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10 Quotes that Changed My Life
I sincerely consider quotes to be the ABCDs of internet-self-learning.
I understand that they are actually passages or statements from a larger body of work or interviews. But they in themselves can be an ideal introduction to thinkers, writers and their ideas, theories, concepts and philosophies. They can act as initiators towards the complexities of great minds. If they are used as initial steps and not as end-in-itself.
I have voraciously and shamelessly consumed quotes. So much so that, I have entered into the minds of almost all thinkers I am influenced by through them. Whoever I mostly admire and follow today, I have followed through quotes in some ways.
They have provided me the ability to judge a thinker before commiting to one. Otherwise, it would have been very difficult to try each and every one of them through their larger work in this world full of much larger works.
It would not be far-fetched to say that my life has changed through them. Here I am listing 10 of them. Although 1000s of them have been helpful and influential for me, I just want to start off with 10 of which have appeared on top of my mind at the time of this writing. I will not quote the source as I feel it is unimportant here.
10. If you want to know who your friends are, get yourself a jail sentence — Charles Bukowski
This quote really got me scrutinizing people I called friends and spent my time with. It helped me question their motives towards me and mine towards them. I started getting more careful with whom I met, where I met and the things I shared. I was kind of all over the place before. Once I started doing that, I felt I started to be treated differently and took some control over the ‘friendship’. In no time I found myself without any friends.
9. Drop out of school before your mind rots from exposure to our mediocre educational system. Forget about the Senior Prom and go to the library and educate yourself if you’ve got any guts — Frank Zappa
