Selected writings from "Life on Earth"

By

Capt. Alexander Malhan.

I wrote this some time in 1988 when I was 28 years old based on social work which I was doing for a couple of years

1. Foreword

2. Quotes

3. Reading for self development

4. Think it over.

5. The world we live in.

6. Man – in relation to society.

If some one were to tell me: "Say two most important words of Advice!" What would I say? "READ BOOKS". Read Good Books!

The Goal of Life is "Pursuit of Happiness." The first step in this direction is "Self-Development", and the first thing to develop is Integrity.

The best stock to invest in is - our Brain. There is no greater responsibility, no greater duty than to build our brain. There is no better way to do it, than through reading good books.

If we think that just by reading this book once, we shall benefit, we are not right. To benefit from any book we read, on any subject, we will have to read again and again, and not just "read", we will have to brace ourselves, make a sincere endeavor to put into practice whatever we read. Lets get obsessed with this desire, to put into practice whatever we read, only then we will benefit from what we read, from the knowledge that we gain.

In order to ensure that an individual succeeds in any and every field of human endeavor, and that he grows up into a wise and mature human being, just these three elements are sufficient and necessary to be instilled in his (her) mental make up:

1. A desire to read good books.
2. To put into practice what ever one has read.
3. A desire to invest one’s time in useful, productive, creative activities, not letting a single minute go waste.

"Cilvilization is created and maintained by the competent few." This book is an attempt to help motivate and guide you in your efforts towards self development - mental, moral and psychological development. I write this with this desire uppermost in my mind - the desire, to help you become a creator in this great drama of life, to help you in preparing yourself to become one among the competent few. I hope and I pray that I succeed in this endeavor.

Capt. Alexander Malhan.

"If we were to choose our leaders on the basis of their reading experience and not on their political programs, there would be much less grief on earth."

-Joseph Brodsky, the Russian émigré poet and winner of the Nobel prize for literature 1987.

"Reading teaches us in two years what experience does in Twenty."

"If you want to know about a person, look at his living room, his study room, look at the various things

that he surrounds himself with, it may not tell you every thing about him but shall certainly tell you a lot."

"Read ! Grow ! Dare to live the life of a human being!

Dare to unleash the potential that lies in human genes."

"Tell me what books you read and I will tell you what you are. But I will be able to tell you better what you are, in case you tell me what books you have re-read."

Read and Grow. Grow and Serve. Grow and help others Grow. The aim of all growth is to help add value, to help improve living conditions, to help bring lasting happiness into the lives of all, to help make this world a better place.

The aim of self development is to increase ones ability to contribute, to spread light where there is darkness.

The process of intellectual development begins in our mothers womb.

Peep into the childhood or early youth of any great personality who roamed the surface of our planet and what do you think, we will find them doing ? We will find them devoting long hours at their study devouring book after book.

Abraham Lincoln once said he had walked and borrowed every book within fifty miles of his home. He was a voracious reader. A log fire was usually kept going all night in his cabin and in the morning, he would roll over on his bed of leaves, rub his eyes, pull out the book and resume reading again.

Eighteen year old Woodrow Wilson virtually confined himself to his study room and buried himself in his books. Especially books on History, Philosophy, Religion and the Science of Government. After about two years of study the man who walked out was destined to become the President of the United States of America and that too for two straight terms.

Young Napoleon Bonaparte, a Subaltern in the Regiment of Artillery, when he went on leave (vacation), he would carry a trunk load of books he borrowed from a friend who owned a book shop. Napoleon’s biographers are amazed at the breadth and depth of his reading experience and the extent of notes that he left behind on the books he read. No wonder that in his very first major assignment at the age of 26 he was recognized by one and all as "a man cast in no common mold."

If there is one formula for success, for success in every field of human endeavor, it is this - READ! Read good books! Develop good reading habits. In order to be successful in one’s profession one has to be well read not only in the field pertaining to one’s profession but also in the field of Management, Leadership and Behavioral Sciences (human psychology). I call it the four pillars of success – (1) Knowledge of ones profession. (2) Management (3) Leadership (4) Psychology.

