Pen Thoughts

I was reading "A Short Guide to a Happy Life" by author Anna Quindlen on building a spirit a couple of years ago and I took notes from the book, as I usually do. to my surprise, I got the same paragraph by email today; so I thought to share it with everybody as a little reflection: "There are thousands of people out there with the same degree you have; when you get a job, there will be thousands of people doing what you want to do for a living. But you are the only person alive who has sole custody of your life. Your particular life. Your entire life. Not just your life at a desk, or your life on the bus, or in the car, or at the computer. Not just the life of your mind, but the life of your heart. Not just your bank account, but your soul. People don’t talk about the soul very much anymore. It’s so much easier to write a résumé than to craft a spirit. But a résumé is cold comfort on a winter night, or when you’re sad, or broke, or lonely, ... You cannot be really first-...

Two men were travelling from one town to another. They came to a stream that had risen due to heavy rainfall. Just when they were about to cross the water, they noticed a young, beautiful woman standing there all alone, in need of help. One of the men immediately went to her side. He picked the woman up and carried her in his arms across the stream. Then he dropped her there, waved good-bye, and the two men went their way. During the rest of the trip, the second traveller was unusually silent and sullen, not responding to his friend's questions. After several hours of sulking, unable to keep silent anymore, he said, "why did you touch that woman? she could have seduced you! Men and Women cannot come into contact like that!" The first man responded calmly, "my friend, I carried the woman across the stream, and that is where I left her. it is you who have been carrying her ever since."  "Some people are like that" "They carry thei...

Written by Oswaldo De Rivero From the book:  The Myth of Development The non-viable economies of the 21st century "The social exclusion of human beings is not the same thing as the natural depredation occurring in a food chain, where one animal species preys on another species, as is the case with lions and zebras. The human groups that are preyed upon are not from a different species, and do not always behave like zebras. A human group that feels permanently excluded from the bare necessities of existence, preyed on by the market and by modernity, will finally turn upon its predators, resorting to varied forms of treatment ranging from delinquency to terrorist fanaticism." "The law of the jungle cannot continue to be applied among men without serious consequences for the whole community. Our genes, which are programmed for survival in society, begin to protest that we are being excluded, that our family or social group is in danger. Then, when we reach ...

The following Parable is an actual simulation of the Lebanese society layers. Parable of a lioness, a cheetah and an Oryx, who had come together on a long journey, decided one day to confess their sins to each other. As queen of the forest, the lioness was the first.  "she told the others that, once, after she had finished off a big buck, a zebra came by. "it looked so sleek and tender," she said, "I had wantonly dispatched a fellow beast for no purpose," she said regretfully.   The remorseful cheetah reassured her. "why should you, queen of the forest, be remorseful about the skill that has made you the greatest hunter of us all? You are to be forgiven."   Then the cheetah told how, one day, he had spied a fat ewe and her two lambs. Hungrily he had pounced on the nearest lamb, but the mother had begged him to spare the remaining lamb and eat her instead. "I agreed", the cheetah said, "but I was so hungry I the...

لفتني مقطع من كتاب هشام شرابي "الجمر والرماد" يتحدث من خلاله عن الطبقية السائدة في تلك الحقبة (وما زالت) وعن النظرة السائدة للمجتمع المخمليّ تجاه الاقل حظاً، او الأفقر: "كان جميع الذين يدرسون في الجامعة الأميركية في بيروت من طبقة غنية أو متوسطة الحال على الأقل. كنا قلة بين عشرات الآلاف من شبان شعبنا أتيح لها أن تحصل على العلم والثقافة العالية. ولم نكن، مع ذلك، نشعر بأننا نتمتع بامتيازات خاصة حرم منها الباقون. تعودنا أن نسكن البيوت الواسعة ونتمتع بالحياة كما نريد، لا نعرف للحرمان معنى، كأن السعادة حق طبيعي لنا. تعلمنا منذ الصغر ان ننظر إلى الفقراء بمنظار خاص. كان الفقر جزءً من حياتنا، ولكنه كان خارجها، بعيداً عنها كالأكواخ المتناثرة حول أحيائنا الفخمة. كان الفقراء بشراً مساكين نرأف بهم ونتألم لفقرهم لكنهم كانوا ينتمون إلى عالم آخر. وكان منظر المتسولين الذين يملأون شوارع مدننا منظراً طبيعياً بالنسبة إلينا، فلم يزعجنا أو يدفعنا إلى تأنيب الضمير ولم يدر بخلدنا أن هناك علاقة بين ثرائنا وبؤسهم." هشام شرابي  هو مفكر فلسطيني، ولد في  يافا  في...

I read a book about the Ethiopian Abeb Bakila, the barefoot marathon runner, whom under his belt honorable achievements being the first African to win a golden Olympic medal and the first athlete in history to win two golden medal. Apparently, there is another book narrating Bikila's life, written by a foreign correspondent Tim Judah. the later do not portray Abebe as the saint shining brightly out off Rambali's papers. the Ethiopian champion was described through Tim's memoir as arrogant and selfish who encountered a non poetic death contrary to what have been characterized very elegantly by Rambali.  Click here to see a review on the gardian After reading Paul Rambali vividly written book about the life of marathon champion Abeb Bikila, you feel that you have learned a lot about a country full of agony, pride, beauty and extremely vulnerable people. encountering Ethiopians here in Lebanon made it easier for me to grasp the root of the cultural aspect. though ...

A marvelous poem Sara Teasdale: I am not yours, not lost in you, Not lost, although i long to be Lost as a candle lit at noon, Lost as a snowflake in the sea. You Love me, and i find you still A spirit beautiful and bright, Yet I am I, who long to be Lost as a light is lost in light. Oh plunge me deep in Love - put out My senses, leave me deaf and blind, swept by the tempest of your Love, A taper in a rushing wind.

while reading the Book of Jonathan Schell, the Seventh Decade, the New Shape of Nuclear Danger, numerous cross cutting observations, in relation to General Wesley Clark, were made. the below is a small sample of these observations: "This new ambition was crystallized in a document that won brief notoriety and then, when Bush Sr. lost his bid for a second term, was forgotten. Its importance for the present is that it outlined a scheme for global dominance a decade before September 11, 2011. its sponsor was Cheney and its draftsman was Zalmay Khalilzad, who would become ambassador to Afghanistan in 2003 and of Iraq in 2005. The draft stated, "the number one objective of U.S.'s post-cold war political and military strategy should be preventing the emergence of a rival superpower. Our first objective is to prevent the re-emergence of a new rival." even strong regional powers should be suppressed, especially in areas "whose resources would, under consolida...

if you don't want to read the book "The seven decade - the new shape of nuclear danger", you can watch the interview. it is very informative and fulfilling