The Other Side of Me

There was a time when I used to hate the view of the injured and wounded on the television, then it became the norm. There was a time when I didn't look when I passed a person hit by car, but then seeing blood became the norm. There was a time when the view of corpses was unacceptable to me, then it became the norm.... I remember myself two years ago and I don't what has become out of me, a stronger person or one who has lost all sorts of compassion. In January and February 2011, just the talk about the revolution's martyrs brought me tears, heartbreak and sucked the breath out of me.  Then came October and November and December, then February and May, the numbers increased and the hurt decreased. I got used to people dying, to seeing injuries everywhere, to turning martyrs into numbers, just numbers. I have become inhumane, I want to see pictures of corpses when people die to make sure they're dead. When Osama Bin Laden was killed, I wanted to see his corpse, I was...

"Time has two faces, Khayyam  said to himself. It has two dimensions, its length is measured by the rhythm of the sun but its depth by the rhythm of passion." "What a strange clan those Abbasids are! Their ancestors conquered the best half of the world, they built the most flourishing cities and just look at them today! I take their empire and they put up with that, I take their capital and they are happy, they shower me with presents and the prince of believers says to me, "I give you all the lands which God has given to me, and I place in your hands all the believers whose fate He has entrusted to me."  He begs me to put his palace, his person and his harem under my protection. However if I ask for his daughter he rises up and wishes to defend his honor. Is the only territory for which the sultan is ready to fight the thighs of a virgin?" "God, she was beautiful - my first image of the Orient - a woman such as only the desert poet knew how to prai...

"Marriage can wait, education cannot." "A society has no chance of success if its women are uneducated..." "Behind every trial and sorrow that He makes us shoulder, God has a reason." "Perhaps this is just punishment for those who have been heartless, to understand only when nothing can be undone." "Learn this now and learn it well. Like a compass facing north, a man’s accusing finger always finds a woman. Always." "...Every Afghan story is marked by death and loss and unimaginable grief. And yet, she sees, people find a way to survive, to go on." "And that, ...is the story of our country, one invasion after another...Macedonians. Saddanians. Arabs. Mongols. Now the Soviets. But we're like those walls up there. Battered, and nothing pretty to look at, but still standing." "Each snowflake was a sigh heard by an aggrieved woman somewhere in the world. All the sighs drifted up the sky, gathere...

ألا يا حَماماتِ الأراكَة ِ والبَانِ ترَفّقْنَ لا تُضْعِفْنَ بالشجوِ أشجاني ترَفّقْنَ لا تُظهرنَ بالنّوح والبُكا خفيَّ صباباتي ومكنونَ أحزاني أُطارحُها عند الأصيلِ وبالضحى بحنَّة ِ مشتاقٍ وأنَّة ِ هيمانِ تَنَاوَحَتِ الأرواحُ في غَيضَة ِ الغَضا فمالتْ بأفنانٍ عليَّ فأفناني وجاءتْ منَ الشَّوقِ المبرَّحِ والجوى ومن طُرَفِ البَلْوَى إليّ بأفْنانِ فمَن لي بجمعٍ والمحصَّب مِن مِنًى ومَنْ لي بِذاتِ الأثْلِ مَنْ لِي بنَعْمان تطوفُ بقلبي ساعة ً بعدَ ساعة ٍ لوَجدٍ وتبريحٍ وتَلثُمُ أركاني كما طاف خيرُ الرُّسلِ بالكعبة ِ التي يقولُ دليلُ العقْلِ فيها بنُقصَانِ وقبّلَ أحجاراً بها، وهو ناطقٌ وأينَ مَقامُ البيتِ من قدرِ إنسانِ فكَم عَهِدَتْ أن لا تحولَ وأقسمتْ وليس لمخضوبٍ وفاءٌ بأيمانِ ومنْ أعجبِ الأشياءِ ظبى ُ مبرقعُ يشيرُ بعنَّابٍ ويومي بأجفانِ ومَرعاهُ ما بينَ التّرائِبِ والحَشَا ويا عَجَباً من روضة ٍ وَسَطَ نيرانِ لقدْ صارَ قلبي قابلاً كلَّ صورة ٍ فمَرْعًى لغِزْلاَنٍ وديرٌ لرُهْبانِ وبَيْتٌ لأوثانٍ وكعبة ُ طائفٍ، وألواحُ توراة ٍ ومصحفُ قرآنِ ...

