• I ask our parents, “Tell me, are all the world’s greatest or most successful people doctors and engineers? Does life really end if one doesn’t get into medical school or engineering? Who gave you the right to pass such a simplistic verdict on life?”
• What you should want for your child is that they live with a healthy body and a joyful heart. Please don’t do anything to them or say anything to them that makes them forget how to respect themselves. Those who respect themselves will never keep themselves small forever. They will rise—they must!
• True achievement lies not in studying at the finest institutions, but in doing the finest work from wherever you stand. What is the job of the finest institutions? To create the finest people, right? So teach your child this wisdom instead. Encourage them. This builds their sense of responsibility. If anyone is going to brighten your face with pride, it will be your own child, not someone else’s.
• Does life really end if you study at a private university? Are all private university students devoid of wisdom? I have many successful friends who graduated from private institutions. My experience certainly doesn’t suggest otherwise. Break free from these old assumptions. Universities don’t make students great—students make universities great.
• Accept that not everyone can do everything. I studied computer engineering but couldn’t become a computer engineer. That was my failure. I thank God for my failure. If someone had forced me to become an engineer, people might have pointed at me and said, “Look, look how terrible this CUET graduate is!” I’m glad. Why should people blame my university because of me? Let them curse me, not my alma mater.
• Some people never praise any of your good deeds but always condemn your mistakes. It’s better to ignore them. Small-minded people lack the generosity to praise others. I love my critics more than anyone else. Fine words. But critics who diminish your confidence deserve no love. Do you really have time to care so much? This is your life. You are the most reliable person to decide what you will live with and what you won’t. What is success? Success is living without regret. Nothing more. Criticism suits only those who also know how to praise.
• I’ve seen that simply being alive accomplishes so much. When you’re gone, apart from those very close to you, no one else is truly affected. So, stay alive. Your death would cause great discomfort to those people who find peace in wishing for your death. If only for their sake… live! Staying alive is the greatest revenge. So, if only for your own sake… live! Live for yourself. Live for others.
• Dying for someone makes no sense at all. The person you’re thinking of dying for—how much do they really think of you? If they truly cared, would they let you die? No one in this world is indispensable. Life doesn’t stop for anyone; it only pauses sometimes. Let them be well in their own way. You be well in yours. Being well is what matters most.
• Never believe that you are the world’s most sorrowful person, that you suffer more than anyone else. You cannot even imagine that perhaps the world’s most sorrowful person speaks with the most beautiful smile. You cannot even conceive of their pain.
• In life, it’s better to suffer pain than to receive nothing at all. The pain that doesn’t destroy you—you can transform it into your greatest strength, if you choose.
• To my younger friends, I say this: You will have conflicts with your parents, you will suffer greatly, you’ll start feeling that your parents don’t want what’s best for you, that they don’t love you at all, that they are your enemies. And much more like this. About this, I’ll say just one thing. Life has ultimately taught me this: my father was right all along, my mother’s tears never lied. After wasting so much time, I returned to the very path they had shown me. I believe God resides within them. Sometimes what they say is nothing but divine guidance.
Footnote: The above text is the final section of another piece I wrote. The full essay is titled ‘The Inadmissibility of Suicide.’ Those interested may read the complete work.
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