Nice stories I just want to share

Anything that interests me: Nice stories I just want to share

With the world in recession plus a whole host of negative things around us (fires in Thailand clubs, dead Singaporeans and live terrorists, Israel attacking Hamas yet again... et al), I think I would like to share some nice stories instead. 

Just for a change. 

Anyways, some random nice stories, in my own words:

To Lay Down One's Life for Others

During the Vietnam War, the Americans accidentally bombed a village and injured many young children. One little girl was especially hurt and needed a huge blood transfusion to save her life. She was rushed to hospital by her teacher, accompanied by friends and classmates. 

The Red Cross nurse who was tending to her asked everyone: "Will any one here in this hospital give her blood? She's dying!" 

However, none of the Vietnamese in the hospital responded, including the girl's friends. 

A little boy took a look at the dying girl, and then volunteered to give blood. 

The nurse took her syringe and started her work. As she did, the life started returning to the girl's face and she looked much better, and the Doctor said, "She's going to live, because of you. Well done, little boy." 

And the boy said, in a trembling voice: "Well, I am glad that she can live. When will I start dying? Am I going to die now?" 

It was then that the Red Cross nurse realised that every one of the Vietnamese had misunderstood and that they thought they had to give their life to save the girl.

My thought: As Jesus says, there's no greater love than giving your life for your friends. I am touched every time I read this one.

A Success in Business

A boss was hiring workers to sell telephone systems when a cowboy walked into his office. 

"Hire me, boss, I wanna become a success in beeness (business)," said the cowboy. 

The boss thought that he would never make it, but gave him a chance anyways because he thought that the cowboy would be out in a month. 

"Thanks sir, you won't regret it," said the cowboy, "how much do ya think I will make inna month?" 

The boss said, "Well, based on your lack of experience and your dressing, your accent, and your bad English, no more than 1000 bucks a month!" 

The cowboy said, "No problem; that's more than what I get back at the ranch anyways!" (He got 400 bucks working as a cowboy.)

He went on to make 6,000 bucks on his first month and went from success to success. 

One day he even came into the office with bags of cash and said, "Hey Larry, I doing fine, no?" 

The boss was flabbergasted. 

He said, "I don't know if you take paper (a cheque - he didn't know what a cheque was), so I drove the lady to the bank and got her to give me the money in cash!" 

How did he sell the phones to her, to begin with? The boss wanted to know. 

He said: "Well, I just said to her, 'Ma'am, let's just say the phone does nothing but ring and you pick it up, my brand looks nicer than those that you already have!' "

The cowboy also wrote down his goals: "I wanna be a success in beeness." And he made hundreds of cold calls a day. He wrote his goals and went for it, and eventually did become a success in business.

To Risk

by William Arthur Ward/ Author unknown (I have found multiple attributions)

To laugh is to risk appearing the fool

To weep is to risk appearing sentimental

To reach out to others is to risk involvement

To expose feelings is to risk exposing your true self

To place your ideas, your dreams before a crowd is to risk their loss

To love is to risk not being loved in return

To live is to risk dying

To hope is to risk despair

To try is to risk failure

But risks must be taken,

because the greatest hazard in life is to do nothing.

The person who risks nothing,

does nothing, has nothing, and is nothing.

They may avoid suffering and sorrow,

but they cannot learn, feel, change, grow, love, live.

Chained by their attitudes, they are a slave,

they forfeited their freedom.

Only the person who risks can be free.

The pessimist complains about the wind;

The optimist expects it to change;

And the realist adjusts the sails.

Invictus

by William Ernest Henley

Out of the night that covers me,

Black as the pit from pole to pole,

I thank whatever gods may be

For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance

I have not winced nor cried aloud.

Under the bludgeonings of chance

My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears

Looms but the Horror of the shade,

And yet the menace of the years

Finds and shall find me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,

How charged with punishments the scroll,

I am the master of my fate, 

I am the captain of my soul.

And another nice, well, advertisement, in this case, that I want to share is:

Impossible

Impossible is just a big word

thrown around by small men

who find it easier to live

in the world they've been given

than to explore the power they have

to change it.

Impossible is not a fact.

It's an opinion.

Impossible is not a declaration.

It's a dare.

Impossible is potential.

Impossible is temporary.

Impossible is nothing.

Anything that interests me!

The education of Cyrus - Xenophon, Philosophy, and Education

The education of Cyrus - Xenophon, Philosophy, and Education

Originally, I was never interested in Xenophon's philosophy and his particularly pseudo-historical writing, but having studied his book the Cyropedia, I am now interested in Cyrus, the Persian education system, and basically the story of the rise to power of a wise and great king. 

The problem is that at first glance one would think that this Persian leader that Xenophon portrays is excellent, a real example that virtue and leadership can go together and that a virtuous leader, a philosopher king and stuff like that can and do exist.

I am sad to say this, but it's not true.

When I read Cyrus for the first time I was really impressed by his benevolence and kindness and how he always managed to make his enemies into his friends. 

