Keep Moving Forward .Asia

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In 399 BC, Socrates, an ancient Greek Philosopher said, “The unexamined life is not worth living.”

Socrates said these words during his trial, where he was on trial for encouraging his students to challenge the accepted beliefs of the time and think for themselves. The sentence was death…

Socrates did have an alternative, where he could suggest another form of punishment, but that would rob him off the only thing that made his life useful (and meaningful) – to examine the the world around him and discuss how to make the world a better place.

(In olden days, ‘examining’ and ‘challenging’ the accepted beliefs could very much mean challenging authorities, policies or even rules imposed by the ruler/the government, that’s why it was ‘taboo’ to do so)

Hence, living up to the philosophies he fought for, he choose death and was executed, but his philosophies and teachings went on very far and wide, spreading across countries and nations, even to this day to some extends.

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In 1970’s, Harvey Milk, a Gay Rights activist and the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in California said, “Without hope, life’s not worth living.”

In short, Harvey Milk fought for gay rights overcoming tonnes of obstacles along the way because gays and lesbians back then had to hide their identity, and love in shadows.

Back in those days, it would be safe to assume that anyone who confesses that he/she is gay would be kicked out by their parents, get taunted by friends at school or work, alienated and despiced by their straight peers, leaving them almost no option but to get into give up and die since there is no future of changing that.

His life changed history, and his courage changed lives. In his famous “Hope Speech” in 1978, he gave the “Us” people (gays and lesbians) a gift of hope, a gift that’s relevant up till today in many ways.

Before he was assassinated, he left a message…
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Woke up in the morning reading this excellent piece of speech by Steve Jobs. What an excellent read! Stay hungry, stay foolish, and keep moving forward people! Please do share this with all your friends, to the right people, it’s life-changing!

This is the text of the Commencement address by Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple Computer and of Pixar Animation Studios, delivered on June 12, 2005.

Source: Standford University

I am honored to be with you today at your commencement from one of the finest universities in the world. I never graduated from college. Truth be told, this is the closest I’ve ever gotten to a college graduation. Today I want to tell you three stories from my life. That’s it. No big deal. Just three stories.

The first story is about connecting the dots.

I dropped out of Reed College after the first 6 months, but then stayed around as a drop-in for another 18 months or so before I really quit. So why did I drop out?

It started before I was born. My biological mother was a young, unwed college graduate student, and she decided to put me up for adoption. She felt very strongly that I should be adopted by college graduates, so everything was all set for me to be adopted at birth by a lawyer and his wife. Except that when I popped out they decided at the last minute that they really wanted a girl. So my parents, who were on a waiting list, got a call in the middle of the night asking: “We have an unexpected baby boy; do you want him?” They said: “Of course.” My biological mother later found out that my mother had never graduated from college and that my father had never graduated from high school. She refused to sign the final adoption papers. She only relented a few months later when my parents promised that I would someday go to college.
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