Don't fail to read good books

"Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested." - Sir Francis Bacon

"The road to knowledge begins with the turn of the page."

"The books that help you most are those which make you think the most."

“The man who doesn't read good books has no advantage over the man who can't read them” - Mark Twain

“Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body.”

Good books are indeed great source for information and knowledge. However, you need to spend time reading to acquire the necessary information and knowledge. Anyway, remember that it is not how many of them you can get through, but rather how many can get through to you.

Read books. They are good for us.

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Personal Development

“The best contribution one can make to humanity is to improve oneself.”

By spending time in personal development, you can learn to become more productive and effective at work and able to maintain focus on what really counts in all aspects of our life. You will definitely do better if you have more control of your own actions and emotions and able to stay motivated no matter what situation or environment you’re in.

“The aim of life is self-development. To realize one's nature perfectly - that is what each of us is here for.” - Oscar Wilde

I have been tagged by Life Reflection. This Personal Development List meme was started by Priscilla Palmer with the objective of compiling a master list of Personal Development blogs that we feel can benefit us in our growth process.

Each person who participates are to put up a list of their 5 favorite personal development bloggers, and then let Priscilla know so she can compile a master list.

Below are sites Priscilla listed that I find very useful:

• Aaron Potts at Today is That Day
• Donald Latumahina at Life Optimizer
• Dawud Miracle at dmiracle.com
• Jacklyn Ker at Inspiring and Empowing Lives
• Karen at Journey with Water Learner

And here is my top 5 blogger list:

• Jennifer at Goodness Graciousness
• Surjit at Gurushabad
• Honman at Open Your Mind to Prosperity
• Killeris at Attitude, The Ultimate Power
• SJ Yee at Personal Development for the Book Smart

“If you wish to achieve worthwhile things in your personal and career life, you must become a worthwhile person in your own self-development.” - Brian Tracy

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Beware of these...

Below are something that we ought to be careful about:

“Beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance.” - George Bernard

“Beware of him that is slow to anger; for when it is long coming, it is the stronger when it comes, and the longer kept. Abused patience turns to fury.” - Francis Quarles

“Beware of the friend who was once your foe.” - Proverb

"Beware of the man who knows the answer before he understands the question." - Anonymous

"The people to fear are not those who disagree with you, but those who disagree with you and are too cowardly to let you know." - Joe Moore

What do you think? Do share other cases that you think one need also to beware of by posting a comment.

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Information is not knowledge

We are now living in the Information Age. There is no such thing as not having enough information. Nowadays, with the Internet, we can find almost anything. The sad thing is we are all drowning in information but are starved for knowledge.

Below are some interesting information or facts:

Do you know that?

1. You can't fold a paper in half for more than seven or eight times. Try it if you don't believe and you will be amazed! Thinner or longer paper doesn't matter. You just can't do it. Nevertheless, Britney Gallivan had managed to fold paper in half 12 times.
   
   
2. Cooking gas has no smell. The odor is artificially added so that people will be able to identify leaks and take measures to stop them.
   
   
3. Ninety-nine percent (99%) of people cannot lick their elbow.
   
   
4. Antarctica is the only land on our planet that is not owned by any country.
   
   
5. The opposite sides of a dice cube always add up to seven.

Well, even though it is interesting to know the above, according to Albert Einstein - “Information is not knowledge.”

“The important thing in science is not so much to obtain new facts as to discover new ways of thinking about them.” - William Bragg, Sr.

“Those people who develop the ability to continuously acquire new and better forms of knowledge that they can apply to their work and to their lives will be the movers and shakers in our society for the indefinite future." - Brian Tracy

What do you think? Do you agree with Albert Einstein?

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Emotional Intelligence versus I.Q.

In this last decade, science has discovered a tremendous amount about the role emotions play in our lives. Researchers have found that emotional awareness and the abilities to handle feelings are much more important than I.Q.

Either you control your emotions, or they control you.

Studies have shown there was very little correlation between a child's success in examinations and his/her success in adult life.

At best, I.Q. contributes 20% to the factors that determine life's success, which leaves 80% to other forces - Emotional Intelligence.

"Emotional Intelligence is a way of recognizing, understanding, and choosing how we think, feel, and act. It shapes our interactions with others and our understanding of ourselves. It defines how and what we learn; it allows us to set priorities; it drives many of our daily actions." - Freedman et al.

"What really matters for success, character, happiness and life long achievements is a definite set of emotional skills - your EQ - not just purely cognitive abilities that are measured by conventional IQ tests." - Daniel Goleman, Ph.D.

Below is an I.Q. game. If you are interested, try it out. Do share the lessons you had acquired from this IQ game!

Can you help them cross over the river?

(I had adapted this IQ game post with permission from this source)

Below are the rules that apply for this IQ game.