It is proof of a base and low mind for one to wish to think with the masses or majority, merely because the majority is the majority. Truth does not change because it is, or is not, believed by a majority of the people.     Time takes all and gives all.   We delight in one knowable thing, which comprehends all that is knowable; in one apprehensible, which draws together all that can be apprehended; in a single being that includes all, above all in the one which is itself the all.     It may be you fear more to deliver judgment upon me than I fear judgment 

I'm the source of abomination, of anger, hatred and disgust. I'm the evil, the sadness and the loneliness. I'm the darkness, not black, but grey, all shades of grey, all shades of lameness and badness. The colors of my world dim in the greyness of thoughts, and I choose not to see. Slowly my eyes fade away, they're swallowed inside me and they leave me in the world of nothingness, the eyeless world of emptiness. Soon the whole world that I fail to see starts fading in my greyness of abomination, my world too turns eyeless. The cat of tenderness, the bird of love, the gazelle of vitality, the dove of peacefulness, they all turn eyeless, they all become colorless. In my eyeless world I see how the grey abomination faded the eyeless cat, and I know I'm the source, and I know I'll be where it ends. I know that soon, it will be my turn to fade too in my own grey abomination.

Yesterday a man jumped down to Earth from a height of more than 39 Km, and while he went up some have called him crazy and others thought of it as a game. But it's not only that he did this for research reasons that makes it a serious matter, what is even more important is that he pushed the limits of what the human body can do. What Felix, gymnasts, swimmers and Paralympians have in common is that they prove to us that there is always better than the best, that there is always more we can achieve, that our bodies do evolve and that every world record is actually breakable. This is what inspiration is all about, to do more than you're told you can do, to go where nobody else has ever been, to believe in yourself, to know that impossible is just another meaningless word. Yesterday Felix has been able to see a different view of the world, he saw with his own eyes that the world is not a flat land. He went out of of the world, out of his comfort zone, and only by doing this he w...

It is I who is Ithaca, my true self, the ultimate truth that I always seek to know and be close to. Ithaca is meaning that gives life purpose, a blow in the soul, a breath of The One. It is reality and I'm its shadow; always pulled toward authenticity, but I know I'll only be almost there. Ithaca is the unreachable destination, the intangible truth, the un-understandable virtue, but that doesn't matter. Its journey is eternal peace, the open arms of life, timeless happiness. The voyage of betterment is the will to take the journey, the wisdom to know which path to take, and the intelligence to not stumble into fakeness. A voyage of body and spirit, motions and emotions, ideals and ideas, refined opinions and those that are yet to be refined. It is what I say and what I do, what I feel and how I act. The closer I get to Ithaca, the closer they all become, and when I'm almost there what I do, say and feel all become one.

Ithaca When you set out for Ithaka ask that your way be long, full of adventure, full of instruction. The Laistrygonians and the Cyclops, angry Poseidon - do not fear them: such as these you will never find as long as your thought is lofty, as long as a rare emotion touch your spirit and your body. The Laistrygonians and the Cyclops, angry Poseidon - you will not meet them unless you carry them in your soul, unless your soul raise them up before you. Ask that your way be long. At many a Summer dawn to enter with what gratitude, what joy - ports seen for the first time; to stop at Phoenician trading centres, and to buy good merchandise, mother of pearl and coral, amber and ebony, and sensuous perfumes of every kind, sensuous perfumes as lavishly as you can; to visit many Egyptian cities, to gather stores of knowledge from the learned. Have Ithaka always in your mind. Your arrival there is what you are destined for. But don't in the least hurry the journey. Better it last for yea...