He was a true hero in every sense of the word, and when he made his speeches about honour and glory, it really motivated me and I was impressed. Mind you, I am sometimes quite cynical or critical (trying to improve!). 

I tried to find many reasons as to why he would be so virtuous, but was unable to, and had to contrive to find anti-theses like Cyrus is doing things for his own profit, he was bluffing, he was lying and other stuff like that. Trust me, it was hard, given Xenophon's portrayal of Cyrus the Great as really, truly, and totally GREAT.

To take two examples, as a young man he managed to convince his grandfather's troops that he was an emperor and they followed him off to fight enemies. That was real leadership.

As for virtuous leadership, this man could invade another country, make the other king surrender with minimal loss of life, and then after that help to make peace with another country, such that his enemies became his friends! That is, he beat the heck out of the Armenians, and then when they complained that now they were weak and going to be bullied by the Chaldeans, he helped them against the Chaldeans and made peace between them. And to cap, he did not take loot, but only took what was owed him. Can you beat that?

A truly virtuous leader, and I really admired him.

And then I learnt in class that there was something fundamentally wrong with his virtue that led to the collapse of his empire at the end. 

Look, if he was truly such a powerful leader, why is it his empire collapsed when he died? If he was truly so good, why were there so many little doubts along the way to his rule? It's simple, really.

Ma'am's (that's my USP philosophy teacher) analysis was that he had linked virtue with rewards, and that was the problem - because now people did not do things for the sake of the things themselves ie. they did not do good because it was right to do so, but because of profits and the benefits that they could get.

The great Cyrus had set the example and the precedent because every good thing that he did led to his benefit, and he had tied virtuous living to earning money - that was precisely how he rallied his men and how he made friends! That is, the reality was that his enemies became his friends not because they were moved by his goodness (partly, I am sure, because he was such an inspirational person) but because he could benefit them. 

And precisely because he was good and virtuous, letting them be in charge of the loot and everything, and they could see that it was to their own advantage to hang about with a truly good man, that's why his empire collapsed once he died. 

Because... ultimately, it seems, there is no link between virtue and benefits. Cyrus, by his forceful personality, had forced the link between them such that virtue led to good ends.

What is worse, when I did my own research I realised that he was not even a pure virtuous leader either - and that Cyrus had winning the empire always in his mind. 

It turns out that Adam Smith was right. 

Cyrus was a really good man because he wanted to become king and emperor, and virtue made him rich and powerful and successful, and all his enemies did not want to fight him but to join him instead. Adam Smith 1, philosophies that deal with ethics and virtue o. I was told that Emmanuel Kant would never countenance lying. Well, Kant, you lose to Smith! 1-0. Cyrus the liar wins, because he had an empire, was rich, was famous and even better still, all his peers thought him virtuous and good! Whereas honest people like me and you, Herr Kant, are considered fools and naive. Kudos! I myself thought that Cyrus was virtuous, and it is very difficult to truly know whether he was or not, but one thing can be said - he was very cunning!

Now I go back to my work. I am writing an essay on virtue and leadership and I have hit, not the famous and dreaded writer's block, but the famous laziness disease. You're been reading my philosophical and personal thoughts on Xenophon the Greek philosopher and soldier, Cyrus the great king and philosophical thoughts on Cyrus' education.

Anything that interests me!

Comedy interests me - The Thin Blue Line

British Comedy interests me - "The Thin Blue Line", with Rowan Atkinson

I am supposed to be studying now, which I should get round to, since my break has been long extended. But I was watching Rowan Atkinson on "The Thin Blue Line", an outdated and perhaps even ancient comedy, and one particular scene struck me as very interesting and something that I wanted to write about.

Spoiler alert! 

Well, in "The Thin Blue Line", Inspector Grimms of the CID actually planted evidence so that he could catch a criminal, a famous drug dealer. As a result, this drug dealer was wrongly arrested and brought to jail.

When Rowan Atkinson's character, Inspector Raymond, discovered that the criminal was wrongly accused, he informed the defence lawyer. And because of this information, the criminal was set free.

There was this memorable scene, when Inspector Grimms came to confront Inspector Raymond for actually giving evidence for the defendant (who was a dangerous criminal, but wrongly accused) :

Inspector Grimms: A criminal should be put away for the safety of the public! 

Inspector Raymond (Atkinson): The public can be in no greater danger then when the police consider themselves above the law. Better a criminal goes free, then the police become criminals themselves.

Grimms: A violent, disgusting drug pusher walked free because of you goodie, goodie.... @#))#_(!_(_@!(#_(@_!!!!

then suddenly, Grimms cries!

... I hate myself. There's nothing lower than a bad copper. It's just that I wanted that poor soul so badly. I'm glad you stopped it, Raymond...

This was so moving, that I didn't think it was actually comedy any more.

Sometimes there's so much beauty in comedy that it's really great stuff. 

Did I mention that I am a fan of British comedy? Especially with Rowan Atkinson? :)

Anything that interests me!