The Alchemy of Happiness - Al Ghazali (4)

from Chapter 4 to the end

"He who is blind in this life will be blind in the next life, and astray from the path."(53)

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"But even among those who have worldly possessions such as wife, children, houses, etc., there are those, who, though they have some affection for these, love God yet more. Their case is like that of a man who, though he may have a dwelling which he is fond of in one city, when he is called by the king to take up a post of authority in another city, does so gladly, as the post of authority is dearer to him than his former dwelling." (56)

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"Therefore a man should say to his soul every morning, "God has given thee twenty-four treasures; take heed lest thou lose anyone of them, for thou wilt not be able to endure the regret that will follow such loss."(77)

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"Happy is he who does now that which will benefit him after death." (77)

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Online version of the text here

The Alchemy of Happiness - Al Ghazali (3)

Chapter 3 - The Knowledge of this World

"... man has forgotten that their real necessities are only three- clothing, food and shelter, and that these exist only with the object of making the body a fit vehicle for the soul in its journey towards the next world." (45)

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"The deceitful character of the world...pretends that it will always remain with you, while, as a matter of fact, it is slipping away from you, moment by moment, and bidding you farewell, like a shadow which seems stationary, but is actually always moving." (45)

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"The world is like a table spread for successive relays of guests who come and go. There are gold and silver dishes, abundance of food and perfumes. The wise guest eats as much as is sufficient for him, smells the perfumes, thanks his host, and departs. The foolish guest, on the other hand, tries to carry off some of the gold and silver dishes, only to find them wrenched out of his hands and himself thrust forth, disappointed and disgraced."(48)

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"Although we have said so much against the world, it must be remembered that there are some things in the world which are not of it, such as knowledge and good deeds. A man carries what knowledge he posseses with him into the next world, and, though his good deeds have passed, yet the effect of them remains in his character. Especially is this the case with acts of devotion, which result in the perpetual remembrance and love of God. These are among "those good things" which, as the Koran says, "pass not away." (49)

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miscelleneous quotes

"It is a poverty to decide that a child must die so that you may live as you wish." -Mother Theresa

"It's not the size of the dog in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog."-Mark Twain

political quotes

no idea where i got these: saved them eons ago :-

"The problem with political jokes is they get elected."

"We have weapons of mass destruction we have to address here at home. Poverty is a weapon of mass destruction. Homelessness is a weapon of mass destruction. Unemployment is a weapon of mass destruction."

The Alchemy of Happiness - Al Ghazali (2)

Chapter 2 - The Knowledge of God

"love is the seed of happiness, and love to God is fostered and developed by worship." (38)

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"... there are some who, failing to find God by observation, conclude that there is no God and that this world of wonders made itself, or existed from everlasting. they are like a man who, seeing a beautifully written letter, should suppose that it has written itself without a writer, or had always existed." (39)

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"...whosoever wishes for a livelihood, or for wealth, or learning, must not merely say "God is merciful," but must exert himself. although the Koran says, "every living creature's support comes from God," it is also written, "Man obtains nothing except by striving." (41)

The Alchemy of Happiness - Al Ghazali (1)

Chapter 1 - The Knowledge of Self

"reason may be called the vizier, or prime minister, passion the revenue collector, and anger the police officer. under the guise of collecting revenue, passion is continually prone to plunder on its own account, while resentment is always inclined to harshness and extreme severity.

both of these, the revenue collector and the police officer have to be kept in due subordination to the king, but not killed or expelled, as they have their own proper functions to fulfil. but if passion and resentment master reason, the ruin of the soul infallibly ensues." ( 22)

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"nor is it only by reason of knowledge acquired and intuitive that the soul of man holds the first rank among created things, but also by reason of power." (25)

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"besides mere incapicity, there are other hinderences to the attainment of spiritual truth. one of these is externally acquired knowledge. to use a figure, the heart may be represented as a well, and the five senses as five streams which are continually conveying water into it. in order to find out the real contents of the heart, these streams must be stopped for a time, at any rate, and the refuse they have brought with them must be cleared out of the well. in other words, if we are to arrive at pure spiritual truth, we must put away, for the time, knowledge which has been acquired by external processes and which too often hardens into dogmatic prejudice." (26)

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"any one who will look into the matter will see that happiness is necessarily linked with the knowledge of God. each faculty of ours delights in that for which it was created: lust delights in accomplishing desire, anger in taking vengeance, the eye in seeing beautiful objects, and the ear in hearing harmonic sounds. the highest function of the soul of man is the perception of truth ; in this accordingly it finds special delight." ...

"a person in whom the desire of this knowledge has dissapeared is like one who has lost his appetite for healthy food, or who prefers feeding on clay to eating bread. all bodily appetites perish at death with the organs they use, but the soul dies not, and retains whatever knowledge of God it posseses ; nay, increases it." (27-28)

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"man has been truly termed "microcosm", or little world in himself, and the structure of his body should be studied...by those who wish to attain to a more intimate knowledge of God, just as close study of the niceties and shades of language in a great poem reveals to us more and more of the genius of the author." (29)

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"the body may be compared to a steed and the soul to its rider ; the body was created to the soul, the soul for the body. if a man knows not his own soul, which is the nearest thing to him, what is the use of his claiming to know others? it is as if a beggar who has not the wherewithal for a meal should claim to be able to feed a town."

Freakonomics - Levitt & Dubner

a quite interesting read. time permits not for a lengthy review or such ; hence i'd just put in the chapters with short answers (banyak lagi explanation die actually >,<) for later personal references.