1. Only 2 persons on the raft at a time
2. The father can not stay with any of the daughters without their mother’s presence
3. The mother can not stay with any of the sons without their father’s presence
4. The thief (striped shirt) can not stay with any family member if the Policeman is not there
5. Only the Father, the Mother and the Policeman know how to operate the raft
6. To start click on the big blue circle on the right.
7. To move the people click on them.
8. To move the raft click on the pole on the opposite side of the river.

Click the above screen to load the game and then 開始 button to start the game.

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The Wisdom to Know the Difference

Pray not for things, but for wisdom and courage.

"God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference." - Reinhold Niebuhr

You can't do what is right until you know what is right. But knowing and doing are not necessarily the same thing.

"Understanding is knowing what to do; Wisdom is knowing what to do next; Virtue is actually doing it." - Tristan Gylberd

"If you only do what you know you can do - you never do very much." - Tom Krause

“Two roads diverged in a wood, and I -- I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.” - Robert Frost

Well, is it necessary for one to accumulate enough experience personally to have the wisdom to know the difference - to accept things as it is or change it? What do you think?

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Knowing is not enough!

“It's not what you've got, it's what you use that makes a difference.” - Zig Ziglar

"All know the way; few actually walk it." - Bodhidharma

“I have been impressed with the urgency of doing. Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Being willing is not enough; we must do.” - Leonardo da Vinci

“Learning is finding out what you already know. Doing is demonstrating that you know it.” - Richard Bach

"Wisdom is knowing what to do next, skill is knowing how to do it, and virtue is doing it." - David Starr Jordan

The Bible tell us in James 1:22-25 (NKJV) -
"But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does."

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Do you have any good ideas?

“The way to get good ideas is to get lots of ideas, and throw the bad ones away” - Dr. Linus Pauling

Arthur C. Clarke says:
"New ideas pass through three periods:

1. It can't be done.
2. It probably can be done, but it's not worth doing.
3. I knew it was a good idea all along!”

“An idea that is developed and put into action is more important than an idea that exists only as an idea. Ideas are useless unless used."

“The essence of knowledge is, having it, to apply it; not having it, to confess your ignorance.” - Confucius

“Often the difference between a successful person and a failure is not one has better abilities or ideas, but the courage that one has to bet on one's ideas, to take a calculated risk - and to act.” - Andre Malraux

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What you know can save your life!

"An investment in knowledge pays the best interest." - Benjamin Franklin

Below is a true story where two hikers survived when they put their knowledge into use.

Two New Zealand hikers lost in hilltop mist for two nights were saved after they re-charged their dead mobile phone by removing the battery and leaving it for 15 minutes in the sun when it broke through.

More ...

"The single most important lesson for anyone anywhere is that what you know can save your life and what you don't know can kill you" - Dengle (a member of the Tsunami Survey Team)

It is the lack of knowledge and warning system about Tsunami that killed so many people on 26 December 2004. This incident tell us that knowledge can save many lives!

"Knowledge is of two kinds. We know a subject ourselves, or we know where we can find information upon it." - Samuel Johnson

For those who travel a lot, it might be beneficial to know a list of gadgets and ideas that might help you survive in the wild.

Being aware of all the Warning Signs of Heart Attack and Stroke is valuable because it could be a matter of life and death .

Have you personally experience such in your life or have any story to share?

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Get Wisdom! Get Understanding!

“It is better to listen in order to understand than to listen in order to reply”

"When you plant lettuce, if it does not grow well, you don't blame the lettuce. You look for reasons it is not doing well. It may need fertilizer, or more water, or less sun. You never blame the lettuce. Yet if we have problems with our friends or our family, we blame the other person. But if we know how to take care of them, they will grow well, like the lettuce. Blaming has no positive effect at all, nor does trying to persuade using reason and argument. That is my experience. If you understand, and you show that you understand, you can love, and the situation will change." - Thich Nhat Hahn

“There is a great difference between knowing and understanding: you can know a lot about something and not really understand it” - Charles F. Kettering

“To realize that you do not understand is a virtue; Not to realize that you do not understand is a defect.” - Lao Tzu

Philip Wheelwright is right!, "Much learning does not teach understanding."

There is a Chinese Proverb that says: “Tell me and I'll forget; show me and I may remember; involve me and I'll understand.” and Confucius says “I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand.” Thus, we can understand better by getting involve and do the necessary things!

Proverbs 4:5-7 Get wisdom! Get understanding! Do not forget, nor turn away from the words of my mouth. Do not forsake her, and she will preserve you; Love her, and she will keep you. Wisdom is the principal thing; Therefore get wisdom. And in all your getting, get understanding.

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Know yourself well

Self-knowledge is the beginning of self-improvement.