Leadership is built on the foundation of Integrity. The first rule of Leadership is Integrity. Leadership without Integrity is not Leadership. Integrity for me, stands for the entire range of human values, human virtues – to be ethical, moral, just and fair in all that we do.

This brings me to another point. An interesting observation I have made time and again in several areas – in technology, in leadership, in management, etc. Gaining Knowledge is one thing. Applying that knowledge is totally different thing. It is a challenge to apply knowledge gained in our day-to-day life. It takes will power, determination and conscous thought to apply. It takes intellect, wisdom and good judgement to know how when and where to apply, to put into use, to put into practice.

Do we understand everything that we read ? Can we put into practice everything we read? Be it, technology, science or arts, no matter what subject, depending on our intellect, we will grasp, understand, assimilate and digest in varying degrees and hence in varying degrees we will succeed in implementing what we have read.

It should be the aim of every human being to acquire as much knowledge as possible at a young age and continue life long. Fortunate is he who has developed a thirst for knowledge-an unquenchable thirst for knowledge. Now, one may well inquire as to what are the various means available to acquire knowledge? A person may acquire knowledge through his own experience or through the experience of other people. In the later case he may do so either by listening or by reading the books written by them. A person who says he wants to learn in life only through his own experience is an unwise person. There is always a possibility that such a person can learn wrong things, he can form wrong conclusions about the various situations / problems due to inaccurate observation, incomplete data and illogical / faulty analysis. Moreover, if I am an engineer and I want to gain knowledge in the area of human psychology, I will not be able to find the right environment in case I decide to learn from my experience alone. Learning from ones own experience means - I may have to spend an entire life time learning, whereas I can gain from another persons life time of experience in just a few hours by reading books written by him.

One should aim at learning from other peoples experience and supplement it with ones own experience. Reading books is the quickest, best and most reliable method of gaining knowledge; of imbibing new ideas and new ways of thinking. It is not possible to meet any of the great men and women who lived in the past and it may not be possible either to meet those alive and living today, but through books we can always at any moment peep into the world of great minds.

What is theoretical and what is practical? Should we learn from our experience alone or from others experience as well? The fox jumped and tried to pluck the grapes. He could not succeed and he rationalized "perhaps the grapes are sour." In life there are lot of people who try and fail and develop the attitude "the grapes are sour". Such people go about discouraging other people. Sometimes when a person tries to sit down with a book in hand trying to acquire knowledge, he is snubbed by a so called experienced person with some what gray hairs-"what you read is theory and there is a lot of difference between theory and practice." And so the obvious question arises as to what is theoretical and what is practical? Is the theory that we read practical enough? In this regard I would say: "Nothing is more practical than a good theory" and if one claims that a theory is not practical, it is because, it is not that the theory is impractical but - either one’s understanding of the theory is wrong, the manner of putting the theory into practice is wrong, the situation is not suitable for application of the theory or the theory itself is wrong and needs to be revised. To the diehard advocates of ‘learning from ones own experience’ I would say: "Well Sir !! allow me to learn from your experience, but don’t hand over your experience to me verbally – please write it down in a book." And, when he will hand over his experience to me in a book, I will toss it into the dustbin - for it is all theory now, going by his logic, it is as theoretical as any other book.

Keeping the spirit of youth alive: The human mind can in some ways be compared to a pond of water. In a pond as long as fresh water keeps flowing in from one side and water keeps flowing out of the other - the water remains fresh. So also the human mind. As long as we keep learning new concepts, new ways of thinking, as long as we keep updating and growing our knowledge base, and, as long as we keep discarding outdated, irrelevant, impractical concepts, ideas, ways of thinking & behaving - the human mind remains fresh and fragrant as ever. Years may wrinkle the skin but reading good books keeps the spirit of youth alive, it keeps the human mind free of wrinkles - healthy, vibrant, energetic and young as ever.