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intro: the hidden side of everything

1)what do schoolteachers and sumo wrestlers have in common?
they cheat... sometimes.

2)how is the ku klux klan like a group of real estate agents?
usage of fear to influence

3)why do drug dealers still live with their mum?
orang atas je kaya, org bawah keje teruk2 sbb nak jadi org atas but just a small percentage would make it..other live in bad conditions

4)where have all the criminals gone?
authors cite abortion legislation.. hmm?

5)what makes a perfect parents?
moderation, me thinks.

6)would a roshanda by any other name smell as sweet?
sometimes.

epilogue

AIDS-The Ultimate Challenge : E.Kubler-Ross

the book is throughly about coping with dying from AIDS. its main theme revolves on ignorance about AIDS in the US at one time (its an old book), misconceptions, dying with peace and the experiences of the volunteers.

i didnt expect much from it -got it just because it goes for a dollar from the bookshop- but in the end its okay. wasnt particularly written well, but perhaps the main thing is what i gained from it, no?

it reminded me on things that i need constant reminder of. i think to be reminded of death at times is a good starting point in cleansing the heart. a reminder that what God has given us and our loved ones today might not be there tomorrow. it'll make us prepare best we can for the after-life; along with living our borrowed time here on earth to the fullest :-)

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Quotes:
"none of us is so unique as to be exempt from the human condition."

From a patient of AIDS:
"There's lots of things that go into making or taking a journey or trip. you have to get ready for it. you have to make sure your place is reserved, and you have to get on the train or get on whatever conveyence is appropriate and get there."

AIDS~The Ultimate Challenge : E.Kubler-Ross

A Pictorial History of Soccer - Dennis Signy (1)

this book's full with interesting and at times funny tahap dewa anecdotes of football.. if too list them all would take forever :-) . still on the "Birth and Developement" Chapter ; and might trackback some other time to include anecdotes from 1st 30 pages as well. but here's some from current reading, page 33-47...

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"Tradition also has that the first ball used was the head of a dead Danish brigand; but this particular game evidently became so violent that it was stopped and replaced by a running match"

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"on 15 Oct 1887, another record was set in Cup-tie. preston beat Hyde 26-0...every player except the goalkeeper scored, although suggestions have been made that the game may have run an extra half an hour because of an error by the referee." (34)

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On throw ins:

"the throw in from touch at first was done with one hand, but so expert did some players become at reaching the goalmouth with throws that it was decided in the 1880 to first make the thrower use two hands and then to make him throw with his hands above his head from a standing position." (35)

A Pictorial History of Soccer - Dennis Signy

The Name of the Rose - Umberto Eco

"we are dwarfs ; but dwarfs who stand on the shoulders of those giants, and small though we are, we sometimes manage to see farther on the horizon than they."

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"because learning does not consist only of knowing what we must of we can do, but also of knowing what we could do and perhaps should not do."

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"the good of a book lies in it being read. a book is made up of signs that speaks of other signs, which in turn speak of things. without an eye to read them, a book contains signs that produce no concepts, therefore it is dumb."

The Name of the Rose - Umberto Eco

Postcards from No-Man's Land, Aidan Chambers

"have you noticed that life has an if in it? i mean the word. L.I.F.E. so the iffyness of life was there all the time. i just hadnt noticed. what a domkop!" (231)

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"in the diary, anne says that youth is lonelier than old age. D'you think that's true?"
"i havent thought about it. do you think it is?"
"how would i know? havent been old yet."
"nor had anne, so how could she know?"

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"but you must think i'm mad, falling for a girl who's only words in a book."
"some people say falling in love is a kind of madness whenever it happens. if that's so, all i can say is i would rather be mad than sane"

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"i asked Geertrui the other day what she thought love is- real love, true love. she said that for her real love is observing another person and being observed by another person with complete attention."

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"the difference is, i have noticed, is that a mother battles on behalf of her son against the world, whereas a father batles to possess his daughter for himself."

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"i see with an eye that feels
and feel with an eye that sees" -JW von Goethe

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excerpts from :- Postcards from No-Man's Land, Aidan Chambers

Che - A Memoir by Fidel Castro

1) On worries of economic colonism and dependence to the States:

"if we stay on this road, we will be increasingly poor, weak, dependent , and enslaved to imperialism. this gloomy perspective also confronts, to an equal degree, all the underdeveloped nations in Africa and Asia. if the industrialised and educated nations of Europe, with their Common Market and supranational scientific instituions, are worried about the possibility of being left behind and contemplate with fear the perspective of being converted into economic colonies of Yankee imperialism - what does the future have in store for the peoples in Latin America?

2) on the people:

"but no one really has an honest answer or a consistent policy that will bring genuine hope to the nearly 300 million human beings who make up the population of Latin America. devastatingly poor in their overwhelming majority, ... they have the right to the material things in life, to culture, and to civilisation. so the most dignified thing would be to remain silent in the face of the actions of Che and those who fell with him, courageously defending their ideas." (94)

3) On Che's many virtues -

"He never kept a Sunday to himself." (108) -reference to Che's voluntary works.

4) random quotes:

"Hasta la victoria siempre! (ever onward to victory!)"

"people may contribute to the making of history, but history also makes people."

It would be a sign of ignorance to believe there is only one way of doing things.." (150)

"work doesnt harm your health, work promotes health, work safeguards health, and work created humanity" (155)

Che - A Memoir by Fidel Castro