With eyes wide open he looks at her, with a seducing rhyme he speaks to her. "Take the apple Eve, you don't know what you're missing". She feels it, curiosity pulling her like a magnet towards the unknown. Her legs carry her, she loses control over them, she goes closer to the tree. She stands in front of it, her hands move to the apple.... But no, the devil himself can't control her. Before she touches the apple she moves back, she leaves, she goes back to paradise. Her body leaves, but her spirit stays, always wondering about the unkonwn, but never really knowing. She lives the perfect life with no worries, all her wishes coming true. In paradise hate doesn't exist, evil doesn't exist, dirt doesn't exist, boredom doesn't exist, anger doesn't exist, injustice doesn't exist. For Eve, this was the unknown. But how could she understand the love, kindness, cleanliness, fun, peacefulness, and justice she experiences everyday if she doesn't...

I don't have any memories of that day, not even one. They are all audience memories, memories that everyone else has. On that day, on October 9, 2011 I was part of حزب الكنبة. I woke up in the morning not knowing that there will be a protest happening in a few hours, and not even imagining that on that day 27 pure souls will be taken. It was only when I was leaving work that I figured out that something was wrong through Twitter, but that thing was not even a disaster, it's something that happens everyday to many protests. I only knew that there was a Coptic protest going from Shubra to Maspero against the endless sectarian strife incidents, and some thugs with beards, or so they say, threw rocks at them, but that's our normal. I got home and the disaster began, and I watched it on air, all on air. But by that time, watching people die live on air had also become our normal. I remember nothing because my mind stopped. They say Maspero and I see the face of the girl crying...

It is by participation of species that we call every sensible object beautiful. It is now time, leaving every object of sense far behind, to contemplate, by a certain ascent, a beauty of a much higher order; a beauty not visible to the corporeal eye, but alone manifest to the brighter eye of the soul, independent of all corporeal aid. We shall never be able to tell of virtue's brightness, unless by looking inward we perceive the fair countenance of justice and temperance, and are convinced that neither the evening nor morning star are half so beautiful and bright. All souls, as I may say, are affected in this manner about invisible objects, but those the most who have the strongest propensity to their love; as it likewise happens about corporeal beauty; for all equally perceive beautiful corporeal forms, yet all are not equally excited, but lovers in the greatest degree. Perhaps, the good and the beautiful are the same, and must be investigated by one and the sam...

When one street carries so many memories that are so overwhelming. When you feel it in the air, on the walls, on the faces, in the shops, on the buildings, everything carries never-ending memories. They carry memories that tell the story of a thousand years. Your feet touch the ground and you feel your breath sucked away from you. You feel your soul traveling through time, going back, living it all over again. Every single minute of it, it's all carved in all our hearts, no matter how much it changes, it's all kept deep in every single heart. Memories of the 18 days, of the street I used to take to Utopia. Memories of the bakery shop, عتمان, that my parents used to buy food for the sit-inners from. Memories of every single time I've been searched from the committees with an apologizing smile. Memories of Thursday February 10, 2011 when I saw that Tweet and we all thought that Mubarak is leaving, of how fast the news traveled. Memories of the Friday of celebration, of when ...

You get out of your comfort zone. You go against the flow, you think of things that you were told were facts of life. You fight for what you believe in, you fight even the people you love most. You break the walls, walls that you lock yourself up inside. You let your mind fly, to look for meaning. You set yourself free of protection, protection you set for yourself and that set for you by others. You feel light, a free soul, you get a taste of a truth... What is your comfort zone? A 9 to 5 job? A family that will always love you and support all you do? A lover that will make your life a fairytale? Never wondering why things are this way or that? Never questioning the meaning of things, of life? To build walls of a home that you feel so protected inside, and mental walls that limit your view to protect you from whatever is different, whatever is hard to accept or to even think of? But isn't this the perfect life that everyone wishes to have? If you have a good job, loving family and...

