Sunday, 10 Sep 2023
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By Dr. Thilan U. Hewage
“When the last tree is cut down, the last river poisoned, the last fish is caught, then only will man discover that he cannot eat money.” – Cree Indian wisdom
Biology Professor turned environmental activist Barry Commoner was one of the few who could envision what the world is experiencing now due to shortsighted activities of humans at the time and in the past. He warned...
“I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones” – Albert Einstein
Einstein was supposed to have answered a question about future wars using the above statement to indicate how powerful the weapons would be after the WW II. If there is going to be a WW III then most of the life forms on earth will be...
“The best proof that there is intelligent life in outer space is the fact that it hasn’t come here.” – Arthur C. Clarke
Billionaire Richard Branson and five others flew to an altitude of 86.1 km (53.8 miles) in Virgin Galactic’s VSS-Unity on Sunday, July 11, 2021 and landed safely at the runway of Spaceport America in New Mexico, USA.
After landing, Branson said: “I have...
“No one is born hating another person because of the colour of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.” – Nelson Mandela
When one sees or hears the word “discrimination” the very first feeling one gets, almost...
“Common sense is the most fairly distributed thing in the world, for each one thinks he is so well-endowed with it that even those who are hardest to satisfy in all other matters are not in the habit of desiring more of it than they already have.” – Rene Descartes
The Cambridge Dictionary describes “common sense” as “the basic level of practical knowledge and judgement...
By Dr. Thilan U. Hewage
“And so, we shall have to do more than register and more than vote; we shall have to create leaders who embody virtues we can...
“Decolonisation actually boosted slavery. As foreign powers withdrew from the colonies, people were enslaved by their own...
“Interdependence is a fundamental law of nature. Even tiny insects survive by mutual cooperation based on innate recognition of...
“The advocates of free markets in all their visions say that crises are rare events, though they have been happening with...
“Democracy is necessarily despotism. As it establishes an executive power contrary to the general will; all being able to decide...
“The truth is: the natural world is changing. And we are totally dependent on that world. It provides our food, water, and air....
“Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.Where there is hatred, let me sow love;where there is injury, pardon;where there is...
“Let us think of education as the means of developing our greatest abilities, because in each of us there is a private hope and...
“We shall one day learn to supersede politics by education. What we call our root-and-branch reforms of slavery, war, gambling,...
“The biggest problem is not to let people accept new ideas, but to let them forget the old ones.” – John Maynard Keynes“A basic...
“The real goal should be reduced government spending, rather than balanced budgets achieved by ever rising tax rates to cover...
“Imprisonment…is a cruel and useless substitute for the elimination of those conditions – poverty, unemployment, homelessness,...
“Education is for improving the lives of others and for leaving your community and world better than you found it.” – Marian...
The only person who is educated is the one who has learned how to learn and change – Carl RogersIf we put aside the contradictory...
“The individual freedom cannot exist without economic security and independence. People who are hungry and out of a job are the...
“We shall never change our political leaders or the way our Governments do business until we change the way we decide who should...
OPINION
“Power is the strongest drug we can feed on. Power over the self is strengthening. The need for power over others is an addiction...
“To develop a complete mind: Study the Science of Art and the Art of Science. Learn how to see. Realise that everything connects...
“Under heaven, all can see beauty as beauty, only because there is ugliness. All can know good as good only because there is evil...
OPINION:
“Sport has the power to change the world. It has the power to inspire. It has the power to unite people in a way that little else...
OPINION
“If a country is to be corruption free and become a nation of beautiful minds, I strongly feel there are three key societal...
OPINION:
“The rich did not care who ruled, as long as they were allowed to be rich. The poor could not afford to care, and nobody asked...
OPINION:
“Many people regard it as a hopeless task to search for a unifying bond in all the cultural factors that are in a state of...
“Many of us bought into society’s social contract of success. Which states – go to school. Get good grades, get a job, and live...
OPINION:
“That Government is best which governs least. When citizens are prepared for it that will be the kind of Government they will...
“The ideas of economists and political philosophers, both when they are right and when they are wrong, are more powerful than is...
“Without strong watchdog institutions, impunity becomes the very foundation upon which systems of corruption are built.” –...
“It is the collective responsibility of the citizens in a modern state, to ensure by all means necessary, that its Government...
“Countries don’t create economies. It is entrepreneurs and companies that create and revitalise economies. The role of the...
“Leadership must be based on goodwill. Goodwill does not mean posturing and, least of all, pandering to the mob. It means obvious...
“Many a man, under the old and new systems, has made the upward step from candidate to legislator, only to achieve his level of...
“See the world as you see yourself. Have faith in the way things are. Love the world as you love yourself, then you can care for...
“It is said you can survive forty days without food, eight days without water, and eight minutes without air, but you can’t...
“The upper class keeps all of the money, pays none of the taxes. The middle class pays all of the taxes, does all of the work....
“There is no such thing as the United Nations. If the UN secretary building in New York lost 10 stories, it wouldn’t make a bit...
“Education is a progressive discovery of our own ignorance.” – Will DurantAs countries introduce all types of quarantine measures...
“He who controls others may be powerful, but he who has mastered himself is mightier still” – Lao TzuThe idea of poetic justice,...
“We seem to have forgotten that the expression ‘a liberal education’ originally meant among the Romans one worthy of free men;...
“I must study politics and war, that my sons may have liberty to study mathematics and philosophy. My sons ought to study...
“People do not buy goods and services. They buy relations, stories, and magic” - Seth GodinFrench economist Jean-Baptiste Say is...
“Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.” – Ralph Waldo EmersonWith rapid changes...
“Methods of instruction in education systems around the world tend to create the impression that “knowledge” consists of a series...
“No one is born a good citizen; no nation is born a Democracy. Rather, both are processes that continue to evolve over a lifetime...
“I don’t believe in Astrology; I’m a Sagittarius and we are skeptical.” – Arthur C. ClarkeThe Cambridge Dictionary describes the...
“Economic growth without investment in human development is unsustainable and unethical” – Amartya SenEconomies of countries...
“United we stand divided we fall” is a quote that is used quite often to encourage collaboration, team work and patriotism. One...
“Freedom comes with self-knowledge, when the mind goes above and beyond the hindrances it has created for itself.” – Jiddu...
“Patriotism is when love of your own people comes first; nationalism, when hate for people other than your own comes first.” -...
Happiness depends on ourselves, on cultivation of virtue which is achieved by maintaining the balance between the excesses –...
It is strange that men are in such a haste to get fame as teachers rather than knowledge as leaners. – Henry David...