I went to the woods... by Thoreau

I first came across this Quote from the movie Dead Poets Society and I admit that I had to rewind the part again to catch it again. A great feeling of peace dawned upon me and by the time I realized it, I was smiling. This quote essentially contains the same thing we've kept hearing - but in a different way. I find it really amazing that different words that mean the same thing - have such profound effect on us. The same thing being looked at from another point of view. A change in the perspective. But of the same point. I hope it instills some confidence in others who read it too.
Speaking of perspectives, I really loved the movie Dead Poets Society - and here's scene where Mr.Keating, with his varied style, talks on the same subject but on another note, of course: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=ycLb6wJDieY#t=496s

Quote from Walden by Henry David Thoreau.

On Marriage by Kahlil Gibran

What a way to say it !

On Marriage
 Kahlil Gibran

You were born together, and together you shall be forevermore.
You shall be together when the white wings of death scatter your days.
Ay, you shall be together even in the silent memory of God.
But let there be spaces in your togetherness,
And let the winds of the heavens dance between you.


Love one another, but make not a bond of love:
Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls.
Fill each other's cup but drink not from one cup.
Give one another of your bread but eat not from the same loaf
Sing and dance together and be joyous, but let each one of you be alone,
Even as the strings of a lute are alone though they quiver with the same music.


Give your hearts, but not into each other's keeping.
For only the hand of Life can contain your hearts.
And stand together yet not too near together:
For the pillars of the temple stand apart,
And the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each other's shadow.

Of greatness and inspiration

Any greatness inspires us. A great sculpture, a great piece of music, a great effort, a great act of nature - anything great - anything indeed serves as an inspiration. When I go to a vast field, or see the vast sky above either in its azure blueness or in another of its million shades, I find inspiration. I see the many possibilities - of what one can do, of what we can achieve, of all the life's possibilities - everything right there for our taking. I believe I speak for a lot of people when I say this.
It is to this inspiration that Miss Rand refers when she says this. It speaks of a man who was in love with music, who didn't know what to do with life and was seeking for an inspiration. He was a young college student who was walking in the woods and this is what Ayn Rand says:
"He had always wanted to write music, and he could give no other identity to the thing he sought. If you want to know what it is, he told himself, listen to the first phrases of Tchaikovsky's First Concerto - or the last movement of Rachmaninoff's Second. Men have not found the words for it nor the deed nor the thought, but they have found the music. Let me see that in one single act of man on earth. Let me see it made real. Let me see the answer to the promise of that music. Not servants nor those served; not altars and immolations; but the final, the fulfilled, innocent of pain. Don't help me or serve me, but let me see it once, because I need it. Don't work for my happiness, my brothers - show me yours - show me that it is possible - show me your achievement - and the knowledge will give me courage for mine." (From "The Fountainhead" by Ayn Rand)

I just went through the following quote today and was struck by the truth in it and made me write all this stuff down:

People travel to wonder at the height of the mountains, at the huge waves of the seas, at the long course of the rivers, at the vast compass of the ocean, at the circular motion of the stars, and yet they pass by themselves without wondering.

- St. Augustine

(I hope I'll write more on this later. The subject is vast and I have written only a few lines...)

Falling in love with the strings...

A few years ago, had one told me that I should listen to Violin, I'd have shown contempt. I used to wonder when I saw people learning Violin, when I myself tried a hand on Piano and Guitar. I was quite immature then. Music, as things go, is beautiful even if it is made from a steel plate and a spoon. But back then I'd have scorned.

I guess it was an year ago that I fell in love with Violin, but didn't know it. I liked the music when I heard it, but couldn't discover that it was the this stringed instrument that I loved most (in a few songs). I've just discovered it a week ago. And am I glad !

I guess I owe most of this discovery to Damien Rice's songs. I am not sure if people liked that part of his music, but it was one of the big reasons to love his songs. Listen to the part starting at 3:30 in Cold Water, or Amie and you'd know. I guess it gels amazingly well with his voice to make it a complete piece.

And then there's this orchestra from Andre Rieu that played instrumental version of "Annie's song" (originally by John Denver) that I really liked. While I already love the original song, this instrumental version with Violin took me by surprise as I found that I liked the Violin sound. And then suddenly I realized that I like most of Damien Rice's songs because of this. Things fell into proper places...

I started liking this girl Taylor Davis when I heard the "Alchemist Brothers" Violin version. It's originally in some animated series OST but this Violin version is the first I heard of that. She plays really good.

And then there's this instrument Cello, one that I didn't even know how it looked like until a minute ago. I heard it's name a lot of times but never cared to look it up. In India, people seldom play it. My discovery of Cello has to be attributed solely to the game "Braid" which had a very positive impact both in terms of gaming and music. I really loved the music a lot and as I was searching for its OST, I found that it was by Jami Sieber (and Cheryl Ann Fulton, Shira Kammen) and that she's a Cellist. Fantastic stuff. Check out Maenam, Downstream from her.

By the way, the Braid artwork is brilliant too. The background pictures were as fresh as a morning daisy.

The Earth Prelude by Ludovico Einaudi

Play this and close your eyes. I somehow felt that I should put this under the "life" label of my blog too.

Came across this in the short movie "The country of Mediocres". Lovely short movie. Just about 13 mins or so.

The Man in the Arena - Theodore Roosevelt

Have you ever, by any chance, read "The Man in the Arena" by Theodore Roosevelt ?

I say "chance" because it was by chance that I came across it. I was searching for a wallpaper of Rudyard Kipling's "If". I've been wanting to have that as my desktop wallpaper for some time now. I chanced upon the wallpaper in a website "The art of manliness" - they were announcing posters that are now available for purchase. The first one, "The Man in the Arena" by Theodore Roosevelt caught my eye and I enlarged it to see what was said. The website boasted of 'manliness' as an art and so I thought it'd be worth to check that out. And yes, how true it was. I read it, was spellbound, and just sat in silence for a couple of minutes. Or it must be my mind playing tricks because I thought I sat in silence. Sometimes when you find something give form to a feeling that you have, in a way that matches the feeling, you feel happy. I mean, I do. I have to write this down tonight, I told myself. Serendipitous discoveries really have a thrill that very few things can match!

Here's the poem and picture directly linked to the website (I guess there would be some copyrights, so I didn't reproduce the pic. But the problem with linking the pic directly is that if they link, this would be useless. Anyway, that's alright.)

"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat." - Excerpt from the speech "Citizenship In A Republic" delivered at the Sorbonne, in Paris, France on 23 April, 1910 by Theodore Roosevelt

Hats off to you, Mr.Roosevelt. That was fantastically said.
(Do visit The art of manliness if you want to buy the poster. By the way, I have no affiliation whatsoever with that website)