What the great learning teaches, is to illustrate illustrious virtue; to renovate the people; and to rest in the highest excellence. The point where to rest being known, the object of pursuit is then determined; and, that being determined, a calm unperturbedness may be attained to. To that calmness there will succeed a tranquil repose. In that repose there may be careful deliberation, and that deliberation will be followed by the attainment of the desired end. Things have their root and their branches. Affairs have their end and their beginning. To know what is first and what is last will lead near to what is taught in the Great Learning. The ancients who wished to illustrate illustrious virtue throughout the Kingdom, first ordered well their own states. Wishing to order well their states, they first regulated their families. Wishing to regulate their families, they first cultivated their persons. Wishing to cultivate their persons, they first rectified their hearts. Wis...

The superior man, when resting in safety, does not forget that danger may come. When in a state of security he does not forget the possibility of ruin. When all is orderly, he does not forget that disorder may come. Thus his person is not endangered, and his States and all their clans are preserved. The superior man understands what is right; the inferior man understands what will sell. Guide the people by law, subdue them by punishment; they may shun crime, but will be void of shame. Guide them by example, subdue them by courtesy; they will learn shame, and come to be good. What Heaven has conferred is called The Nature; an accordance with this nature is called The Path of duty; the regulation of this path is called Instruction. The path may not be left for an instant. If it could be left, it would not be the path. On this account, the superior man does not wait till he sees things, to be cautious, nor till he hears things, to be apprehensive. There is nothing more visib...

They who know the truth are not equal to those who love it, and they who love it are not equal to those who delight in it. When a country is well governed, poverty and a mean condition are things to be ashamed of. When a country is ill governed, riches and honor are things to be ashamed of. He who exercises government by means of his virtue may be compared to the north polar star, which keeps its place when all the stars are rotating about it. The virtuous is frank and open; the non-virtuous is secretive and worrying. When you serve your mother and father it is okay to try to correct them once in a while. But if you see that they are not going to listen to you, keep your respect for them and don't distance yourself from them. Work without complaining.  

If I hear the Way of truth in the morning, I am content even to die in that evening. When we see men of worth, we should think of equaling them; when we see men of a contrary character, we should turn inwards and examine ourselves. The cautious seldom err. The superior man is modest in his speech, but exceeds in his actions. The virtuous man is driven by responsibility, the non-virtuous man is driven by profit.

Fine words and an insinuating appearance are seldom associated with true virtue. Hold faithfulness and sincerity as first principles. Then no friends would not be like yourself (all friends would be as loyal as yourself). If you make a mistake, do not be afraid to correct it. When the Superior Man eats he does not try to stuff himself; at rest he does not seek perfect comfort; he is diligent in his work and careful in speech. He avails himself to people of the Tao and thereby corrects himself. This is the kind of person of whom you can say, "he loves learning." At fifteen my heart was set on learning; at thirty I stood firm; at forty I had no more doubts; at fifty I knew the mandate of heaven; at sixty my ear was obedient; at seventy I could follow my heart's desire without transgressing the norm. Listen widely to remove your doubts and be careful when speaking about the rest and your mistakes will be few. See much and get rid of what is dangerous and be c...

On what basis does one decide if a person is a believer or a non-believer? Why do you call someone a non-believer? What if they worship the same divine power you do but in there own different way? How does this make them a non-believer? That their practices are different from yours? What about the values? What if they have the same values but practice differently? Why would you call them non-believers? Why do we always look for differences and not commonalities? Why don't we look for the bigger meaning of religion? Why do we seek divisions rather than Unity? You have Muslim Sunnis and Muslim Shiites fighting all the time and some extremists even go to an extent of calling the other an infidel. It happened to me just because I am against hate speech against Shiites. Same goes for the Christian Orthodox, Catholic and Protestant. So it has become even a fight of creeds not just religions. Even worse, there are fights between Sunnis who follow different doctrines, same ...

