My Favourite Quotes

Bible Quotes:

“So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today. (Matthew 6:34)

“Do to others whatever you would like them to do to you. This is the essence of all that is taught in the law and the prophets. (Matthew 7:12)

“You have heard the law that says, ‘Love your neighbor’ and hate your enemy. But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you!" (Matthew 5:43-44)

"Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves." - Matthew 26:41

And Jesus answered them, “Truly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ it will happen. And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.” - Matthew 21:21-22

"Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins." - Mark 11:24-25

"Whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." -Mark 10:44-45

“I can do all things through Christ which gives me strength”  - Philippians 4:13

“If God is for us, who can be against us?” - Romans 8:31

Socrates Quotes

He is richest who is content with the least, for content is the wealth of nature.

The fewer our wants the more we resemble the Gods.

He who is not contented with what he has, would not be contented with what he would like to have.

Remember, no human condition is ever permanent. Then you will not be overjoyed in good fortune nor too scornful in misfortune.

Lao Tsu Quotes:

Treat those who are good with goodness, and also treat those who are not good with goodness. Thus goodness is attained.

Care about what other people think and you will always be their prisoner.

Failure is an opportunity

He who is contented is rich. If you realize that you have enough, you are truly rich.  There is no disaster greater than not being content.

If your happiness depends on money, you will never be happy with yourself.

He, who knows, does not speak. He, who speaks, does not know.

Silence is a source of great strength.

Be careful what you water your dreams with. Water them with worry and fear and you will produce weeds that choke the life from your dream. Water them with  optimism and solutions and you will cultivate success.

Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach him how to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.

By letting it go it all gets done. The world is won by those who let it go. But when you try and try, the world is beyond the winning.

Seek not happiness too greedily, and be not fearful of unhappiness

Buddha Quotes:

Just as treasures are uncovered from the earth, so virtue appears from good deeds, and wisdom appears from a pure and peaceful mind. To walk safely through the maze of human life, one needs the light of wisdom and the guidance of virtue.

To enjoy good health, to bring true happiness to one's family, to bring peace to all, one must first discipline and control one's own mind.

 If a man can control his mind he can find the way to Enlightenment, and all wisdom and virtue will naturally come to him.

We are shaped by our thoughts; we become what we think. When the mind is pure, joy follows like a shadow that never leaves.

To keep the body in good health is a duty... otherwise we shall not be able to keep our mind strong and clear.

Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned.

To keep the body in good health is a duty... otherwise we shall not be able to keep our mind strong and clear.

Health is the greatest gift, contentment the greatest wealth, faithfulness the best relationship.

Other Quotes:

There is something wrong if you are always right. - Arnold Glassgow

Bill Gates: Having the required Knowledge is more important than College Degree

I see lot of posts on facebook about Mr. Bill Gates dropout from college and then comparing themselves to Bill Gates on not having a degree. Being a fan of Bill Gates, I thought to write a small post on why one can't just compare themselves to Bill Gates on dropout without the necessary achievement.

Bill Gates who reluctantly dropped out of the college once said "Unlike some students, I loved college. However, I felt the window of opportunity to start a Software company might not open again"

Some Educational background of Bill Gates (from Wikipedia ):

Mr. Gates graduated from Lakeside School, WA in 1973. He was a very bright student scoring 1590 out of 1600 on the SAT and got enrolled at Harvard College 1973.  In 1975 Gates, in his sophomore year, devised an algorithm for pancake sorting as a solution to one of a series of unsolved problems presented in a combinatorics class by Harry Lewis, one of his professors. Gates's solution held the record as the fastest version for over thirty years; its successor is faster by only one percent. His solution was later formalized in a published paper in collaboration with Harvard computer scientist Christos Papadimitriou.

Gates did not have a definite study plan while a student at Harvard and spent a lot of time using the school's computers. Gates remained in contact with Paul Allen, and he joined him at Honeywell during the summer of 1974. The following year saw the release of the MITS Altair 8800 based on the Intel 8080 CPU, and Gates and Allen saw this as the opportunity to start their own computer software company. Gates dropped out of Harvard at this time. He had talked this decision over with his parents, who were supportive of him after seeing how much Gates wanted to start a company

Conclusion:
So, Bill gates didn't dropout the college because he couldn't complete it. He saw an opportunity to open his own company. He must have also felt that he had sufficient knowledge to run the company and he was not required to complete the college.  If we dropout of the college because we have the specialized knowledge that is not required by going to college, only then its fair to compare our self to Gates dropout. But if we don't have a degree just because we couldn't get into the college or we couldn't pass or we don't have interest in studying then comparing one to Gates is just not right.

