Money is the Root of All Good

I was reading Atlas Shrugged this past week. It is a long and difficult journey through the book. But every second of reading it was worth it. When I finished, I was exalted.

I am posting an edited excerpt from the book. This was being said by Francisco de Anconia, one of the books' heroes ; addressing a general gathering but directing it towards Hank Rearden.

"So you think that money is the root of all evil? "Have you ever asked what is the root of money?
Money is a tool of exchange, which can't exist unless there are goods produced and men able to produce them. Money is the material shape of the principle that men who wish to deal with one another must deal by trade and give value for value. Money is made possible only by the men who produce.
When you accept money in payment for your effort, you do so only on the conviction that you will exchange it for the product of the effort of others. Those pieces of paper, which should have been gold, are a token of honor--your claim upon the energy of the men who produce. Your wallet is your statement of hope that somewhere in the world around you there are men who will not default on that moral principle which is the root of money. But you say that money is made by the strong at the expense of the weak? What strength do you mean? It is not the strength of guns or muscles. Wealth is the product of man's capacity to think. Is money made by the intelligent at the expense of the fools? An honest man is one who knows that he can't consume more than he has produced.' To trade by means of money is the code of the men of good will. Money rests on the axiom that every man is the owner of his mind and his effort. Money demands of you the recognition that men must work for their own benefit, not for their own injury, for their gain, not their loss--that the common bond among men is not the exchange of suffering, but the exchange of goods.
Money demands that you sell, not your weakness to men's stupidity, but your talent to their reason; it demands that you buy, not the shoddiest they offer, but the best that your money can find.
But money is only a tool. It will take you wherever you wish, but it will not replace you as the driver. It will give you the means for the satisfaction of your desires, but it will not provide you with desires.
Money will not buy intelligence for the fool, or admiration for the coward, or respect for the incompetent. Only the man who does not need it, is fit to inherit wealth--the man who would make his own fortune no matter where he started. If an heir is equal to his money, it serves him; if not, it destroys him.
If so, then your money will not give you a moment's or a penny's worth of joy. Money will not serve the mind that cannot match it.

Alarm Clock!!

I admit I have been sleeping. I knew I had been sleeping.
Its so easy to sleep than to be awake in this age and time. My country is sleeping. I see it everyday in the news, I hear it from the people. The country I right now live in, which conjures up the fallacy that to be a woman is a sin let alone let"allow" her to vote or drive a car. The pain is too much. And hence, its easier to not think. To not struggle.
To just watch that episode of 'Desperate Housewives' or watch some neurons-killing Indian film. To not just escape but to stay there. To just be still.
But isn't that what means death?To not think is to not exist. To not want, is to not live.
and I choose to live.[Image]
We have lost many of our virtues. The first one ....thought; the other reason and another laziness. Reason without thought is stupidity. It is senseless, baseless _ a fallacy, an acceptance of darkness...saying yes to a void.If we act on something without reason, without thought, it holds no value. Because it was acted without reason...without spirit...without TRUTH.The contradiction to reason is foolishness, laziness, cowardice and all that is vice.
The question here is even when we know the truth and gain the wisdom of reason... we lack to act. The lack of action is an action unto itself_ its an inaction.When we decide that we are going to act upon inaction, we are making a noose for our own self; making a wreath for our own funeral. I will not fashion some frivolous speech or pump you with Red Bull. Just this that :
Think, Reason, Pursue and Triumph!

How Do I Love Thee?

How Do I Love Thee?
How do I love thee? Let me count the ways. I love thee to the depth and breadth and height My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight For the ends of being and ideal grace. I love thee to the level of every day's Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light. I love thee freely, as men strive for right. I love thee purely, as they turn from praise. I love thee with the passion put to use In my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith. I love thee with a love I seemed to lose With my lost saints. I love thee with the breath, Smiles, tears, of all my life; and, if God choose, I shall but love thee better after death. by Elizabeth Barrett Browning

The Miracle of Green Tea

Better to be deprived of food for three days, than green tea for one day

Why is Green Tea so Special and What are the Health Benefits of GreenTea?

Presence of Anti Oxidants: Green Tea is the store house of epigallocatechin gallate, an antioxidant. This antioxidant effectively protects the cells of your body and helps you get rids of malignant cells without creating any negative side effects.

Weight Loss Tool: it is proven that green tea when consumed 5 times per day on a regular basis helps you in reducing your weight by 70 calories a day.

Raises HDL and Lowers LDL: it reduces the bad cholesterol content and increases the good cholesterol count in your body.

Panacea for Blood Pressure and Type 2 Diabetes: Green tea is rich in polysaccharides and polyphenols. These antioxidants present in green tea when consumed lower your blood pressure and sugar level thereby preventing the onset of Type 2 Diabetes.

Green Tea has the power of smothering angiotensis II, a chemical that causes the choking of blood vessels within your body. This in turn keeps your body's blood pressure under control.

Relives You Of Skin Problems: Green tea is one of the natural solutions that helps you to get rid of your skin wrinkles. It has proven to be the best solution for skin acne, psoriasis, rosacea and warts.

Increases Body Immunity And Frees You From Allergies: The antiviral and anti bacterial properties of green tea prevent you from getting into contagious flu, cold and common cough.

Due to that anti bacterial property of green tea, it has proven to prevent the decay of tooth to a very great extent by killing the harmful germs that cause the decay.

Practical Solution for Retarding the Development of Arthritis, Parkinson's and Alzheimer's: Green tea has the power to subdue the enzyme that ruins cartilage and thus helps you in keeping away from contracting arthritis. Alzheimer's is mainly caused due to reduction in the level of acetylcholine in the brain. Green tea defends against the reduction of acetylcholine and aids in slowing down the process of Alzheimer's contraction. Green tea protects the destruction of brain cells thereby making the probability of contracting Parkinson's to minimal levels within our body.

Why don't other teas have similar health-giving properties?

What sets green tea apart from the black tea is the way it is processed. Green tea leaves are steamed, which prevents the useful compound from being oxidized. By contrast, black tea leaves are made from fermented leaves, which results in the useful being converted into other compounds that are not effective.

copy pasted from: forwarded emails

Vanilla Sky

Photographed: Ammar Fakhruddin

The First Day of Winter

Today was the first day of winter

Its coming

Its on its way

I can smell the crispness in the air

The lazyness of the mornings

The incomprehensible urge to just lie in bed

...tucked under the covers

The smell of brewing coffee more heightened than before

Snuggling into the tunnels of the nostrils

... aah winter is here!

The Mystic Sea

The smell of the sea in my nostrils, The sound of the sea in my ears; The touch of the spray on my burning face, Like the mist of reluctant tears. The blue of the sky above me, The green of the waves beneath; The sun flashing down on a gray-white sail Like a scimitar from its sheath. And ever the breaking billows, And ever the rocks’ disdain; And ever a thrill in mine inmost heart That my reason cannot explain. So I say to my heart, “Be silent, The mystery of time is here; Death’s way will be plain when we fathom the main, And the secret of life be clear.” by Paul Laurence Dunbar

Weathered Periwinkle

Photograph by: Shabbir Fakhruddin