A gift consists not in what is done or given, but in the intention of the giver or doer A good mind possesses a kingdom A happy life is one which is in accordance with its own nature A kingdom founded on injustice never lasts A man who has taken your time recognizes no debt; yet it is the one he can never repay      

They must often change who would be constant in happiness or wisdom. I am not one who was born in the possession of knowledge; I am one who is fond of antiquity, and earnest in seeking it there. Learning without thought is labor lost; thought without learning is perilous. Recompense injury with justice, and recompense kindness with kindness. The superior man cannot be known in little matters, but he may be entrusted with great concerns. The small man may not be entrusted with great concerns, but he may be known in little matters.

In the previous post I've spoken about hatred of a religion that most of us know nothing about, you might think this as hatred and enmity towards the unknown and not just any other religion, so here's another story: When I was in high school, a new guy joined us in the spring semester. Just a few days after he came, the news that he is an Egyptian Jew started circulating everywhere, and his last name being a very Jewish name made every single student know about it. The boy came from one of the very very few Jewish families who decided not to migrate either to the so called Israel, or anywhere after 1948. For this they should be respected, but no, this did not happen. As soon as his fellow 15-year-old Egyptians knew that he was a Jew a huge shot of hatred was aimed at him. The boy was hit and insulted every single day in every class he entered and during every break. This has happened without him mentioning his views of Israel even once. He was discriminated agai...

When I was looking up the origin of دين I found a Google question with the answer about the Hieroglyphic origin (see previous post ). The rest of the answers were nothing but insults to the person who explained the Hieroglyphic meaning.People accused him of being too ignorant to even know the true origin, of spreading hatred, of being a lair, of not knowing anything about religion, almost of being an atheist and all that because he linked the Arabic word that means religion to a word of people who were polytheists (or so they think). They fought him with their words for an Arabic word that even carried zero religious meaning as if they were trying to save the pure word from the dirtiness of Ancient Egyptians. These people were unfortunately all Egyptians, and they probably use words from the language of our ancestors every single day, but since the world means religion, the hatred has to come out. Most of us carry a great deal of enmity and hatred to each other and most ...

At a time when religion is the greatest of all weapons, the main source of discrimination, the strongest type of brainwashing, the biggest excuse to oppress, at times like these one should go back to the origins. To try to understand the meaning of religion so you can fight its misuse. I'm not writing this post about Egypt, although it is inspired from what we have been witnessing from the Islamits for more than a year and a half of using what they call religion to manipulate people's minds. But the fact is that this has always happened through history and is still happening today all over the world. Does Burma ring any bells? Nigeria? Afghanistan? The idea that all Muslims are terrorists maybe? Israel? India/Pakistan? Burning American Embassies, killing the ambassador? The examples are endless. Going back to the basics could start by finding the origin of the word "religion" which has originated from re ligra, to re link or to re bind. To rebind with ...

"Don't you love New York in the fall? It makes me wanna buy school supplies. I would send you a bouquet of newly sharpened pencils if I knew your name and address. On the other hand, this not knowing has its charms." "I hear nothing. Not even a sound on the streets of New York, just the beating of my own heart. I have mail. From you." "Sometimes I wonder about my life. I lead a small life - well, valuable, but small - and sometimes I wonder, do I do it because I like it, or because I haven't been brave? So much of what I see reminds me of something I read in a book, when shouldn't it be the other way around? I don't really want an answer. I just want to send this cosmic question out into the void. So good night, dear void." "The whole purpose of places like Starbucks is for people with no decision-making ability whatsoever to make six decisions just to buy one cup of coffee. Short, tall, light, dark, caf, decaf, low-fat...

