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The Muse

April 11, 2006

A Profound Thought...

Had to share this with you:

"We must do what we conceive to be the right thing and not bother our heads or burden our souls with whether we will be successful. Because if we don’t do the right thing, we will be doing the wrong thing and we will just be a part of the disease and not a part of the cure"

E.F. Schumacher (1911 - 1977)

More on Schumacher here and the E.F. Schumacher Society here

Credits: Obtained via Atanu via Myke

posted by Ram at Tuesday, April 11, 2006

15 Comments:

  • nice quote ram...

    forgetting some obvious issues, it is always tough to understand what is right and what is wrong... probably there isn't something as right or wrong?

    By Blogger NaiKutti, at 8:20 PM  

  • Nice quote Ram and yea, very profound!

    By Blogger Sattvic, at 9:44 PM  

  • Yeah Karthik, other than the obvious right/wrong ones..there is a lot of ambiguity. All to often I am involved in discussions of how something won't work, how it is not practical, how it is a waste of money etc etc., and this quote just put all that into some sort of perspective for me.

    Thanks Sattvic!

    Hi Raz, good thought, I can see how that is true. I would have added the caveat that we need to make sure we are doing the right thing, then we need to go ahead and do it without hesitancy.

    I removed the word verification - I did not pay much attention to it earlier. My apologies to all (five :)) people!

    By Blogger Ram, at 11:18 PM  

  • absolutely.glad I came across it.
    we should never worry about anything,infact,just have to breath in the present and breathe out the past.

    By Blogger Scoot, at 12:54 PM  

  • Ram: I agree with the views of Naikutti and others. I thought I would share my humble opinion on this quote. I think, what we conceive be to right, affects only our life, then I think, it is ok. But, when our idea of what is right gets into the realm of someone else's personal freedom, then it might be an issue. Cos, a lot of terrorists, I think, totally believe what they are doing is absolutely right and they think that they are fighting for the right reason. Yea, there is a lot of ambiquity. As far as we don't hurt others, I think its ok :)

    By Blogger Sattvic, at 9:31 PM  

  • Hey Maya, very well put (but what else to expect from a poet?)

    Absolutely Sattvic. I immediately thought of that scenario too. I think its a question of context. If we restrict ourselves to, say, efforts dealing with doing something to help children, or the poor or the elderly or something like that, then this quote resonated with me. I feel that most people are willing to help others less fortunate than themselves [charities, spending time, sharing knowledge etc],but are too much into analyzing whether their contributions will produce results or impact the target audience. Show me results! Will my money reach them? Do they appreciate what I do? The whole system is corrupt and hopeless etc., are all laments that we tend to use and what happens is that we end up doing nothing in the end. And Schumacher was from a previous generation, so if you think about how the world stood and watched the holocaust happen - the quote fits right in.

    But then again, what if by intervening we are making the system worse? Ah...I think that is very being smart and being logical come in. We should take the time, do our research and pick our battles and sides with care, and then not hold back till we win.

    I'm glad you guys took the time to think about it, thank you!


    Ram

    By Blogger Ram, at 12:25 AM  

  • Tht was a very nice quote, Ram. And the link was gud as well.

    By Blogger Ponnarasi Kothandaraman, at 10:41 AM  

  • Thanks Raz - and I am honored that you blogrolled me.

    Thanks Ponnarasi!

    By Blogger Ram, at 1:54 PM  

  • Hi Ram,
    First time here, bloghopped thro Vijays link. You have got a very nice blog. Will read more soon. This post was very thoughful...And i needed that quote for i was so confused in making an important decision.... THANKU! Am very clear about what i have to do/say now! :)

    By Blogger Marutham, at 4:01 AM  

  • Hi Marutham - Thanks, happy you liked the post and very glad you got some use out of it. Welcome!

    Ram

    By Blogger Ram, at 8:29 AM  

  • Hi Ram,

    A seriously great thought. Didn`t know about E.F.Schumacher till now. Only the Schumacher of F1 fitted into my small brain. Thanks for those links.

    Also this thought seriously stresses upon the importance of taking an initiative. A great message indeed for the youth of the nation.

    Regards,
    Srijith

    By Blogger srijithunni, at 12:43 AM  

  • Hi Srijith, thanks and I totally agree that this fits in with what India's youth should strive for.

    Yeah, till a while back that was the only Schumacher I knew too!

    Take care,
    Ram

    By Blogger Ram, at 1:46 PM  

  • You have been tagged;)

    By Blogger Scoot, at 4:44 PM  

  • call it double trouble or double cross or whatever :) but..
    your time has cometh..yet another small tag for you :)

    excellent stuff on schumi by the way..i always loved michael..now another schumi!

    By Blogger Mind Curry, at 3:32 AM  

  • Hi MC, thanks ! As I was telling Srijith, I didn't know any other Schumi till a while ago either.

    Tags here there and everywhere, I guess you are spreading your joy around, how thoughtful and generous of you. Noted,and will accomplish yours and Maya's, over the weekend.

    Ram

    By Blogger Ram, at 7:00 AM  

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