Shah Rukh Khan has a saying that goes like this: You can love me or hate me, but you can't ignore me! I'll say it again: You can love me or hate me, but you can't ignore me! What this means is, you may love me or you may hate me, but you cannot avoid me—meaning you will watch my movies! Yes, you will see my work!
When I write something, I try to write it in such a way that those who hate me, my haters, might not give a love reaction to that piece...forget love reactions, they won't even like it, won't leave a single comment, no...they won't do anything! But they will secretly read my writing, come to my wall and read what I've written. I try to keep my writing at that standard. When even my haters love my writing, then I feel I am a successful writer. When someone's work is loved even by their haters—maybe they can't say it out loud, can't admit it because of false pride or ego—but they secretly enjoy that work, then that person is a good worker.
There was a time when I used to write for Prothom Alo and Kaler Kantho about BCS exam preparation, and there wasn't a single BCS exam for which I didn't write! Later I stopped writing myself due to some personal grievances. So when I would write a piece for Prothom Alo, I would try to write in such a way that all copies of the paper would sell out quickly that day. Yes, that's exactly what would happen! I would work tremendously hard on each piece. Seriously! Maybe I was writing just a thousand-word article, but I would spend nine to ten hours writing even that much! I would study extensively before writing. I would write in such a way that even my haters would buy that day's Prothom Alo, go to their rooms, close the door so no one could see, and read it...they had to read it! Even candidates who couldn't stand me would read that day's piece. Yes, they had to read it! What could be found there couldn't be found anywhere else. That's how I would throw down a challenge to myself and write. I would challenge myself that I had to write at that standard. Only fools throw challenges at others. When you challenge yourself, work gets done. Those who can't stand me—even if you push them out by the throat—would come running back to me. The source of their love isn't me, it's my work.
So that's how I view critics! Whatever such people might say, I accept it only when I see that they have the qualifications to speak about what I'm writing or working on. A person who has never been able to write two lines in their life, who has never read anything good, never read a good piece of writing—what would it matter if such a person said two bad things about my writing? They don't even have the ability to say bad things. William Shakespeare's harshest critic was George Bernard Shaw. Shaw was a great playwright. That he criticized William Shakespeare was fortunate for Shakespeare. But if someone like me—some Rahman or Salim—were to criticize William Shakespeare, Shakespeare should rightfully ignore it. It should be disregarded.
So when people criticize you, first see whether they know about that subject, whether they are qualified to criticize in that matter. If they're not qualified, you don't need to pay attention to it. Second point: if you ever needed advice on some matter, and the person you would never seek advice from is the one criticizing you or trying to give unsolicited advice, never take that seriously! It won't be of much use to you. There are many people who like to give advice—because their self-respect is low, they say random things, come to your wall and say all sorts of nonsense, they don't have even the minimum self-respect. They have plenty of time to waste bothering you.
I used to block such people before. Now I don't even block them. I don't like to! Because inferior creatures are always greater in number. The reproductive capacity of inferior creatures is also infinite! If you go after them, it's impossible to cope. Have you ever killed cockroaches at home? You'll see that you can never finish killing cockroaches! Oh my, so many cockroaches! But if an elephant entered your house, you'd only need to kill one. Not many elephants would enter, if any, only one would. Plenty of cockroaches will enter, plenty of rats will enter—you can't kill them all. That's why inferior creatures are greater in number. They'll come to your wall and chatter away! And remember, those who bother others can never get ahead of that person. Those who move forward never bother others—they quietly move ahead.
That's why, whether critics or detractors, you have to be very careful about accepting or rejecting them. If you see criticism that's been made for your benefit, if that person truly wants your good, then bow your head and accept that criticism and improve yourself. You'll see some people—when you're doing good work, they won't say two good words, won't give you words of praise, won't say two good things about you. But when some work or word of yours doesn't please them, when in their eyes you've done something bad, made a mistake, then they come rushing to dig up your entire genealogy! Such people are never your well-wishers. Delete them from your life. Distance yourself from them and tell them: Brother, I don't need charity, mind your own business! I don't need your advice. If you had any shame, you wouldn't come to me again, and I'd be very happy. If you don't like me, don't look at me. Is there such a shortage of things to look at in this world that you absolutely must keep staring at me?!
The person who makes you feel low, whose words make you feel low—remember, no matter how learned that person might be, whatever else they might be, they are completely unnecessary in your life. The person whose words make you feel high, feel good, whose words inspire you to do something beautiful, who helps you see yourself in a good light—that person is a very valuable mirror for you. When someone stands in front of a mirror, everyone thinks they're Shah Rukh Khan. They think their face is very beautiful, they think they're Hrithik Roshan when they stand in front of a mirror. Even someone who has no hair on their head will stand in front of the mirror and say, "Allah! I have exactly five hairs on my head! A whole head full of five hairs...imagine!" They actually say this!
Try to spend more time with the person who, when talking to you, when they're in front of you, makes you see and think of yourself as beautiful; because when we see ourselves as beautiful in the mirror, a kind of inner desire arises to keep ourselves beautiful. We don't pick our nose in front of people, do we? Why don't we? Because we know it looks ugly if we pick our nose. In other words, we do what helps us present ourselves well. Everyone wants to present themselves beautifully, to think of themselves as good and beautiful. When I mix with a person who makes me feel good about myself, I present myself well to that person, I try to develop myself, day by day I feel inspired to do something even better. Yes, surely you have such people in your life! Stand before such people. Standing before others is simply wasting time.
Some people exist who can never praise anyone. They're like viruses. There was a man who had a dog... let me tell you a story, taken from Shiv Khera's book. Shiv Khera has a book called "You Can Win"—you should read it, it's a good book—this story is from there. A man had a dog. This dog possessed an extraordinary ability. The dog could walk on water! It could run on water! So this man would invite various friends to witness his dog's power. Everyone would praise it, and hearing this made the man very happy. The man had one friend who never praised anyone. Then he thought, if I show my dog's ability to him, where will he go without praising it! Let me call him. He was invited. There was plenty of feasting at midday. In the evening, the two sat by the pond talking, with the dog alongside. Then the man who was the host, who had given the invitation, shot a bird with his gun. The bird fell with a splash into the middle of the pond. Then the dog ran straight across the water, took the bird in its mouth, and came to shore. After the dog reached the pond's edge, even after witnessing all this, that friend said nothing! Completely silent! Not a single word. Then he stammered a bit and said, "Friend, there was something I wanted to say!" "What?" "You saw my dog—did you notice anything strange about this dog?" "Meaning?" "I mean something exceptional, something that other dogs don't have but my dog does! Did you see anything like that?" Then the friend said, "Yes, I saw it!" In an excited voice the host asked, "Friend, what did you see?!" "Your dog can't even swim!"
Understand the situation! Those who never say anything good about people—they don't know how to speak well, they simply don't speak well! If they must speak, they only say something bad, otherwise they say nothing at all. They're not human, they're viruses! This virus is more dangerous than corona! Delete such people from your life with shift-delete. Keep them away from your life at any cost. If you can't keep them away, move away yourself. Life is so short! In this brief life, there's no point in giving space to such viruses. They're truly more dangerous than corona! You wear masks for corona, don't you! In front of them, not a mask—bring a basin! Walk with a basin in front of your head, so they can't even approach you! They're shameless types, so they might even show up brazenly. If there's a huge basin in front of your face, even if they notice you, you won't be able to notice them anymore. This is what I believe. If you can do this, you'll stay well and be able to keep yourself well.