It was one silly novel that I read by Meg Cabot, I don't even remember it's name, it was years ago. I remembered it today, she said something with that meaning: "the only place that is always free of spirits is cemeteries, because spirits who still can't cross to heaven were killed and are waiting for their vengeance in the place where they killed." Today was the first time for me to walk in Mohamed Mahmoud street after President Morsy won the elections. It felt heartbreaking at first; this place where so many have died, the place where I feel the presence of their spirits, today they felt disappointed. This was the street museum that tells the story of a revolution that has seen so much. Both its drawing and its memories tell the story of the 18 days, of the street committee that used to search me with a smile. Of the Utopia that was there for 18 days, just 18 days. Of families who lost a member for our sake being hit and shot at. Of eyes of freedom being shot....

The belly dancer does her daily dance and I know I'm up next. She moves to the right and to the left, her body is so elastic as if she doesn't have bones, isn't this what they always say? For me she doesn't look boneless, she looks in control knowing exactly how much she needs to move her hip, knowing the perfect timing for her arms to be surrounding her hips and when to surround her head. She knows when her shoulders and chest should move and when to keep them static. She knows when to show a leg and when to lean down. She knows when to move in her dance and when to dance in her place. Her face changes from a smile to a frown to a laugh to a sad face. It's like it's in sync with the moves of her body. I look at her face and I wonder, does she ever feel the way I feel, or used to feel when she dances? Or is it just her job, just a job, and she does it professionally? Is it my dance or the meaning behind it that makes me feel this way? I already know the answer ...

Come my friend, I'll tell about my religion, I'll teach you about love. With me you'll discover a new world, you'll feel new feelings, you'll understand how it feels to fly. I'll take closer to divinity, I'll make you practice eternal love. I'll take you to a place where laws are affections, where you take action not because of a reward or a punishment, but because you're grateful for what you've been given and you want to give back. It's not hard to get there, all you need to do is make your duty out of love, all you need to know is that there is a God up there who truly loves you. That There's a God who has loved you before you were born and so has brought you to this world. A God who will love you after you die, and when the judgement day comes, he'll judge you with love and so will be merciful to you.  Love Him back, make His values yours, make His rules yours, make His love yours. Speak to Him of it, thank Him for teaching...

We go back in time more than 1400 years in a place not far from here. People who live there speak the same language we speak today, but that's about all we have in common. What were women back then but a sex toy? A disgrace. The sex toy would be ready to be played with once she gets her first period, let that be when she's 9 or when she's 12. No wait, how did I say that she was only a sex toy? When the toy is unlucky enough to find someone to play with her, she has to also turn into his servant; his maid, his cook, his foot masseuse maybe. Then what would sex bring but children if everything goes fine? And suddenly the 10 year old or 13 year old sex toy turns into a mother. At 10 or maybe 13 the child is to be raped, no don't tell me sex would be enjoyable for a 10 year old who has yet to discover her own body, oh wait, they never discovered their own bodies. I'll rephrase, don't tell me that sex would be enjoyable for a 10 year old whose body hasn't e...

Piano: Love Violin: Heaven Flute: Peace Guitar: Friendship Xylophone: Childhood Organ: Church weddings Harp: Connection to Ancient Egyptian ancestors عود: The beauty of sophistication دف: Sufi love قانون: Good traditions طبلة: Belly-dancers Drums: Fun

Death may be the greatest of all human blessings. Do not do to others what angers you if done to you by others. Envy is the ulcer of the soul. Get not your friends by bare compliments, but by giving them sensible tokens of your love. If a man is proud of his wealth, he should not be praised until it is known how he employs it.

Why do people stop laughing when they grow up, Laughing until it hurts? Why do they stop dancing like crazy? Having slumber parties? Having pillow fights? Screaming for no reason? Throwing water at each other? Building sand castles on beaches? Watching cartoons? Jumping on beds? Drawing funny things? Singing so loud in the middle of the street? Wearing flowery clothes? Running, not for exercising? Eating sweets? Making bubbles with bubble gum? Forgetting the disappointment in less than a minute and having fun? Playing Music? Taking slides and swings? Eating lollipops? Loving balloons? Loving unconditionally? Having no enemies? Being pure? Living in peace? Making fun activities? Putting flowers in a girl's hair? Blowing bubbles in the shower? If this is what growing up is to you, then please, for your own good, grow back down.

