DESIRES

 

                DESIRES

            A desire is a strong wish. To desire is to want something of your choice. Te true meaning of desire is explained as : a strong conscious impulse or longing for something that promises enjoyment, satisfaction, or the fulmilment of a perceived need.

            Desires are not static. They are dynamic and multiply day after day. One desire whether satisfied or still unsatisfied begets another.

            Lord Buddha considered desires as a major cause of unhappiness.

            Mahatma Gandhi (1869-1948) said: Our desires and motives may be divided into two classes ---selfish and unselfish. All selfish desires are immoral, while the desire to improve ourselves, for the sake of doing good to others, is truly moral.

            He also said: We have within us both good and bad desires. It is our duty to cultivate the former and to suppress or eradicate the latter, and if we fail therein, we should remain brutes though born men.  

            Some synonyms of desire must be always kept in mind . They are: craving, passion, longing, lust, yearning, and eagerness.

                        Given below are some quotes on desire.

*First deserve then desire.

*The thirst of desire is never filled, nor fully satisfied.---Cicero, Roman statesman (106 BC-43 BC).

*Some desire is necessary to keep life in motion; he whose real wants are supplied, must admit those of fancy.---Samuel Johnson, English writer (709-1784).

*The stoical schemes of supplying our wants by lopping off our desires , is like cutting off our feet when we want shoes.----Jonathan Swift, Irish writer (1688-1744).

*In moderating, not in satisfying desires, lies peace.---Reginald HEBER , English bishop (1783-1826)

*Unlawful desires are punished after the effect of enjoying; but impossible desires are punished in the desire itself. ----Sir Philip Sidney. English , courtier, soldier and poet (1554-1586).

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G.R.Kanwal

10 October 2026

 

THE IMPORTANCE OF MONEY

 

                                THE IMPORTANCE OF MONEY

            Money is defined as ‘the means of paying for something or buying something.’ Another definition is ‘any item, record, or system that is generally accepted as payment for goods and services, repayment of debts, and measurement of economic value.’ One more definition is very simple but profound. It is: Money is that money does.” It stands for what it accomplishes in an economy.

            In short, money is a medium of exchange.

            Some synonyms of money are : cash, hard cash, capital, wealth, riches, affluence, assets, resources, currency, funds, and finance.

            The phrase money power is used to indicate its capacity to facilitate trade and have resources to influence socio-political systems.

            If you have money you command power and respect.

            Money without manliness is worthless.

            Given below are a number of quotes on money.

*Money does not grow on trees.

*Time is money.     

*Money talks,

*Money makes the mare go.

*Money can’t happiness.

*Man-making education is better than money-making education.

*The best things in life are free. Example: Air.

*Beggars can’t  be choosers.

* A fool and his money are soon parted.

* Money is the root of all evil.

*Neither a borrower nor a lender be.

*It takes money to make money.

*The English poet Lord Byron said: Ready money is Aladdin’s lamp.

*Money is not required to buy one necessity of the soul ---American writer Henry David Thoreau.

*Money is life blood of the nation.---Irish writer Jonathan Swift (1688-1744).  

            Finally: There is a vast difference in one’s respect for the man who has made himself, and the man who has only made money.----English novelist Dinah Maria Mulock (1826-87).

A LETTER BY JOHN KEATS

 

                A LETTER BY JOHN KEATS

            John Keats was English poet. He was born on 31 October 1795 and died on 23 February 1821.

            He was a patient of tuberculosis which became the cause of his death at a very young age.

             His like-minded  friends were Percy English poets Bysshe Shelley  (1792-1822) and Lord Byron. (1788-1824).

            Keats wrote great poetry. Some of his poems are simple but very  meaningful.

            He wrote a number of odes which are immortal. Two of them are Ode To Autumn and Ode On A Grecian Urn .

            Ode To Autumn begins with the lines:

            Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness !

            Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun.

Unlike other poets, Keats appreciated autumn:

            “Where are the songs of Spring? Ay,where are they?

            Think not of them, thou hast thy music too.

 

A long poem Endymion begins with the line:

            A thing of beauty is a joy for ever.

 

The Ode On A Grecian Urn ends with these lines:

Beauty is truth, truth beauty,---that is all

Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.   