At times one may come across a person who is well read and yet unwise in his actions and decisions, and you may ask why is it so? Well! The reason can be: (a) What we read is not wisdom it is knowledge. (b) Knowledge tempered with intelligence logic, reason, analysis, judgment and common sense becomes wisdom. (c) A cow after having its fill sits down in a shady spot and starts chewing the cud, without this it will derive no nourishment out of whatever it has eaten. After reading a book or while reading a book intermittently unless we ‘chew the cud’ unless we devote some time to thinking and analyzing, reflecting over what we have read, we will not derive any nourishment from whatever we have read, and any amount of reading experience will be of no good. (d) Eat garbage and our body gets diseased and so also, read garbage and our mind gets diseased. Just as the diet we eat provides nourishment to our body, the books we read provide nourishment to our mind. Nothing can be more dangerous to the shaping of the human mind than reading garbage or filthy, obscene, immoral literature.

In our lives, at various occasions at various moments we all feel the need for having a friend. Do you know who is the best possible friend that you can have in this world ? YES !! You are right, it is "Mr. Book," or to be precise "Mr. Good book." Try to develop a sincere and everlasting friendship with him and the earlier you do it the better. With a book as your friend you will banish boredom from your life, never again at any occasion will you feel bored, your friend Mr. Book will always be with you to entertain you - whether you are traveling in a train or waiting in line or sitting alone at home. This friend of yours has the capability and capacity to see you through any and every crisis in your life. It has the ability to help you reach the top most rung in the promotion ladder, whatever be your profession. It is a friend which is always reliable, dependable and trust worthy. The views that it gives, the knowledge that it provides is one hundred percent reliable. If I could teach my kids to love reading good books, well ! I would then consider myself successful as a parent.

End of Education: Some people are under the mistaken impression that probably the end of their schooling or graduation or post graduation means the end of the process of education. Reality is in fact just the opposite. The end of formal schooling is not the end of the process of education but it marks the beginning of the life long process of self education. Any system of education can finally be said to be successful only if (a) it has been able to generate in the student a desire to read good books, a thirst for knowledge and (b) if it has been able to teach the student as to how to go about the process of acquiring knowledge oneself in this world. "Give me a fish and I eat for a day. Teach me how to fish and I eat for a life time." A good education system ought to teach us ‘how to fish’, how to go about the life long process of self-education.

If you want to develop a brain that can think and create - reading good books is the only way. Some of my students often ask me whether reading books can change a persons personality? Well! Finally whether by reading books you are able to change your personality or not - depends on you yourself, it depends on how sincere is your desire to learn from the book and put into ACTION - to make it an integral part of your mental makeup.

The Goal of Life is "Pursuit of Happiness." The first step in this direction is "Self-Development." And the first thing to develop is Integrity. The best way to develop integrity is through studying biographies and autobiographies of great men and women, studying their life, words, thoughts and actions, what they said, what they did and why. Reading biographies helps us calibrate and recalibrate our moral compass.

There are several books available on self development which help you consciously refine the elements of your personality and help shape up your character. A few suggested books are listed here.

