature class at school.. but in a modernised version. Here is the original extract of the poem 'To a Mouse'
...The best-laid schemes (plans) o' mice an' men
Gang aft agley
An 'lea'e us nought but grief an' pain
For promis'd joy.....
Which means that although we have planned and executed it well, unforseen things can happen to spoil our plan, leaving us disappointed. That's life, i guess ..
Creativity begins with asking questions and simplifying problems you face day-to-day..
It is NOT about being unconventional or breaking/bending the rules
Creativity, in the end, is how much people give value to an idea you have...
Dr. Yew Kam Keong,
former director of Malaysia's National Centre Centre
(The Sunday Star, 11 June 2006)
For example, In Zambia, elephants were destroying fruit & vegetable plantations. So they planted chillies around the plantations to keep elephants away -- they did not like the smell of chillies - So hot that even elephants are scared of it!
Is creativity inBORN or NurtureD?
CREATIVITY is nurtured by one gaining KNOWLEDGE gained through EXPERIENCE, READING, CRITICAL THINKING & VERBAL DISCOURSE
Society's rules & conventions taught a person how to be uncreative!
Children need not be taught creativity. It is only in adulthood that we must unlearn rules and relearn creativity.
"CREATIVITY was about adding value to IDEAS and creating CONNECTIONS between ideas that had not been there before." ------ Tun Dr. Ling Liong Sik (Chairman of Malaysia Literary Movement)
Although this is taken from Budhhist teaching, anyone (of any religion) can still relate to it because it is the fundamentals of being a responsible person.. However, some r easier done than others. That is human failing - to be tempted by greed and unrestrained desire. These r listed here as a reminder and a yardstick.
The First Mindfulness Training.
Aware of the SUFFERING caused by the DESTRUCTION OF LIFE, I am committed to cultivating compassion and learning ways to protect the lives of people, animals, plants and minerals. I am determined NOT to kill, NOT to let others kill, NOT to support any act of killing in the world, in my thinking and in my way of life.
The Second Mindfulness Training.
Aware of SUFFERING caused by EXPLOITATION, SOCIAL INJUSTICE, STEALING and OPPRESSION, I am committed to cultivating loving kindness and learning ways to work for the well-being of people, animals, plants and minerals. I will practice generosity by sharing my time, energy and material resources with those who are in real need. I am determined not to steal and not to possess anything that should belong to others. I will respect the property of others, but I will prevent others from profiting from human suffering or the suffering of other species on Earth.
The Third Mindfulness Training.
Aware of the SUFFERING caused by SEXUAL MISCONDUCT, I am committed to cultivating responsibility and learning ways to protect the safety and integrity of individuals, couples, families and society. I am determined NOT to engage in sexual relations without love and long-term commitment. To preserve the happiness of myself and others, I am determined to respect my commitments and the commitments of others. I will do everything in my power to protect children from sexual abuse and to prevent couples and families from being broken by sexual misconduct.
The Fourth Mindfulness Training.
Aware of the SUFFERING caused by UNMINDFUL SPEECH and the INABILITY to LISTEN to OTHERS, I am committed to cultivating loving speech and deep listening in order to bring joy and happiness to others and relieve others of their suffering. Knowing that words can create happiness or suffering, I am determined to speak truthfully, with words that inspire self-confidence, joy and hope. I will not spread news that I do not know to be certain and will not criticise or condemn things of which I am not sure. I will refrain from uttering words that can cause division or discord, or that can cause the family or the community to break. I am determined to make all efforts to reconcile and resolve all conflicts, however small.
The Fifth Mindfulness Training.
Aware of the SUFFERING caused by UNMINDFUL CONSUMPTION, I am committed to cultivating good health, both physical and mental, for myself, my family and my society by practising mindful eating, drinking and consuming. I will ingest only items that preserve peace, well-being and joy in my body, in my consciousness and in the collective body and consciousness of my family and society. I am determined NOT to use alcohol or any other intoxicant or to ingest foods or other items that contain toxins, such as certain TV programmes, magazines, books, films and conversations. I am aware that to damage my body or my consciousness with these poisons is to betray my ancestors, my parents, my society and future generations. I will work to transform violence, fear, anger and confusion in myself and in society by practising a diet for myself and for society. I understand that a proper DIET is crucial for self-transformation and for the transformation of society.
... by Thich Nhat Hanh
Loved the novel so much i read it twice! These r my favourite quotes
ART
A work of art can appeal to us in all sorts of ways - by its theme, subjects, situations, characters. But above all it appeals to us by the presence in it of ART.
"The fabulous is never anything but the commonplace touched by the hand of genius"
BEAUTY (opposing views)
"The more a man devotes himself to beauty, the further he moves away from goodness" ... (Tolstoy)
"The world will be saved by beauty" ... (Dostoyevsky, Rozanor)
DREAMS
Often it's something you paid no attention to at the time
--- a vague thought that you didn't bother to think out to the end
--- words spoken without feeling and which passed unnoticed
These are the things which return at night, clothed in flesh and blood as characters in DREAMS, as if to force you to make up for having neglected them in your waking hours.
MISFORTUNE
To hope & to act, these are our duties in misfortune.
To do nothing and to despair is to neglect our duty...
WAR (pg 144)
'Man is wolf to man' (ancient Russian saying)
... stranger meeting stranger killed for fear of being killed..
... And then there was the jump from the calm, innocent, measured way of living to blood and tears, to mass insanity and to the savagery of daily, hourly, legalised, rewarded SLAUGHTER..
... But it turns out that those who INSPIRED the (Russian) revolution aren't at home in anything EXCEPT CHANGE & TURMOIL"
DEMOCRACY
Civic institutions should be founded on democracy, they should grow up from below, like seedlings which are planted and take root in the soil.
You can't hammer them in from above like stakes for a fence.
"ROME was a flea market of borrowed gods and conquered peoples, a bargain basement on 2 tiers - EARTH and HEAVEN, slaves on one, gods on the other."