 

            The text of the letter mentioned in the title is as follows. It was addressed to his friend Benjamin, November 22, 1817.

            “….I am certain of nothing but of the holiness of the Heart’s affections and the truth of imagination---What the imagination seizes as Beauty must be truth---whether it existed before or not---for I have the same Idea of all our Passions as of Love they are all in their sublime, creative of essential Beauty, …..The Imagination may be compared to Adam’s dream----he awoke and found it truth. I have never yet been able to perceive how any thing can be known for truth by consequitive reasoning…we shall enjoy ourselves here after by having what we called happiness on Earth repeated in a finer tone and so repeated ---And yet such a fate can only befall those who delight in sensation rather than hunger as you do after Truth---Adam’s dream will do here and seems to be a conviction that Imagination and its empyreal reflection is the same as human Life and its spiritual repetition.

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G. R. Kanwal

8^th October 2026

 

 

 

TWENTY RANDOM THOUGHTS

 

TWENTY  RANDOM THOUGHTS

“Random thoughts”are sudden and unplanned. They may not be deep, yet they are interesting. Some of them may turn out to be unforgettable and become valuable quotes. Here are twenty examples.

1.     Success is not always better than failure.

2.     Doubt is not always incorrect.

3.      Nothing is not always nothing.

4.     Even a stupid person can be admirable.

5.     One plus one do not always make two.

6.     Why should we thank God when life is full of suffering.

7.     We don’t die. In fact, we kill ourselves.

8.     Pain is superior to pleasure.

9.     Time is both kind and cruel.

10.                         Prefer tears to laughter.

11.                         Failure is not always a curse.

12.                         Donkeys also deserve to be praised.

13.                         Some people are afraid of themselves.

14.                         Idleness is also a blessing.

15.                         I have understood the meaning of life but cannot describe it.

16.                         Build castles in the air before you build them on land.

17.                         Dreams are not always dreams. They are the step brothers of realities.

18.                          One can pretend to be busy even if one is doing nothing.

19.                         Fools are not always fools as in Shakespeare’s King Lear.

20.                         The world is ageless.

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G.R.Kanwal

7^th October 2026

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A LOVE SONNET BY SHAKESPEARE

 

A LOVE SONNET BY SHAKESPEARE

            William Shakespeare was one of the greatest poets and playwrights of England. He was born on 23 April 1564 and died on 23 April 1616. He wrote 39 plays and154 sonnets. All of them are still fresh all over the world.

            Some of his most famous plays are Hamlet, Macbeth, Othello, King Lear, Romeo and Juliet, Twelfth Night, As You Like It, and Julius Caesar.

            His sonnets (14-lines poems) are mostly on love, beauty, and time. They were first published together in 1609.

                 Shakespeare’s rank in world literature has continued to rise. He is even today regarded as “the greatest dramatist of all time and the pre-eminent writer in the English language.” 

            The English poet and cultural critic Matthew Arnold (1822-1888) said:

                        Others abide our question. Thou art free.

                        We ask and ask ---Thou smilest and art still,

                        Out-topping knowledge. For the loftiest hill,

                        Who to the stars uncrowns his majesty.         

           

            According to another critic : The real Shakespeare is concealed in his works. There alone are to be found the exuberant genius, the deep psychological insight, the beauty and imagery of his poetic imagination.

 

            Here is the text of the love sonnet mentioned in the title above:

 

Let me not to the marriage of true minds

Admit impediments. Love is not love

Which alters when it alteration finds,

Or bends with the remover to remove : --

O no ! it is an ever-fixed mark

That looks on tempests, and is never shaken :

It is the star to every wandering bark,

Whose worth’s unknown,, although his height be taken.

 

Love’s not Time’s fool, though rosy lips and cheeks

Within his bending sickle’s compass come :

Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,

But bears it out ev’n to the edge of doom,

If this be error, and upon me proved,

I never writ, nor no man ever loved.

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G.R.Kanwal

6^th October 2026

 

                                               

             

SOME THOUGHTS ON ANGER

 

                SOME THOUGHTS ON ANGER

            “Anger” is defined as a strong emotional state of displeasure, annoyance, of hostility caused by a perceived wrong, or frustration.

