One of my favorite quotes, written by a monk circa 1100.

“When I was a young man, I wanted to change the world. I found it was difficult to change the world, so I tried to change my nation. When I found I couldn't change the nation, I began to focus on my town. I couldn't change the town and as an older man, I tried to change my family.

Now, as an old man, I realize the only thing I can change is myself, and suddenly I realize that if long ago I had changed myself, I could have made an impact on my family. My family and I could have made an impact on our town. Their impact could have changed the nation and I could indeed have changed the world.”

i think the best assurance i can get frm my mum is her affirmation of a certain person or issue. i mean it's nt easy to come to a similar conclusion when u discuss issues with a person 40 years (ard there lar, i dun rmb her age) older than u. although i find her childish most of the time, her life experience is definitely more than me.
so yeah. she told me today that she concluded that my sch mate is idiotic, stupid & thinks too highly of himself/herself. i dun care if it's accurate or nt, as long as it's negative, it shows that my judgement of him/her is correct too. hurhurhur...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
i think what makes the world so special & yet such a difficult place to live in, is because of the diverse views & beliefs of the world held by each & every one of us.
it is this diversity that makes it so difficult to achieve complete unity. the reason why we can generally live in peace with each other is because of accomodation, understanding & respect of other's beliefs. somehow this 3 values maintain the status quo of this soceity & if one fails to demonstrate any of the above values, one will definitely incur the irritation of others.

it's nt abt what u think is the best for the other person. if u put it in a nicer way, it's to show how selfless & thoughtful u are towards the other person's needs. to put it in a more direct way, u are assuming what u think is best the person, assuming the person cannot think for himself, assuming the person cannot differentiate what is good for himself & what is not. in other words, u don't even respect him/her as a person who can think for what is best for himself/herself.

each of us have our own lives to live. we don't live other's lives. we can't expect ppl to change for us. we can only change for them. we cannot expect ourselves to change people. we can only be a model of the changes we wish to see in others. everything starts frm u alone. if u're unable to even reform urself then u can forget about others following u.

i think one of the best values i've learnt frm my close friends, is nt to pass judgements too quickly or to give too much comments on what others may think. we do gossip, we do snigger at some stupid errors some ppl but that remains at that. we don't go around asserting onto others & expect others to accept our views. they teach me to be rationale, to not to rush into conclusions abt things too quickly, to be understanding towards the needs of others, they teach me to love others as who they are, not who they will become or who they used to be.

Proverbs 17:27-28 (NIV)
“A man of knowledge uses words with restraint, and a man of understanding is even-tempered. Even a fool who keeps silent is considered wise; when he closes his lips, he is deemed intelligent.”

this song keeps playing in my head....
hush now don't u cry
there will be a better day, i promise you
we can work it out, but only if u let me know
what's on ur mind....