قالوا للحرامي احلف قال جالك الفرج طمعنجي بنى له بيت، فلسنجي سكن له فيه إختار الجار قبل الدار الكدب ملوش رجلين

مين فات قديمه تاه القفة أم ودنين يشلوها اتنين المسامح كريم إن كبر ابنك خاويه إدي العيش لخبازه

Do you want to feel happy? Easy, make someone happy. Give a flower to a girl, she doesn't have to be your lover, just any friend or family. Give a chocolate to a child, even if you don't know them. Give a depressed person a hug, it will bring them peace. Tell a guy how good he is, speak of the goodness in him. Buy a gift to someone, and wrap it, it doesn't have to be big, just the effort would make a difference. Buy them a card, or make them a card, write something personalized in it. Making someone happy is not expensive at all, but it's priceless. Try every now and then to tell people of their importance in your life, to show gratitude. They'll probably reply with just a smile, but it's a timeless smile that will make you the happiest soul.

Our ancestors, the Ancient Egyptians, had a Pharaoh who was a tyrant, during his rule people were hungry and sick, they didn't do the work they fit for and were very unhappy (unlike how it was with other Pharaohs of his time). When his rule had finally ended, they've decided to give him the worst punishment there is. From that day on, Egyptians decided never to mention the name of the man again, they eliminated him from history, they made him lose his importance for decades or even centuries and it would have stayed this way if history wasn't changed tens of times for the worst of reasons. I will follow my ancestors' rules and won't mention the name of the Pharaoh... I'm bringing this up because someone here in Egypt decided to raise the issue of a hatred movie that was produced on YouTube by Egyptian migrants a few months ago. The movie and its link were spread very much over the web among the people whom the hatred was directed at, why now? For reasons that ...

Have you watched the Paralymics Closing Ceremony last night? If you haven't then I advise you to do (video below), this post is about why I want you to watch it... When a baby is born with a physical disability the family can either breakdown or accept, but then some families don't accept, they challenge. Some people are born with physical disabilities and we, "the healthy" see them as weak, as people we should feel sorry for. The truth is that they and their families are not, they're much stronger than us, than anyone else. They were created with a missing bone or muscle or whatever, and our Creator is just, and so they we're given something extra, they were given the determination that we all lack half of. Yes they have physical disabilities, but they have extraordinary abilities. We might have better bodies but we use them much less, we're never determined enough to defy the impossible, they are. They might be physically disabled, but for some of us i...

"Those who are inclined to compromise can never make a revolution." "Rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God." " The welfare of the people is the supreme law." " He who strikes terror into others is himself in continual fear." " The people never give up their liberties but under some delusion."

"To dare: that is the whole secret of revolutions." "We built your fort. We will not have it used against us."  " The sin of silence when they should protest makes cowards of men." " Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable."   " Those who suppress freedom always do so in the name of law and order."   " A society of sheep must in time beget a government of wolves." " An oppressed people are authorized whenever they can to rise and break their fetters."     " Wherever a man comes, there comes revolution. The old is for slaves." " Revolutions never go backwards."     " Revolutions are not made with rosewa...

All human actions have one or more of these seven causes: chance, nature, compulsion, habit, reason, passion, and desire. All virtue is summed up in dealing justly. Dignity consists not in possessing honors, but in the consciousness that we deserve them. Happiness depends upon ourselves. Pleasure in the job puts perfection in the work.

O, the times, O, the customs! To be ignorant of the past is to be forever a child. We are not born for ourselves alone In anger nothing right nor judicious can be done.  A friend is, as it were, a second self.

The U.S. government allows the funding of campaigns from taxpayers' money if they meet some requirements like being the candidate being popular/wanted enough. And if they abide by some rules, The most important of which is that the candidate's campaign spending must be limited to an amount that the government sets, in this case the government audits all the money spent in the campaign and receives receipts for everything spent to make sure the amount wasn't exceeded. Also the candidate cannot spend more than $50,000 from her/his own bank account and can accept donations from non-members of the party in very few cases. If the candidate chooses not to use the federal funding, they're free to spend any amount of money they choose according to the donations they receive from supporters and their party. But since the funding they receive from the federal government ($84 million) is big, it's not easy for many candidates to raise this amount of money and so most of them...