1. Brain Building for Achievement. Herbert N.Casson.
2. Common Sense Plus. Herbert N.Casson.
3. Seven Effective Habits of Successful People. Stephen R. Covey.
4. I am OK you are OK. Thomas A.Harris
5. Games People Play. Eric Berne.
6. Born To WIN. Muriel James.
7. The Power of Positive Thinking. Norman Vincent Peale.
8. Courage and Confidence. Norman Vincent Peale.
9. Books on Behavioral Science, Education Psychology.
10. How to Win Friends and Influence People. Dale Carnegie.
11. How to Stop Worrying and Start Living. Dale Carnegie.
12. Public Speaking and Influencing Men in Business. Dale Carnegie.
13. How to Enjoy Your Life and Your Job. Dale Carnegie.
14. Your Erroneous Zones. Dr. Wayne W Dyer.
15. Pulling Your Own Strings. Dr. Wayne W Dyer.
16. Don’t Say Yes When You Want To Say No. Herbert Fensterheim.
17. Children How to manage them know that you have them. Parkinson & Rustomji.
18. What they don’t teach you at Harvard Business School. Mark H. McCormack.
19. In Search of Excellence. Peters & Waterman.
20. Innovation and Entrepreneurship. Peter F. Drucker.
21. Bottom Up Marketing. Alries & Jack Trout.
22. Getting the best out of yourself and others. Buck Rogers.
23. You can negotiate anything. Herb Cohen.
24. The Management Jungle. Parkinson and Rustomji.
25. Realities in Management. Parkinson and Rustomji.
26. Business is People. Parkinson and Rustomji.
27. Getting along better with People. Parkinson and Rustomji.
28. Organizing your Job in management. Carl Heyel.
29. Selling to Win. Richard Denny.
30. Super Selling through Self Talk. Dr. Marty Sheldman.
31. The Sure way to Successful selling. Robert Lear.
32. Secrets of Overcoming Sales Resistance. Albert Goldstein.
33. Effective Time Management. John Adair.
34. Better Time Management. Jacqueline Atkinson.
35. One Minute Manager. Dr. Kenneth Blanchard.
36. Leadership and the One Minute Manager. Dr. Kenneth Blanchard.
37. How to get Action. A.G.Strickland.
38. In Search of Leadership. Russi M. Lala.
39. Excellence In Leadership. Frank Goble.
40. Officer as a Leader. Brig. Gen. S.L.A.Marshall.
41. Smart Questions. Dorothy Leads.
42. Lee Iacocca. An autobiography.
43. Conflicts. Edward.D. Bono.
44. Lateral Thinking. Edward D. Bono.
45. Mechanism of Mind. Edward D. Bono.
46. Six Thinking Hats. Edward.D. Bono.
47. Applied Imagination. (Creative Problem Solving). Alex F.Osborn.
48. How to Live 24 Hours a day. Arnold Bennett.
49. Mind as Healer, Mind as Slayer. Richard R. Pelletier.
50. Silva Mind Control. Jose D Silva.
51. Mind Power Techniques. Dr. Anil Bapna.
52. Mind Control. Margaret Hyde.
53. Super Learning. Shiela Ostreander.
54. My Experiments with Truth. M. K. Gandhi.
55. With Malice Towards None (Abraham Lincoln).
56. Fifty Great Americans. Thomas Harris.
57. Fifty Great Modern Lives. Thomas Harris.
58. West Point Leadership Lessons. (there are several books).
59. Cosmos. Carl Sagan
60. A Brief History of Time. Stephen W. Hawking
61. The Greatest Salesman in the World. OG Mandino.
62. As a Man Thinketh. James Allen.
63. Character is Destiny. Sen. John MacCain.
64. Power of the Spoken Word. Florence Scovel Shinn.
65. Emotional Intelligence. Daniel Goleman
66. The Origins of Exceptional Abilities. Michael J. A. Howe.
67. Why Things Go Wrong. Dr. Laurence J. Peter.

This list is certainly by no stretch of imagination complete. There are many more books & probably better books on the subjects referenced. Even if you purchase just one good book every year and devote just 15 minutes every day to reading such books, I am positive that you are on your way. On your birthday, ask your parents \ friends to give you a book for a gift and be rest assured it will be the best present you will ever receive.

The Goal of Reading Books is to become a better human being so as we can serve our family, friends and the community better, and help make this world a better place. Read books related to your Profession, on Management, Leadership, Self Development, Organization and Adminstration, History, Science, Astronomy, Religion, etc.

"As we are born on this planet we inherit a lot, what we inherit is the result of the sweat and toil of those who lived in the past and those alive. Having inherited so much our duty is: (1) To preserve it. (2) To add to it in whatever little way we can. And (3) To pass it on to the coming generations."

