This is the second of two articles on arrogance. Link to the first article that was published on 21 May 2024 is at the end of this blog. The first of these two blogs discussed why arrogance is such a cardinal sin in Indian society. This article will explain the causes of my being arrogant. […]
Category Archives: Self Help
More Gems from Emerson
Here are two more quotes from Emerson’s essay on Compensation. Link is below the quoted text: Experienced men of the world know very well that it is best to pay scot and lot as they go along, and that a man often pays dear for a small frugality. The borrower runs in his own debt. […]
Disasters can help you. Here’s How
I first read Emerson’s essay of Compensation as a teenager. In those days I wanted to be a millionaire (it was the 1970s and being a millionaire in dollar terms was to be very rich). I bought some books by Napoleon Hill and read them. And Napoleon Hill introduced me to Emerson. Specifically Ralph Waldo […]
A Necessary Part Of Your Education
I used to absolutely love James Michener novels. Here is the list of bestselling authors whose books I used to read repeatedly when I was young: I have always been a loner and controversial. As such I had to do something to keep myself entertained. And reading the books written by the authors above was […]
Career Advice from the Buddha
What career advice can you expect to get from the Buddha. In my opinion all that you need to know to master a profession – or any money making skill – is summarized in the following few verses: We are what we thinkAll that we are arises with our thoughts,With our thoughts we make the […]
On Learned Leisure
One of my earliest memories when I was young was being taught the virtue of hard work. My family and society emphasized working for the upliftment of the poor and downtrodden. I am thinking in particular of my grandparents who lived through the Indian struggle for independence led by Mahatma Gandhi. My grandparents were very […]
Why I got robbed and what you can learn from it
What follows below is my personal experience: A person whom I thought was my friend kidnapped me and forced me to sign away a large part of my savings which were held in the form of equity shares traded on the stock exchange. I had made the mistake of boasting about my shareholdings to this […]
How to make a Powerful Impression on People
You will notice that I have said, a powerful impression, not necessarily a good impression. If that does not deter you read on. The best way to impress people is by not giving a damn what they think of you. Quoting from Emerson’s essay on Self Reliance: Honor is venerable to us because it is […]
Reading for Self Cultivation
Following is a paragraph from Gurcharan Das’s book, The Difficulty of Being Good. Mr. Das had taken early retirement from a successful corporate career and decided to take an academic holiday in which he did a lot of reading and thinking and discovered for himself the meaning of life. Here is how he went about […]
Why don’t People learn
I first came across this question – Why is it that people never learn – while reading the opening chapter of Shogun, the popular bestseller by James Clavell. If you are looking to be entertained by a rip roaring adventure while being exposed to Japanese culture that this is a book you will want to […]