"You Think?"

 “Whatever you do will be insignificant, but it is very important that you do it.”
― Mahatma Gandhi        

    I like to read famous quotations.   I have several books of quotations but it’s pretty easy to pick a theme, type it into the google bar and voila.. lots of quotes to choose from. I don’t memorize the quotes and throw them out at cocktail parties or anything like that.  But I read them and I think about them. I think about how their words apply to my life.  We can find out what Socrates thought about women and compare that to what Steven Tyler thinks about women.  Why? You say would we care what anyone else thinks about anything??? Because we do.  Because are born a clean slate.  Because it is necessary for our thoughts to develop as we take in the world around us.  We do not come with a pre-formed idea of how this is all going to go.  Our parents teach us, our teachers, our friends, the world around us and all, ALL, those who have come before us and speak out. There is no "original" thought only original interpretations.  We learn what we like and don’t like, what we believe and what we’re not buying. We process the endless amounts of information bombarding us every minute and decide how it all works for us. And we can change our minds too.  But the changing or evolving comes from the input of an outside force, something we never really thought about before, or an opposing argument to a long held belief.  The point of all of this is that it is not necessary to be “right” in your thoughts and ideas, it is only necessary that you are open to the thoughts and ideas of others before you reach a conclusion.  Understand that there really is no final conclusion as we assimilate new information into our personal data bank in our heads.  We gather information by reading, watching, sharing. Should we ever find ourselves alone on a deserted island for years, unable to read or hear from another, our thoughts would dry up like old lemon peels and we would surely cease to exist.  

Someone told me yesterday that no one cares what anyone thinks.  That was why he would not comment on my blog.  “No one cares what I think or what anyone thinks for that matter.”  I respect your right to believe that that statement is true.  That is why I took some time to think about it, process your thoughts and reflect on my position in writing this blog. So I did.  I care what you think. It makes me think. And when something makes me think.. that’s a good thing.  But I disagree with your sentiments.  I believe that we do care what others think.  Not only what they think but what someone else has to say about it.  (Hello.. Dear Abby and Ann Landers??) We somehow have captured billions of words and ideas from whomever we decided had something to say. You may believe that Abraham Lincoln had way more street cred to his words than say Sarah Palin.. but their words are available for you to decide. So my Dear Bro, I would love to hear your rebuttal here but you probably won’t read this and you won’t think it matters.  You may be right but.. “whatever you do will be insignificant, but it is very important that you do it.”  Mahatma Gandi

I wonder, though… was someone following these people around with a pen and notebook to catch all the little gems of wisdom?  Because I gotta tell you, sometimes what I say is just plain brilliant but no one hears it and I don’t remember it later. That being said..  Favorite Quotes anyone?