Population explosion, Environmental crisis, Will our progeny find Earth worth visiting?

"Civilization has always been created and maintained by the competent few"

"From among the masses shall rise a few who shall take it upon themselves the responsibility of carrying the burden of mankind."

"It should be the sincere desire of each one of us, to leave this planet in a better state - both materially and morally, than what it was when we landed up here."

"We have no moral right to bring forth our progeny if we cannot even offer them clean and fresh air to breathe.., and an Earth unpolluted by hate and violence. "

On this planet, people come and go and a majority of them soon fade into oblivion, but there are a few who leave their foot prints on the sands of time for men to follow for generations to come.

"Great men are meteors designed to burn so that Earth may be illuminated."

"A Myriad of men are born. They labor and sweat and struggle for bread: They squabble and scold and fight; They scramble for little mean advantages over each other. Age creeps upon them. Ambition is dead, longing for release is in their place. It comes at last, the only un-poisoned gift Earth ever had for them, and, they vanish from a world where they were of no consequence." -- Mark Twain.

What a tragedy of human existence that spiritual realization, the higher reaches of human consciousness, is the privilege of so rare a minority. (the multitude arrive and depart without even knowing, without even realizing what genes they were born with.)

What a tragedy of human existence that they are so many among us who come and spend their entire life on this planet without even realizing that they have ‘arrived’, without even realizing to the slightest extent, the immense potential of the genes that we carry within ourselves, without ever realizing as to what any living being born with these genes can accomplish and do.

The only factor which prevents the grouping of many among us human beings into the category of animals is our human form, our outer appearance.

Let us try and make this world of ours a better place to live in. It should be the aim of each one of us to leave this planet in a better state, both materially and morally than what it was when we landed up here.

When the time to depart comes, ask yourself this question: "What is my contribution to society, to mankind, to life on planet Earth?" If the answer is ‘none !’ then, what is the use of having lived on this planet? What is the use of having been born? It is better that you had never been born at all.

Where we come from and where we go after our death, we don’t know. All that we know about and all that we have with us is the 60 to 100 years of our life on this planet. Let us not waste it away, Let us use it creatively in constructive activities. Let us not have lived in vain.

1. Evil, injustice, barbarism, terrorism, crime, corruption,..., is on the rise, and is reaching alarming proportions. Why ? Because the 'good' is timid, weak, unassertive, impotent and incompetent.

2. A farmer sows corn, corn germinates, weeds also germinate. If the farmer does not uproot the weeds in time and if he does not de-weed periodically the weeds increase in number. Who is to be blamed? The weed or the farmer ? In this world good is on the decline and evil on the rise. Who is to be blamed? It is good which has to be blamed, for he did not help uproot evil in time. In certain parts of the world, deterioration of the mental, moral & psychological fiber is so alarming that poets, thinkers, philosophers despair over the future of their parts of the world.

3. Large scale deforestation; the burning away of coal and oil reserves in just over a century - which nature took two or more billion years to generate; the resulting pollution, acid rain, its effect on health of human beings; the ensuing chain reaction of large scale death of forests caused due to various pollutants; OZONE hole, thinning of the ozone layer, the phenomenon of global warming.., Do we human beings realize, the catastrophic effect all this will have on the life supporting systems of this planet. Will our progeny find Earth inhabitable ? Can a person who dares call himself educated say - ‘who cares ! Not my problem.’

4. The population bomb, the rising human population. Ten thousand years ago, do you know what the human population of the planet was ? It was just about ten million. By the time of birth of Christ it rose to 250 million. After that it took 1830 years to reach the first billion mark, a hundred years for the second billion, thirty years for the third billion, only thirteen years for the fourth billion and only FIVE years for the fifth billion. On July 14, 1987 with the birth of Matej Casper in Yugoslavia, the world population had reached the five billion mark. "We are now trying to maintain six billion people on a planet that has an environmental optimum capacity for only two billion."