And finally, yes, I agree that a person not having a degree can have more knowledge and can achieve more that the one having a degree like in case of Henry Ford. Unfortunately one can not prove that just by talking but has to back it by achieving.

References:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Gates
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_H._Gates,_Sr.

Why Monthi Feast is so popular to Mangalorea​n Catholics

It wouldn't be wrong if I say that for a Mangalorean Catholics, Nativity/Monthi Feast is the third most important Festival after Christmas and Easter. But many of us celebrate this feast without knowing how the name Monthi got attached to it. Almost every Mangalorean Catholic know that it’s a first harvest festival or a family festival celebrated along with Mother Mary's Birthday but what many of us actually don’t know is why Nativity Feast is celebrated by us more than any other Catholics including Goans.

Some Background:

On 24 February, 1784 (which happened to be the Ash Wednesday), Tippu Sultan conquered Mangalorean Catholics who were about 80,000 in number during that time. He deported them to Srirangapattana. People had to walk all the way to Srirangapattana from Mangalore which is about 350KM. About 20,000 people died on their way to Srirangapattana. Elderly people who couldn't walk were either thrown down from Mountains on their way or were killed. Catholics were held captives for 15 years and were brutally tortured until his death in 4 May, 1799. It is believed that only 15,000-20,000 Catholics returned back after his death. He used to pierce one eye, cut one hand and one leg and cut nose, upper lip of those people who tried to escape or showed resistance. Many people (at least 30,000) got converted to Islam. Girls and women were given as slaves to Generals working under Tippu. But there were people who stood strong on their Christian faith amist all the torture. They pulled threads out of gunny bags (which were given to them to sleep) and made Rosary out of it and started praying to Mother Mary. Being skilled farmers, Catholics in Mangalore were very rich having lots of cultivating land before the exile. But when they returned back, all their land were occupied by others. They had to start their lives all over again.

Actual Reason:
The festival name Monthi derives its name from the Monte Mariano Church at Farangipet, South Canara build in 1763. It was popularised by Fr. Joachim Miranda, a Goan Catholic priest. Though Tippu Sultan destroyed all the churches of South Canara, he spared Monte Mariano Church in deference to the friendship of his father Hyder Ali with Father Miranda.

As per my research, there are three different stories.

1. Many believe that the feast was first initiated in Monte Mariano Church by Fr.Joachim Miranda in 1763 and later on spread across other churches mostly after the return from Tippu's Captivity.
2. Some believe that Goans had a tradition of blessing the first harvest on the nativity of Mother Mary. Fr.Joachim Miranda brough this culture to Monte Mariano Church in 1763. Though Goans celebrate nativity feast, they gave up the tradition of blessing the harvest due to Portuguese aquisition.
3. Very few believe that the feast only started after the return from Tippu's Captivity, first in Monte Mariano Church, the only spared church by Tippu and later on spread across all other churches.

No matter which one is true, the feast derived its name Monthi from the Monte Mariano Church and became popular only after the return from Tippu's captivity. The blessing of their first harvest on Mother Mary's Nativity feast after the return from Tippu's captivity was a very emotional one.

About Festival:

The nine days of novena to Mother Mary is followed by the Monthi/Nativity Feast celebration. The first harvest is blessed in church and then distributed among people. On this day the family members gather together, say prayers together and give thanks to God and have vegetarian lunch. (In most places, Fish is also served considering it to be Veggie. Only meat is not served.). The harvest distributed in church is usually mixed with Payasam that is served after the lunch.

Today all of us Mangalorean Catholics celebrate this festival but the actual reason is forgotten including my parents and relatives. It happened that I got some information about this festival 3-4 year back while searching on internet about Mangalorean Catholics and I started digging further. Today the reason why most of us Mangalorean Catholic are still Catholic is only through their sufferings, because of those who stood strong against all the torture and didn't give up their faith. Next time when we Mangaloreans celebrate this feast, let us remember and pray for all those who underwent all the sufferings in order to keep our faith alive. Praise the Lord.

References:

http://www.daijiworld.com/chan/exclusive_arch.asp?ex_id=129
http://www.bellevision.com/belle/index.php?action=topnews&type=10440

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Captivity_of_Mangalorean_Catholics_at_Seringapatam

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mangalorean_Catholics (Under Post-migration era and captivity)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persecution_of_Christians (Under India)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tipu_Sultan (Under Attitude towards Christians)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monti_Fest

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mangalorean_Catholics

http://en.academic.ru/dic.nsf/enwiki/11071003