Be The Worst

"It's better to hang out with people better than you. Pick out associates whose behavior is better than yours, and you'll drift in that direction."
-- Warren Buffett

This reminds of chapter 'Be The Worst' in The Passionate Programmer...

Before starting my career in information technology, I was a professional jazz and blues saxophonist. As a musician, I had the good fortune of learning this lesson early on and sticking to it. Being the worst guy in the band means always playing with people who are better than you.

Now, why would you always choose to be the worst person in a band? “Isn’t it unnerving?” you ask. Yes, it’s extremely unnerving at first. As a young musician, I would find myself in situations where I was so obviously the worst guy in the band that I was sure I would stick out like a sore thumb. I’d show up to a gig and not even want to unpack my saxophone for fear I’d be forcefully ejected from the bandstand. I’d find myself standing next to people I looked up to, expected to perform at their level—sometimes as the lead instrument!

Without fail (thankfully!), something magical would happen in these situations: I would fit in. I wouldn’t stand out among the other musicians
as a star. On the other hand, I wouldn’t be obviously outclassed, either. This would happen for two reasons. The first reason is that I really wasn’t as bad as I thought. We’ll come back to this one later.

The more interesting reason that I would fit in with these superior musicians—my heroes, in some cases—is thatmy playing would transform itself to be more like theirs.

-- Chad Fowler in The Passionate Programmer

Person - Character - Decisions

मनुष्य का चरित्र उसकी क्षमता से नही अपितु उसके सन्कल्प से अभिव्यक्त होता है ।

In English,

A person's character is revealed by his decisions, and not by his abilities. or

A person's character is not revealed/determined by his abilities, but by his decisions.

Don't know who said it first, but heard it first from Swami Ramdev, and then also from some articles on internet.

Speed and Haste in Life

There is more to life than increasing its speed.
- Mahatma Gandhi

Seven Blunders of the World

Via Museums of the Mind

"Seven Blunders of the World"

1. Wealth without work
2. Pleasure without conscience
3. Knowledge without character
4. Commerce without morality
5. Science without humanity
6. Worship without sacrifice
7. Politics without principle

—Mahatma Gandhi

Update:
Stephen Covey comments on Seven human failings as enumerated by Gandhiji

'Vote'

Vote: The instrument and symbol of a free man's power to make a fool of himself and a wreck of his country
-- Ambrose Bierce (American editorialist, journalist, short-story writer and satirist, today best known for his Devil's Dictionary.)

Quote: Illusion & Reality

God made the illusion look real and the real an illusion. He concealed the sea and made the foam visible, the wind invisible, and the dust manifest. You see the dust whirling, but how can the dust rise by itself? You see the foam, but not the ocean. Invoke Him with deeds, not words, for deeds are real and will save you in the afterlife.

- Rumi, ‘Mathnawi’