Can it be , denied that this alarming rise in population is the root cause of almost any and every problem that we are confronted with today.

Effects of population Growth -

1. Cancels out gains achieved through development measures.
2. Perpetuates Poverty.
3. Unemployment.
4. Price rise.
5. Nutritional levels in society falls, malnutrition, hunger, starvation, ..., diseases spread.
6. Crime rate increases.
7. Corruption increases.
8. Breeds feelings of hatred , greed , jealousy.
9. Illiteracy increases.
10. Teaches efficiency in schools , colleges comes down. The deterioration in mental, moral & Psychological fiber begins and soon accelerates..
11. The pressure on the environment, on the resources increases. This in turn results in -

1. Increased deforestation.
2. Increased rate of consumption of Natural Resources - coal , oil , etc.
3. Increased rate of Pollution.

1. With congested living areas, less living space, limited facilities, the psychological stress and strain of living increases. As a result Law and Order Problems increase.
2. A Vicious cycle, a chain reaction ensues - and the results are as devastating as when the chain reaction in a nuclear reactor runs amok.

Where are we human beings headed for? The life supporting systems of this planet today are threatened in a manner and to an extent as never ever before. Who is to blame? When will we wake up ? For how long can we be in denial? For how long will we continue to bury our head in the sand like an ostrich and deny the existence of these profoundly serious problems.

For how long can we continue to shirk our responsibility? For how long will we continue to display this ostrich like attitude - couldn’t care less attitude ? What will we hand over to the coming generations? What answer will we have to give to the coming generations? We shall owe them an explanation.

I give a call to all the right thinking people in this world, to all the good people on this planet, to the competent few among the masses: To step-up, to come forward and assume this responsibility of carrying the burden of mankind; to come forward and guide the destiny of this planet. I only hope and pray that by the time you come forward it is not too late.

We all love our family – our mom, dad, brother, sister, son, daughter, spouse, friends, etc. Love can be responsible or irresponsible. Love can be mature or immature. Responsible love is built on a foundation of competence – intellect and integrity.

It is easy to say to your spouse, mom, dad, son, daughter, brother, sister: "I love you very much." The challenge is to show "responsible love."

As human beings, what are our duties, responsibilities?

I ask you a question: "Who are we?"

"We are human beings".

May I ask you: "What do we live for? What should we live for? What purpose should our life serve? What are our duties? What are our responsibilities? What set of duties, responsibilities go with the fact that we are born as human beings and not in any other animal form?"

Every individual, every human being living on our planet has certain set of responsibilities, certain set of duties that go with the fact that God sent us on Earth as human beings. Duty towards: -

1. Oneself.
2. Family.
3. Profession.
4. Society (Community, Nation, Earth).

The duties towards oneself comes first and we may ask why? Why does duty towards "self" come before duty towards family, profession or society?

Well! I would have preferred asking the question, "What are the duties towards one self?" The answer to this, eliminates the question - ‘why’?

What is the first and most important duty towards oneself? "SELF DEVELOPMENT!"

Self Development: This is an extremely vital duty. Every human being must work diligently for his (her) ‘self development.’ He (she) must work for his (her) mental, moral, psychological and physical development. Unless we develop our mental, moral, psychological and physical fiber, how can we be competent enough to do full justice to the discharge of our duties towards our family, profession and society.

Self Development is our job, it is our duty, it is our responsibility. Our parents and our education system – help us attain this goal, but in the final analysis, ultimately it is our responsibility. We are responsible for developing ourselves. We cannot blame it on any one else. We don’t need formal education to attain this goal. We don’t have to enroll in any school or college. All we need is to enroll in this great university of Life.

There are some set of responsibilities that go with the fact that we are a member of a family - towards our family.

There are some set of responsibilities that go with the fact that we have the uniform on - towards our profession.

