Quotations

We come across many quotations everyday in the form of forwarded SMS, emails etc., but only few of them last in our memory for a significant time.We often fail to recognize the power of quotations in influencing people’s mindset. If we can remember and put forward good quotations at the right time and in the right context (in our speech, written communication, casual conversations etc.), it will be really great of us and useful for others.


My interest towards collecting quotations began after a small incident. It was sometime during my second year of B.Tech that I received a very pessimistic email from one of my best friends. (Don’t wonder why he emailed me instead of calling me. Both of us didn’t have cell phones then.) He was very disappointed with his first year results, was struggling in hostel, was finding it difficult to adapt to city life even after a year and was frustrated with many more such unpleasant circumstances.

Seeing that email, I didn’t know how to react. I knew that I was helpless. What I could do was to motivate him with my reply. I wondered how it was possible. I myself was disappointed with my first year results (I was not satisfied in spite of getting 85% - this is a typical case of bookworms :D ) and was only then slowly adjusting myself to hostel life. After thinking for sometime, I replied with a quotation, “Tough times never last, but tough people do.” I then added few more simple statements like "Don't worry. All the best." etc. etc.

After a couple of days, I received a reply from him, this time an optimistic one. “Thanks for your support and encouragement. I hope I’ll be able to do well this semester…” I was very happy that I could make a difference. It was in fact, the quotation which really made the difference.

This incident enabled me in finding a new pastime. I started noting down the quotations which I liked and www.quotexite.com, www.wallxite.com found themselves in the list of the few websites I browsed whenever I had access to the internet.

Apart from the aforementioned incident, there are many more such small incidents that take place often and keep my hobby of collecting quotations alive.

Among the quotations in my collection, here are a few which I came across at a perfect time.

1) “The greatest barrier to success is the fear of failure” – This was the quotation on my orkut home page (Today’s fortune column) during the time when I was afraid that I might not be able to complete the assigned 3 mini projects on time.



2) “Near or far, dear ones are always close to heart” – This was the one I read when I was little disappointed with few close friends leaving India to pursue their higher education and career aspirations. (I don’t know whether I was disappointed because of friendship or because of jealousy. :p)
3) “Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow. It empties today of its strength.” – I don’t remember when I saw it for the first time, but for people like me who keep worrying about petty things, anytime would be a perfect time to read this quotation.
4) “We generally miss the people whom we never want to miss”.

5) “Some people come into our lives and quickly go. Some stay for a while and leave footprints on our hearts.” – The above two quotations came as a forwarded email and the image made the quotations even livelier.

If above quotations can be categorized as ‘Perfect timing quotations’ (for me :)), there is another category of ‘Inspiring and thought-provoking quotations’. Few such quotations which I liked are:
1) A candle loses nothing by lighting another candle. (Help others.)
2) Anyone can hold the helm when the sea is calm. (Gear up for challenges.)
3) It is better to be hated for what you are, than to be loved for what you are not. (Self-explanatory. ;))
4) Remember not only to say the right thing in the right place, but far more difficult still, to leave unsaid the wrong thing at the tempting moment. (This is an important point to remember.)
5) Argument wins the situation but loses the person. (I am sure that some will hate this. :))


6) Nothing in this world is impossible to a willing heart. (Positive attitude!)

The list of quotations is never-ending. A quotation liked by some, may be detested by some others. Further, a quotation liked at a certain time, may appear silly at some other time. Just because we do not like a quotation, doesn't mean that it is useless. We need to realize that each quotation is useful and can impact the thought process of someone or the other.

But, why do I collect quotations? Is it only to use them at few incidents? The answer to this question is the quotation, “Many things in life will catch your eye, but only a few will catch your heart. Pursue those.”



P.S: Please keep forwarding me quotations. :D I feel that over the past few months, I am losing this hobby.

"Horror Night"

Sometime ago, I saw a forum called ‘Horror nights’, where people shared their horrifying experiences at night. After reading that thread, I remembered this incident of mine, which dates back to the winter of 2002/03.

I was a 10th Standard student then and unfortunately an insomniac. One night, as usual, my parents and my siblings were asleep, but I was still rolling on bed, unable to get closer to the gate of dream world. Everything was calm and peaceful around. Since it was very cold, even fan was switched off and so there was a pin-drop silence in my home.

As an attempt of falling asleep, I said prayers, counted numbers and did all the silly tricks, I knew. As a result of all my tricks, I started feeling sleepy. Till this point, it was a sort of daily routine for me. Suddenly, I heard a sound (from outside my house), which I never heard before. I simply ignored it and tried to sleep. I was about to fall asleep when I heard that sound again, this time a little louder than before. My drowsiness was gone.

“Let me see if that sound repeats again. If it does, I’ll find out what it is,” I said to myself. After a minute or so, the sound was heard again, this time even louder than the previous two times, implying that ‘it’ was getting closer to my home. My imagination went to its peak. “What is it? Where is this strange sound coming from? Is it someone who is making that sound? Or is it a ghost? Or is it an alien? Or is it any supernatural power?” My heart started beating twice faster than normal.

There is no word in dictionary to express how I felt that moment. It was a blend of curiosity, imagination, a little bit of ego and above all, fright. “If I wake up my parents or siblings and say that I hear a strange sound, they may make fun of me. So, let me go out and see what it is.” I got up from the bed and went to the door silently, expecting to hear that sound again.

I was about to open the door when fear gripped my soul. “What will happen if I see a ghost or an alien? Am I not too weak-hearted to see anything paranormal? Am I not putting my life at risk?” With these kinds of negative thoughts popping up in my mind, I came back to my bed and tried to sleep. ‘It’ was heard few more times and each time the sound was heard, my heartbeat could have been heard by anyone meters away.

After sometime, ‘it’ was gone and slowly after some more time, I was asleep. The next morning, after I woke up, I said to my parents and siblings that I had heard a strange sound the previous night. My sister laughed at me and said that I was scared. Indeed, I was scared, but I could not accept it because of my ego.

My parents said that it could have been the sound of an owl or a bat. I was neither convinced nor unconvinced. I was an adolescent then, not a small kid who cannot even recognize the sound of a bird. It was most probably not the sound of a bird or an insect. ‘It’ was something else.

May be, I should have gathered all my courage and found out what it was, then itself. What I did might appear to be a cowardly act, but then, the sound was very strange that many adolescents of that age would have done similar to what I did then.

I don’t know whether to wish to hear that sound again or not. That was the only night I heard that sound; I haven’t heard it again till date. What was ‘it’? That remains to be a mystery for me.


P.S: In each of my previous posts, there was a kind of "lecture" from my end. :D Just to continue that 'tradition', here is a quote which I heard recently. 'Opportunity knocks the door only once, but misfortune keeps on knocking the door till you open it.' I missed out the (good?) opportunity of proving my courage then. :)