From ordinary sentences to quotable quotes

 Ø  ‘Be nice to whites, they need you to rediscover their humanity’ – Desmond Tutu

The only time I had heard Archbishop Desmond Tutu speak was after he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. I had not formed any opinion of him, though I had read about Nelson Mandela more than one could have guessed. That was the phase of my life, between 26-30 years of age, wherein my conscience became a vehicle for forward groping thoughts. I responded to Rev. Tutu’s speech emphasizing forgiveness almost with a shrug. Now I realize what an arrogant mind I had then (perhaps I carry that even now). I have now read multiple obits and profiles of Tutu and I know that he was a great man, cursed because he was way ahead of his time. I learnt what “speaking truth to power” imposes on anyone who practices what that phrase means. As morally powerful as Mandela was, Tutu was more so; the reason? His stronger anchorage to morals, and no political compulsions. Human beings were hidden deeply in the hearts of South African whites and only restorative efforts by them and rather than revenge visited upon them would ferret out their humanity.

This is to late blossoming of one man’s, mine, humanity.

 

Ø  ‘How old would you be if you didn’t know how old you are?’ – Anon

I teach in a private university where money, the resource that I am lacking in, talks. When I am in front of my class (yes, over the past three semesters I have been seen by the students exclusively on screen – leave this aside), without meaning to, I act the students’ age, ranging between 17 years and 24 years. Why? Because, I want to be a teenager or at worst, a young adult. I want to bring a certain level of plasticity to my brain that has tended to ossify faster than my biological age (67 years). Is it that my vanity is driving me? No. Take that strategically placed “…without meaning to …” Can one be vainglorious without being aware of it, at whatever level of their consciousness?

I love the sentence that headlines this short paragraph, attributed to many and hence tagged as said by “Anon”. Now I can answer confidently why I teach the way I do, when queried by my colleagues and with equal force, respond to the management.

 

Ø  ‘Why did God make me an outcast and a stranger in mine own house?’ – WEB Du Bois

I do not have the credentials to critique what the redoubtable educationist said; yet, as is my wont, I will. Did God make Mr. Dubois a “…an outcast and a stranger in” his own house? I think not. It was his putative brethren, of different skin color, who did that. One would be justified in saying that God played favorites amongst his children Tut, tut … shame on Him. If you believed in God you have to assert He played unfair. Cognitive dissonance of the most severe kind… you would be better off without it.

 

How to unshackle oneself? Make God’s existence irrelevant to your life. Then, you may be able to reason with your kindred folks and make them see where they have gone wrong.

 

Ø  ‘Law of the instrument – when you have a hammer everything looks like a nail’ – Anon

The statement, at its most elemental state, denies objective reality! All the hammer ever wants to do is to hit the nail on its head. So, when the hammer feels idle, it seeks out, not just a nail but anything and transforms it to a nail! An idle mind is devil’s workshop, the saying goes. The given statement is an equivalent way of saying the same thing, but is more evocative as it does not invoke a probably nonexistent entity.

This we see now being played out across all nations. Given the power of social media, making anything, even an imagined weakness, a powerful hammer. Don’t worry about the nails. There are just so many of them, just lying around and to be hit on their head.

Readers may take issue with the heading of the post and retort that the statements themselves are more than ordinary sentences. No effort was required to make them quotable quotes. I do not disagree.

Raghuram Ekambaram