There are some set of responsibilities that go with the fact that we have the human skin on, we live in the society - towards the society, towards the human race.

Some one tells us that we are not doing our duty towards our family, and we feel hurt. Our conscience feels troubled. Why? Because we understand the concept of duty towards our family.

Some one tells us that we are neglecting our duty towards our profession. We feel hurt, our conscience feels troubled. We understand the concept of duty towards our profession.

What if some one tells us, we are neglecting our duty towards ‘ourselves’ or that we are neglecting our duty towards ‘society’. Well! what is our reaction now? Do we feel hurt? Does our conscience feel troubled? For many of us - not at all! Why? Because the concept of "duties towards oneself" and especially "duties towards society" is just not understood, something which neither our parents, nor our friends nor our education system, has ever taught us. In a sense, our education is "incomplete."

Let us begin with doing our duty towards ourselves – building a great attitude and making ourselves strong physically, emotionally, psychologically, morally, spiritually and intellectually.

Let me restate: It is easy to say: "I love my mom, I love my dad, I love my daughter, I love my son, etc." Challenge is to show "responsible love."

A responsible person shows responsible love. A responsible person would begin with doing his duty towards himself.

I would expect a person who is doing his duty towards himself to be diligently working, doing the following:

1. Physical Exercises: "I have no gym" – is no excuse! We don’t need a Gym! We all can do the following:

1. At the very least, two or three times a week go for a long walk – 30 to 90 minute walk. While walking do positive thinking and deep breathing.
2. If possible jog two or three times a week. Do not jog or walk on roads where there is heavy traffic.
3. Two or more times a week do general calisthenics such as push-ups, sit-ups, stretching exercises, etc.

Exercise for strength, endurance, flexibility and circulo-respiratory stamina.

1. Eat Healthy: Include in diet - fruits, vegetables, whole grain cereals, nuts, eggs, fish, poultry, dairy products, etc. Avoid - refined flour, refined foods, processed foods, foods with preservatives, chemical additives, artificial coloring agents, etc. Say NO to Smoking and Drinking.

"I have no time. I have no time to exercise, I have no time to cook." Well! We have all the time to enjoy ill health.

Based on attitude, diet and physical fitness, one person will commute for two hours and arrive at work having energy to work all day at peak efficiency; or as a parent accompany the four year old to a school field trip and return excited and energized.

2. Read good books and watch educational programs, with the aim of building one’s intellect, integrity, logical thinking faculty, analytical ability, etc.
3. Be in the company of people who can be role models, people who have an established track record of being more wise, intelligent, mature and good judgement.
4. Never stop reading, thinking, exercising.

The greatest danger to any individual, family, organization or civilization is from within, not outside.

When as individuals we do our duty towards ourselves, build ourselves -- we then build a great family, great organization, great nation, great civilization.

A person who does not want to do his duty towards himself, is sending a clear message to every one around him: "You guys work hard. I will enjoy the fruit of your labor."

In every family, organization, nation, civilization there are people who have made themselves competent and capable; there are people who every day enjoy working hard - developing their intellect and integrity; who find joy striving to make themselves strong –intellectually, morally, emotionally, psychologically, spiritually and physically.

In every family, organization, nation, civilization there are people who in varying degrees are carrying the burden and there are those who in varying degrees "are a burden".

"I am a patriot! I love my family!" Well! Sounds good! GO BUILD THYSELF!

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"America is a Land of Opportunity - Opportunity to Serve!"

"Our National Character is the Sum Total Character of Individual Citizens. As we Sow, so we Reap."

"When we do something unethical, immoral, unjust or unfair,

– we do grave disservice to ourselves, to our family, community, nation and to mankind."

"If we truly love our country, love our job, love our family, - then the first duty is to build ourselves. Make ourselves strong – intellectually, morally, psychologically, spiritually and physically."

Let us have courage, character and intellect to assert:

"we are a nation of laws – laws that uphold what is ethical, moral, just and fair."

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