"It is wisdom to know others; It is enlightenment to know one's self." - Lao-Tzu

"Self-awareness gives you the capacity to learn from your mistakes as well as your successes. It enables you to keep growing." - Larry Bossidy and Ram Charan

"What is necessary to change a person is to change his awareness of himself." - Abraham H. Maslow

"You can live a lifetime and, at the end of it, know more about other people than you know about yourself." - Beryl Markham

The key to success is knowing yourself.

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Practise makes perfect

“If your're not practicing, somebody else is, somewhere, and he'll be ready to take your job.” - Brooks Robinson

You'll develop more power, physical, mental, or any skill in 30 minutes of practice than in 20 years of positive thinking. No one ever became a champion athlete or master musician in 20 years of positive thinking about music or athletics unless he also practiced.

"Knowledge and timber shouldn't be much used till they are seasoned."

“Knowledge is of no value unless you put it into practice.”

“All wish to possess knowledge, but few, comparatively speaking, are willing to pay the price.”

Paderewski said: "The only way to become a master of any skill is first to become its slave. And that takes practice, practice, practice." There can be no gains without pains; no victory without drudgery. Before a general can give commands, he must first take commands...as a trainee.

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The Power of Imagination

“I am imagination. I can see what the eyes cannot see. I can hear what the ears cannot hear. I can feel what the heart cannot feel.” - Peter Nivio Zarlenga

“Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we now know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be to know and understand.” - Albert Einstein

“Imagination is everything. It is the preview of life's coming attractions.” - Albert Einstein

“Limitations live only in our minds. But if we use our imaginations, our possibilities become limitless.” - Jamie Paolinetti

“If my mind can conceive it, and my heart can believe it, I know I can achieve it.” - Jesse Jackson

“Imagination is the beginning of creation. You imagine what you desire, you will what you imagine and at last you create what you will.” - George Bernard Shaw

“This world is but a canvas to our imaginations.” - Henry David Thoreau

“Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere.” - Albert Einstein

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Knowledge is only potential power

Enjoy doing what you know you can excel.

People, with rare exceptions, do not fail because they lack knowledge, education or talents. They fail chiefly because of what they do not do.

"The great end of life is not knowledge but action." - Thomas H. Huxley

What we need around here is not more "knowing" but more "doing"... not more knowledge, but more action. A sure sign of progress is: quit reading and start doing - taking action.

Knowing is not enough; So ensure you use what you had acquired!

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You must take action

Knowing does not induce action. It takes feeling to induce action. Our actions is driven by our strong inner feeling, some intense emotion, some inner compulsion, pull, urge, vision, goal or purpose in life.

“You see, in life, lots of people know what to do, but few people actually do what they know. Knowing is not enough! You must take action.” - Anthony Robbins

The great aim of education is not knowledge but action.

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The Value of Education

The young think education can replace experience; the old think experience can replace education. Both are wrong. Both are needed. If youth only knew. If age only could.

Education is difficult and expensive. But whatever it costs, it's cheaper than ignorance.

"Education is what remains after one has forgotten everything he learned in school."- Albert Einstein

"It's not what is poured into a student that counts, but what is planted." - Linda Conway.

The only fully educated people are self-educated.

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Learn from Wise Sayings

“Never mistake knowledge for wisdom. One helps you make a living; the other helps you make a life.” - Sandra Carey

A short saying often contains much wisdom.

"Wisdom is not the product of schooling but the lifelong attempt to acquire it." - Albert Einstein

"Every man like myself, who never went to college, can largely make up for that lack by reading the wise sayings of the great men of the past, who gladly left their wisdom and experience in proverbs for us who follow them." - Winston Churchill

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Do you really know?

It ain't the things you don't know that gets you into trouble; it's the things you know for sure that ain't so.

It's so much easier to suggest solutions when you don't know too much about the problem.

"Know where to find the information and how to use it - That's the Secret of Success" - Albert Einstein

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You learn when you teach

Knowledge increases in proportion to its use - that is, the more we teach the more we learn.

Resolve to observe or learn something new every day. It'll keep you mentally sharp and youthful. The genuine beauty of acquiring knowledge is that you can learn anytime.

Learning something new requires making mistakes. It involves trial and error. So do not be afraid to make mistakes. Learn like children do. Learn all you can from old people. They've gone over the road you must travel.

"Learn as if you were going to live forever. Live as if you were going to die tomorrow." - Mahatma Gandhi

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Continuous Learning is a must

"Books and schools give us knowledge. Wise sayings give us wisdom - tell us how to use knowledge - tell us how to live." - Sidney Smith

Today, information and technology change constantly. To be ahead of the competition, we must develop the ability to absorb, process and apply information very fast. We must constantly learn, unlearn and relearn to be number one.

However, it is impossible for a man to learn what he thinks he already knows.

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