5 Influential Quotes

Its time for us to get back together again and write about a common topic which for this month is, "5 influential quotes you love & live by".  As I love collecting quotes, I jumped at the idea but realised that selecting only 5 out of my collection was really difficult. I have tried to do it anyway, by picking up the ones that apart from being some of my favourites also hold a special meaning for me in some way.


1. Amateurs built the ark, professionals built the Titanic - Source unknown
I love the simplicity of this quote and how easily it puts forth the idea that, just because someone is not a conventional expert about a certain thing, they should not be ridiculed or discouraged. Recently I have started seeing how well this applies practically, whenever Shreya points out something which is so obvious that we later wonder why we didnt think of it!


2. If its not happy, its not the end.
I knew this and lived by it, long before Shahrukh Khan condoned it in 'Om Shanti Om'! Remember this - "Picture abhi baki hai mere dost!"


Again, I don't know the source but this is something I have strongly believed in throughout my life. Some might call this overly optimistic but I sincerely feel that everything will sort out in the end. In fact there was a time when I would refuse to watch those serious 'art movies' where the end used to be left vague with the lead actor and actress going their separate ways, or the frustrated youth either jailed or dead, or the harassed child going on to become a frustrated youth and so on. I always wanted the characters to have a happy ending. Maybe this is the reason I still adore the Hrishikesh Mukherjee movies, where it always ends with all the characters smiling for the camera, everything sorted out and in place for all of them to be happy ever after.


Having said that, I do not live in my own fairy tale world and I do realise that things dont always work out, but the way I look at things is that, whenever it is not working out, it is just a passing phase and eventually everything will be fine.


3. When you look back on life, you'll regret the things you didn't do more than the one's you did.
This is a classic one, if you ask me and so true as well. There are a lot of things I have wanted to do and whenever I think about them I feel very sad that I didnt pursue them. Even now while I am drafting this, I can hardly recollect anything that I have done & regretted. Of course short term regrets will always be there but you tend to forget them in the long run and what you are left with are the things that you didn't do.


4. Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
An often repeated quote that I love because of what it implies and of course the Tomato angle gives it a witty edge as well. Surprisingly there are a lot of people who really dont know that Tomato is fruit and not a vegetable!


5. No matter how thinly you slice it, there are always two sides.
My attitude in life exactly! Anything that happens always has 2 aspects to it, you can choose either the positive or the negative one. As I have already demonstrated in one of the earlier quotes, I am the perpetual positive thinking one, which sometimes is annoying to people. But this quote has stood me in good stead and I am always preaching it - there are always two ways to look at things!


There are lots of other quotes I like and I have to mention a few more here.

• Everywhere is within walking distance, if you have the time. (Steven Wright)
• Our house is clean enough to be healthy and dirty enough to be happy.
• One’s mind, once stretched by a new idea, never regains its original dimension
• Opportunity has to knock, but it is enough for temptation to stand outside and whistle
• Being right is highly overrated. Even a stopped clock is right twice a day
• You can discover what your enemy fears the most by observing the means he uses to frighten you.
• A true friend never gets in your way unless you happen to be going down.(Arnold H. Glasow)