The Complete Substitute for All Forms of Sociability

You can't just go around saying that you're only saying the truth. You can't go out there and say you only said it because it's true or because it's what you know. Because the moment you say something -- the moment those words are out of your mouth and in the space between your breaths -- it is sound. And it propagates a pressure wave through a medium of particles into hearts and souls. It creates an effect. Something happens. And your words caused it. Your truth caused it. You could hurt someone with your truth. You may not know exactly how but it's the same way your words can make someone feel joy. You need to understand that your words mean something, many different things to many different people. So you need to be careful before you say anything. You need to make sure that your words reflect your intention. And you don't stop there, you don't. After that first letter falls out of your lips, be responsible for the consequence. For your words...

Knowing the kind of things others only wonder about is unimportant. It matters not how much or how little you know, nor how deeply you think. That is immaterial, if it does nothing to improve your character and merely adds to your conceit. Being able to distinguish between what is right and what is wrong is unimportant. It matters not your sense of morality or of propriety. That is immaterial, if it does nothing to improve your character and merely adds to your conceit. Having genius for what you do is unimportant. It matters not how talented you are or how you are enjoying your success. That is immaterial, if it does nothing to improve your character and merely adds to your conceit. What people think of you is unimportant. It matters not what people say about what you ought or what you ought not to or whether or not you are liked. That is immaterial, if it does nothing to improve your character and merely adds to your conceit. Intelligence, good intentions, success, even love....

Internet piracy is a serious problem. All over the world, industries are losing billions to illegal downloads. There seems to be no solution. For as long as music, movies, software programs and the like are made illegally available and for as long as people have internet connection, then it seems inevitable. Personally, I think applications like iTunes and Kindle partly solve the problem. The popularity of the application has shown that people are perfectly willing to pay a minimal fee to download music or books LEGALLY if  -- and that's the operative word -- the whole mechanics is made easy and convenient for consumers. After all, that's the biggest sell of illegal downloads. It's not really because they're free. But because of easy access and convenience. However, people in the industry don't think it's enough or that it's working fast enough to overturn all their losses. After all, there are more people who illegally download stuff everyday than there...

I think people should stop thinking like a herd. Think about it. It is not that far-fetched for everyone else to be wrong. Democracy isn't really about the rule of the majority, but the freedom of the few. Don't hesitate to question what's in front of you. Don't stop asking, especially yourself: Am I doing right by me? For I think that if anything, you should always do right by you. You can conform to standards, follow all the rules, but you cannot borrow other people's principles. You have to live your own. If you want things to mean something -- Believe in it. I think that you shouldn't believe anything just because everyone else believes it. We are not mechanical, mindless. You can pretend and no one will know. But you will know. You're just pretending. For conviction must come from within , not from without. Think about it. I think that you shouldn't think in one particular way because they say: This is how it's done. This is how thi...