            Some well-known synonyms of anger are: annoyance, rage, fury, indignation, wrath, vexation, outrage, and choler.

            It is one of the deadly sins in several religions.

            Lord Buddha said : Anger is a destructive fire that ultimately burns the person holding it rather than the target.

            In Hinduism anger is violence the harm of which should be avoided physically, mentally, and emotionally.

            In Islam anger is a natural human emotion that is not considered itself but believers are taught to master and control how it is expressed. According to Prophet Muhammad truth strength is self-master. A truly strong person controls himself while angry.

            In the Guru Granth Sahib, the holiest book of the Sikhs, “anger is one of the Five Evils that corrupts the mind and blocks spiritualism.”

            Mahatma Gandhi (1869-1948) said: It is not that I do not get angry. I do not give vent to anger. I cultivate the quality of patience and angerlessness, and generally speaking, succeed . It is a habit that everyone must cultivate and must succeed in forming by constant practice.----Harijan: May 1, 1935.   

            Men in rage strike those that wish them best.----English poet-playwright William Shakespeare (1564-1616) in Othello, Act 2, Sc.3.

            Anger begins in folly, and ends in repentance.---Greek philosopher Pythagoras (Born around 570 BCE).

            Beware of the fury of a patient man.-----English poet and literary critic John Dryden (1631-1700).

            Keep Cool and you command everybody.---St .Just.

           

            To conclude, here is a very important quote by:

            Isaac Watts (1674-1748} English divine and hymn writer: To be angry about trifles is mean and childish; to rage and be furious is brutish; and to maintain perpetual wrath is akin to the practice and temper of devils; but to prevent and suppress rising resentment is wise and glorious, is manly and divine.            

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G.R.Kanwal

5^th October 2026

 

TWO EXTRACTS FROM SHAKESPEARE’S PLAYS

 

                TWO EXTRACTS FROM SHAKESPEARE’S PLAYS

            The two extracts given below are from the plays of English playwright, poet and actor William Shakespeare who was born on 23 April 1564 and died on 23 April 1616.

            He is most famous for “writing timeless plays and poetry.”

            Nearly five centuries have passed since his writings, yet he remains   unsurpassed by any other poet-playwright of the world .

            He wrote 39 plays all of which are as fresh today as they were at the time of their creation. They continue to win appreciation from readers and spectators.

            He also wrote 154 sonnets.

            His death is believed to have occurred due to the typhus fever.      

            The first extract which follows is from his play The Tempest, Act 4, Sc.1.

Be cheerful, sir:

Our revels now are ended. These our actors,

As I foretold you, were all spirits and

Are melted into air, into thin air :

And, like the baseless fabric of this vision,

The cloud-capp’d towers, the gorgeous palaces,

The solemn temples, the great globe itself,

Yea, all which it inherit, shall dissolve

And, like this insubstantial pageant faded,

Leave not a rack behind. We are such stuff

As dreams are made on, and our little life

Is rounded with a sleep.    

                                    ----

            Te second extract is from The Merchant of Venice, Act 3, Sc.1.It is the protestation of Shylock, a Jew, against Antonio, a Christian.

 

            If I will feed nothing else, it will feed my revenge. He hath disgraced me, and hindered me half a million, laughed at my losses, mocked at my gains, scorned my nation, thwarted my bargains, cooled my friends, heated mine enemies; and what’s his reason?

            I am a Jew,

Hath not a Jew eyes? Hath not a Jew hands, organs, dimensions, senses, affections, passions? Fed with the same food, hurt with the same weapons, subject to the same diseases, healed by the same means, warmed and cooled by the same winter and summer, as a Christian is ?

 

            If you prick us, do we not bleed? If you tickle us, do we not laugh ? If you poison us, do we not die?

            And if you wrong us, shall we not revenge? If we are like you in the rest, we will resemble you in that.

            If a Jew wrong a Christian, what is his humility? Revenge. If a Christian wrong a Jew, what should his sufferance be by Christian example? Why, revenge.

            The villainy you teach me I will execute, and it shall go hard but I will execute, and it shall go hard but I will better the instruction.

 

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G.R.Kanwal

4 October 2026