Have you ever heard a quote that stops you and makes you think about how you live?

Bill Masen - December 13, 2021

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Over my 65 years I have often pondered about life, how I live, where I live and what my choices actually mean to me.   I’ve debated off gridding, prepping, survivialism, homesteading, urban prepping etc with my piers and friends and other preppers.   I’ve tended to focus on how I as the individual lives and rarely thought no further on the issue than my immediate family.

I’ve seen and read images, texts and witnessed real life scenes that often give me food for thought, but rarely has anything made me stop what I was doing and give serious thought to a QUOTE or IMAGE , perhaps four maybe five times something has gotten my full focussed attention.

Today whilst watching a simple sci fi movie  one character looking out over the city made a comment and it stopped me in my tracks, I would like to share that comment with you. I have added it to an image to give it greater meaning.    I wonder if it will make any of your pause for thought?

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That is a very powerful quote and I can see why it was impactful for you.

I don’t have any life altering or inspiring quotes off hand but watching Christmas movies 🎄 this time of year always gives me some reflection. For example, I watched It’s a Wonderful Life (1946) last night and it made me look at the blessings and friends that I have. Am I grateful for those?

Another is any of the renditions of A Christmas Carol with Ebenezer Scrooge. 

I enjoy this time of year to try and be a better person for myself and towards others. I guess this has to do with being prepared by not having everyone hate you. If everyone on your block loved you and you served them a lot throughout the years and are regarded as a nice person, that can come back to help you when you need it.

 

The quote that comes to mind for me came from a teacher, a former World War II era Air Force pilot. As a smart ass middle schooler, I responded to a directive from him with, “Do I have to?”

He answered, “You don’t have to do anything except die.”

 

Bill, I’m kind of an antiauthoritarian, the political quizzes I’ve taken peg me as almost (but not quite) an anarchist. LOL So I rebel some at straw bosses, authoritarian politicians, busy-bodies, anyone really who seeks to have control over me. 

OTOH, humans are tribal. We need a long childhood to develop, probably longer than most animals. Grandmothers love their grandchildren and usually are happy to help take care of them while mom does other stuff. And our success, such as it is, is entirely due to specialization, which only happens in a group.

So taken together, I think society is our natural state and we must give up lots of our freedom to allow others in the group to have theirs.

Which brings me to my little motto, by Annis Nin, that hopefully reminds me to keep an open mind to others and try to be as empathetic as I can:

We don’t see others how they are, we see them as we are.

 

“I cried because I had no shoes, until I saw a man with no feet.” I apologize for not knowing where it originated, but I read this quote when I was very young and it immediately taught me to very grateful for whatever I had, and subsequently if I wanted or needed more for myself and my family, I had to work for it and not wait for a handout. When my sons whined about something they didn’t have (but their friends did), I reminded them of this quote and they got the picture pretty quick. As adults they don’t complain about what they don’t have. They work to get it…and I am grateful that that they’ve learned the same valuable lesson I did.

 

My go-to quote is “Follow your bliss, but have a flight plan.” I like it because it centers the motivating power of emotion, yet the plan aspect (with built in monitoring of feedback and course adjustment) makes use of reasoning. It also allows for change in what constitutes bliss.

Regarding the photo of a big city used to illustrate the quote that started this thread, I’ve lived in small towns, bigger towns, the country, and a major metropolitan area. I’m glad for all these experiences. There’s a reason (many reasons) young people moved off the family farm years ago and moved to a town or city. (The country can be as big a cage as the city, or bigger.) It’s nice to be able to move to different settings at different times in a person’s life cycle.

 

yes Bill to your question about a quote ,I just read a quote from a mother in Afghanistan  

I do not want to sell my son,

I was reading the BBC news and it said some families where selling one of there children so 

the rest could eat it just stopped me .

Sometimes I do not understand how tough it is for some people 

Regards

John

 

“I do not want to sell my son“.   My G_d 

 

“I fully realize that I have not succeeded in answering all your questions. Indeed, I feel I have not answered any of them completely. The answers I had found only serve to raise a whole new set of questions, which only lead to more problems, some of which we weren’t even aware were problems. To sum it all up. In some ways I feel we are confused as ever, but I believe we are confused on a higher levels, and about more important things.”

– Karen Bridwell (expanded from the original quote by Earl C. Kelley)

It has taught me to never stop, or stop others around me, asking questions and searching for answers. 

 

Also my all time favorite prepper quote:

“How you think is more important than what you know.

What you know is more important than what you have.

What you have is more important than what you don’t have.”