Joseph Brodsky In every possible way, avoid attributing yourself the status of a victim
This is an excerpt from the famous speech of Joseph Brodsky,which he said at the stadium in December 1988 before the graduates of the University of Michigan. Critics have deemed it "inappropriate", "politically incorrect", and someone saw in it even racism.
Focus on the accuracy of your language
Try to expand your vocabulary and treat it the way you treat your bank account. Give him a lot of attention and try to increase your dividends.
The goal is to give you the opportunity to expressyourself as fully and as accurately as possible. In a word, the goal is your balance. For the accumulation of the unspoken, unspoken properly can lead to a neurosis.
To avoid this, it is not necessary to turnin the bookworm. You just need to buy a dictionary and read it every day, and sometimes - and a book of poems. They are cheap enough, but even the most expensive among them cost much less than one visit to a psychiatrist.
Try to be kind to your parents
If this sounds too similar to "Honor your fatherand I'm sorry, I just want to say: try not to rebel against them, for in all probability they will die before you, so that you can rid yourself of at least this source of guilt, if not grief.
If you need to rebel with all these"I-don't-take-u-you-no-penny", rebel against those who are not so easily wounded. Parents are too close a target (as, however, as brothers, sisters, wives or husbands). The distance is such that you can not miss.
Try not to rely too much on politicians
Not so much because they are stupid or dishonest,as often happens, but because of the scale of their work, which is too large even for the best among them. They can somewhat reduce social evil, but not eradicate it. Whatever the improvement, from the ethical point of view it will always be negligible, because there will always be those, at least one person, who will not benefit from this improvement.
The world is imperfect. The Golden Age has never been and never will be. In light of this - or rather, in the dark - you have to rely on your own home cooking, that is, to rule the world yourself. But even within your own pie, you must prepare for what you are most likely to experience in an equal measure of gratitude and disappointment.
Try to be modest
Already and now we are too many - and very soonthere will be many more. This climb to the place under the sun is necessarily at the expense of others. The fact that you have to step on someone's feet does not mean that you should stand on their shoulders. So, if you want to become rich, or famous, or both, - in a good time, but do not give it in full.
Always remember that there is always someone near youthere is a neighbor. No one asks you to love him, but try not to disturb him too much and not hurt him. At the worst, try to remember from what far away - from the stars, from the depths of the universe, perhaps from its opposite end - a request has come not to do this, just like the idea of loving your neighbor as yourself.
Avoid attributing yourself to victim status in any way
No matter how disgusting your situation may be,try not to blame the external forces: history, state, authorities, race, parents, the moon phase, childhood, untimely landing on a pot - the menu is vast and boring.
At the time when you lay the blame on something, youundermine your own determination to change something and increase the vacuum of irresponsibility that demons and demagogues like to fill, for a paralyzed will is not a joy for angels.
In general, try to respect life not only for hercharms, but also for her difficulties. They are part of the game, and it's good in them that they are not a hoax. Whenever you are in despair or on the verge of despair, when you are in trouble or trouble, remember: this life speaks to you in the only well-known language.
Know how to forgive
The world we entered into does not have a good reputation. This is not a pretty place, as you will soon discover, and I doubt that it will be much more pleasant by the time you leave it.
However, this is the only world available: there is no alternative, and if it existed, there is no guarantee that it would be much better than this one. Therefore, try not to pay attention to those who try to make your life unhappy. There will be many of them, both in an official position and self-appointed.
What your enemies do, gets its ownvalue or importance from how you react to it. Therefore, rush through or past them, as if they were yellow, not red. So you will save your brain cells from useless excitement. Switch the channel: you can not stop broadcasting this network, but in your power at least reduce its rating.