There many simple blessings that many of us share but never even think about, they're always taken for granted and thought of as things that have always been there and always will be. On my birthday, and only on my birthday (unfortunately) I remember these. Being alive Being healthy enough to talk, walk and smile Being able to sense, to see, smell, taste, hear and touch Having a roof over your head Having food in your fridge Having loved ones, either family or friends or both Having a mind that is ready to think Having a heart that is ready to love Being able to go to sleep without feeling worried about someone killing you, or soldiers bombing your home Being able to forget the bad memories and to remember the good ones Being able to change

It's my birthday and I have so much on my mind, I'm unable to think of something to write. All I know is that I'm happy, and I feel excited about my birthday. I don't want to sleep, just like a I felt when I was kid. Back then I had to count hundreds of sheep before I fell asleep and always woke up at 7 in the morning, because that's the time when I was born. I still feel the same today although I've grown and my birthday's significance has decreased, but it's still a celebration of memories and a day of feeling grateful because of all the simple blessings in life, like being alive. Today I'll share with you a happy old song about someone who was also unable to fall asleep =) I Could've Danced All Night -Julie Andrews, from My Fair Lady Lyrics: Eliza Bed! Bed! I couldn't go to bed! My head's too light to try to set it down! Sleep! Sleep! I couldn't sleep tonight. Not for all the jewels in the crown! I could have dance...

Fear less, hope more; eat less, chew more; whine less breathe more; talk less, say more; hate less, love more; and all good things are yours. -Swedish proverb Write the bad things that are done to you in sand, but write the good things that happen to you on a piece of marble -Arabic proverb Do not judge by appearances; a rich heart may be under a poor coat. -Scottish proverb A stumble may prevent a fall. -English proverb To talk goodness is not good... only to do it is. -Chinese proverb

He that plants trees loves others besides himself. -English proverb He who is not impatient is not in love. -Italian proverb A man in love mistakes a pimple for a dimple. -Japanese proverb It's astonishing how important a man becomes when he dies. -Yiddish proverb What is past and cannot be prevented should not be grieved for. -American Indian proverb   

Every Egyptian who is alive today has lived only through tyranny and saw nothing else. The eldest of us have lived through the time of King Farouk and the British occupation. They have lived hating their ruler and their occupiers. Then when the Nasser's coup happened and turned into a revolution the whole country celebrated the fall of a tyrant and the beginning of a new era. They celebrated the start of an era of democracy, freedom, social justice and independence and when they ended up with only independence and some social justice they were happy and loved Nasser so much. They made songs, people had his picture hung in their homes, they cried their hearts out when he wanted to step down and they simply made a tyrant out of him. They loved him so much although he brought less than half of their dream, of a new era, true because they have only seen worse and never better, and so they have learned to accept the least rather than the best. But even for those, now things have chang...

"If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing. If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing. Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance. Prophecy and speaking in unknown languages and special knowledge will become useless. But love will last forever! Now our knowledge is partial ...

The difference between left and right has become very ambiguous for it being used for a very long time (since the end of the 18th century, after the French Revolution) and in many countries with different politics and ideologies. To simply put it though, the difference between the left wing and the right wing is that the left is for change while the right is for traditionalism. And by change I mean any change, whether social, economical or political. It can also be put as left being pro community as a whole and right being pro individual. Meaning that in a rightest point of view, every person is responsible for themselves. In the U.S., the terms liberal (left) and conservative (right) are also associated with the same idea. Being a leftist is not to be mixed with being a socialist, because depending on the country being "pro community" can be achieved by different ideologies. In the U.S. the left (liberal) party is the Democrats, while the right (conservat...