I keep this small blue notebook where I collect all the thoughts I have scratched out on spare bits of paper during work, along with quotes from favorite movies and TV shows, recipes for really good food, and the occasional list of books to read and films to watch. I started making these little notebooks when I was in high school, because for some stupid reason I could never get anyone to take me seriously. Getting blown off, being invalidated, is infuriating. So in my collection are quotes from famous people who said things close enough to what I think. So if ever anyone discounts what I have to say, I can reply that I didn't say it--this famous and intelligent person did. Never mind that all those famous intelligent people are (in the end) just people.
These books get full. I don't know how many I have now, but I go through them from time to time.
Once I collected quotes from this satirist novel written by Terry Pratchett called "Going Postal". In the novel, besides telling an awesome story about a shyster forced into saving Ahnk Morpork's post office, the author talks about how some corporations run their businesses (and others) to the ground all in the name of profit. He wrote a sequel called Making Money, which was just a good. I like reading these quotes whenever I'm frustrated with the dishonesty of the major businesses. His novels also teach me interesting vocabulary. Such as quaestuary--that is, doing business just for profit--a word that amazed the Patrician in the book.
I also get interesting quotes from Japanese comic books. Here's one of my favorites from XXX-Holic. Yuuko says, "If you think there're only stupid and worthless people around you, you just might be one of them."
The value of a soul. It has often been on my mind. I think it is the one reason I get upset when people talk about money. Because whenever money comes in, the value of a human life starts to diminish.
You might be thinking, "Huh? Money is merely a means to an end."
At least, that is what I am hoping you are thinking.
But it has been my sad experience that whenever people become focused on money, they forget that money is nothing more than bits of paper and metal. They forget that the reason money was invented was to help with the sharing of goods in a more fair and easy-to-handle manner. They forget that money is not the be all and end of human existence.
But money buys things, you might say. True. It does. But are things more important than people?
One of the quotes I hate the most is: "He who has the most toys wins."
I keep asking, almost screaming, "Wins what?"
One of my favorite films is this Frank Capra piece starring Jimmy Stewart. It is called "You Can't Take it With You." I think Lionel Barrymore is in it with some other rather well-known and talented actors. But what I enjoyed about the film was the message...that in seeking money you may in fact destroy the most important and precious things about life. Youtube link to film
One of my other favorite films is Labyrinth. It is about a girl who is so wrapped up in herself that she does not see what is most important until it is taken from her. She learns that all the things that she had valued was nothing but junk, especially in comparison to getting her kidnapped brother back. I know some people can't get beyond David Bowie's really tight pants, but (if you exert a little effort) you would also notice how everything in the labyrinth are also things that are in the protagonist's bedroom (I re-watch the opening and count all the objects, trying to find them in the film later).
I think my point is that no one is valueless. Not the young, not the old. Not the less-intelligent. Not the poor. Not anyone. Human life is valuable. Period. Maybe we all have difficulty at being heard. But putting a monetary price on a human being is a despicable thing--and reminds me too much of slavery.
To me, there is no such thing as collateral damage. No such thing as acceptable losses. No one has the right to say, "I deserve to live a great life, everyone else be damned." And though many will say, you can buy anything in this world with money--it is a lie. A lie fostered by the father of all lies.
You cannot buy integrity with money. And integrity is what this world needs right now.
Just a thought.
By the way, that last one was NOT a quote.
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