Always say less than necessary

“Be particularly careful with sarcasm: The momentary satisfaction you gain with your biting words will be outweighed by the price you pay.”

In 1825, Czar Nicholas I, ascended the throne of Russia. A rebellion immediately broke out, led by liberals demanding that the country modernise — that its industries and civil structures catch up with the rest of Europe.

Brutally crushing this rebellion (the Decemberist Uprising), Nicholas I sentenced one of its leaders, Kondraty Ryleyev, to death. On the day of the execution, Ryleyev stood on the gallows, the noose around his neck. The trapdoor opened...but as Ryleyev dangled, the rope broke, dashing him to the ground.

At the time, events like this were considered signs of providence or heavenly will, and a man saved from execution this way was usually pardoned. As Ryleyev got to his feet, bruised and dirtied but believing his neck had been saved, he called out to the crowd, “You see, in Russia they don’t know how to do anything properly, not even how to make rope!”

A mesenger immediately went to the Winter Palace with news of the failed hanging. Vexed by this disappointing turnabout, Nicholas I nevertheless began to sign the pardon.

But then: “Did Ryleyev say anything after this miracle?” the Czar asked the messenger. “Sire,” the messenger replied, “he said in Russia they don’t even know how to make rope”. “In that case”, said the Czar, “let us prove the contrary”, and he tore up the pardon. The next day Ryleyev was hanged again. This time the rope did not break.

A lesson from 48 laws of power..

“When you are trying to impress people with words, the more you say, the more common you appear, and the less in control. Even if you are saying something banal, it will seem original if you make it vague, open-ended, and sphinx-like. Powerful people impress and intimidate by saying less. The more you say, the more likely you are to say something foolish.”

Source:  “The 48 Laws Of Power" by Robert Greene 

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Fly Free Fly High

One seagull, dreams of flying better than a seagull has ever flown, instead of spending his days looking for scraps of food.

“Most gulls don’t bother to learn more than the simplest facts of flight—how to get from shore to food and back again. For most gulls, it is not flying that matters, but eating. For this gull, though, it was not eating that mattered, but flight. More than anything else, Jonathan Livingston Seagull loved to fly…This kind of thinking, he found, is not the way to make one’s self popular with other birds.”-  Richard Bach

There is one seagull in a flock, Jonathan Livingston Seagull, who cares a lot less about scrounging for food than the other gulls, and cares more about learning how to fly well. He gets thrills from figuring out how to fly faster and more dangerously than any gull has flown before. He crashes a lot, but always gets up, fluffs his feathers, and begins again. The other gulls in the flock don't understand why he cares at all about this, and the elders take his determination in this as a sign that he does not care about the right things. They declare him an Outcast. He pleads, but they ignore him and send him away. He gets to a ‘Heaven’, how he call it, he finds other seagulls, who like flying like he does. Chiang (He is one bird who is in ‘Heaven’ and he teaches Jonathan to ‘fly’)  teaches him to fly and Jonathan comes closer and closer to perfection. After practising some time he wants to return to the earth to teach other seagulls who would want to. He soon found several good flight students. Fletcher Gull (He is also a very questioning seagull who thinks that there must be more in life then just thinking of how to get food) was one of them, he has a desire to learn to fly. Jonathan teaches Fletcher to fly like Chiang has told him. Fletcher soon develops enough to take Jonathan’s place as an inspired, powerful teacher, and so Jonathan moves on to a higher level of consciousness.

To fly high and to fly free one must try to achieve excellence.

And the price needs to be paid for excellence. Excellence requires leaving the flock, being alone, and practising. And the practice requires "fierce concentration."

"You are always free to change your mind and choose a different future, or a different past"-  Richard Bach

Source : “Jonathan Livingston Seagull: A Story” — Richard Bach

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STORY that can change your life

In 1972, Jim Cathcart was working at the Little Rock, Arkansas Housing Authority, making $525 a month, with a new wife and baby at home, no college degree, no past successes, and not much hope for the foreseeable future.

One morning, he was sitting in his office listening to the radio, to a program called "Our Changing World" by Earl Nightingale, who was known as "the Dean of Personal Motivation." That day, Nightingale, in his booming voice, said something that would change Jim's life forever: "If you will spend an extra hour each day in study of your chosen field, you will be a national expert in that field in five years or less."

Jim was stunned, but the more he thought about it the more it made sense. Although he had never given a speech, he had always wanted to help people grow in areas of personal development and motivation. He began his quest to put Nightingale's theory to the test by reading books and listening to tapes whenever he could. He also started exercising, became better organized, and joined a self-improvement study group. He persisted through weeks of temptations to quit, just by doing a little more each day to further his goal. Within six months he had learned more than he had in his few years of college, and he began to believe he could turn his goal of becoming a motivational speaker into reality. All the hard work, the discipline, and study paid off. Jim now has delivered more than 2,500 speeches worldwide and has won every major award in the speaking industry.

Just like companies have market value, so do people. In the simplest terms, your market value increases by knowing and doing more. Knowledge is power, not only for your career, but also to improve your family and spiritual life. I once heard a quote that sums it up well, 

"Knowledge is like climbing a mountain; the higher you reach the more you can see and appreciate."

Source : The Nature of Success by Mac Anderson             

Founder, Simple Truths

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