Life Goals Quotes

“Timing for a dream is never right,
Yet you must persevere against the tide.
A tenacious mind can turn any table,
Even amidst the utter absence of light.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Visvavatan: 100 Demilitarization Sonnets

“You don't need to be good at everything, you just need to be absolutely, unequivocally, insurmountably good at one thing. Once you find that one thing, you shall be unstoppable.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Azad Earth Army: When The World Cries Blood

“Laugh hard, love harder.
Live lovely, die lovelier.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Azad Earth Army: When The World Cries Blood

“I don't make plans, I make purpose, then the purpose plans me.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Bulletproof Backbone: Injustice Not Allowed on My Watch

“Naskar is made by Naskar alone, not an industry or benefactor - or more importantly, by family wealth. I had a roof over my head, food on the table, and clothes on my back - that was more than enough.

I started writing with literally zero dollar in my pocket. Let me tell you how it began, because for some reason, I completely forgot a crucial event of my life when I wrote my memoir Love, God & Neurons.

I once met an American tourist at a local train in Calcutta. The first thing he asked me was, had I lived in the States? I said, no. Then how come you have an American accent - he asked. Watching movies - I said. We got chatting and he told me about a book he had recently published, a memoir. I believe, this was the cosmic event that planted the thought of writing my own books in my head - I had already started my self-education in Neurology and Psychology, and I was all determined to publish research papers on my ideas, but not books. Meeting the person somehow subconsciously shifted my focus from research papers to books.

So the journey began. And for the first few years, I made no real money from my books. Occasionally some of my books would climb the bestsellers list on amazon, like my very first book did, and that would keep the bills paid for several months. Then the invitations for talks started coming, but they too were not paid in the beginning. The organizers made all the travel arrangements, and I gave the talks for free. It's ironic and super confusing really - I remember flying business class, but I didn't have enough money to even afford a one way flight ticket, because I had already used up my royalties on other expenses.

Today I can pick and choose which speaking invitations to accept, but back then I didn't have that luxury - I was grateful for any speaking gig and interview request I received, paid or not. One time, I gave an interview to this moderately popular journalist for her personal youtube channel, only to find out, she never released the video publicly - she posted an interview with a dog owner instead - whose dog videos had gained quite a following on social media. You could say, this was the first time I realized first hand, what white privilege was.

Anyway, the point is this.

Did I doubt myself? Often. Did I consider quitting? Occasionally. But did I actually quit? Never. And because I didn't quit, the world received a vast never-before seen multicultural humanitarian legacy, that you know me for today.

There is no such thing as overnight success. If you have a dream, you gotta work at it day in, day out - night after night - spoiling sleep, ruining rest, forgetting fun. Persist, persist, and persist, that's the only secret - there is no other. Remember this - the size of your pocket does not determine your destiny, the size of your dedication does.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Bulletproof Backbone: Injustice Not Allowed on My Watch

“The size of your pocket does not determine your destiny, the size of your dedication does.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Bulletproof Backbone: Injustice Not Allowed on My Watch

“Persist, persist, and persist, that's the only secret - there is no other.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Bulletproof Backbone: Injustice Not Allowed on My Watch

“If you really wanna live big,
don't ask yourself,
where'll you be in five years;
ask instead,
where'll you be in 500 years?”
― Abhijit Naskar, Iman Insaniyat, Mazhab Muhabbat: Pani, Agua, Water, It's All One

“I would like to potter about, hopefully putting more good than bad into the world and finding ways to be of service, but otherwise raising my child, cultivating my garden, and enjoying the company of my family and friends and the many magnificent, tattered volumes on my bookshelves.”
― Cathy Rentzenbrink

“You’re living a dream. The question is, whose is it?”
― Craig D. Lounsbrough

“Better abandon citizenship than abandon your dream.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Visvavatan: 100 Demilitarization Sonnets

“When aiming for the seemingly Impossible goals, It's helpful to accomplish attainable tasks alongside. These little achievements offer encouragement and drive, supporting the determination needed to face what seems unattainable.”
― Ahtisham Ullah

“Timing for a dream is never right, yet you must persevere against the tide.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Visvavatan: 100 Demilitarization Sonnets

“The only yardstick for success is your own happiness and fulfillment.”
― Felecia Etienne

“Burn so bright that the sun gets fried!”
― Abhijit Naskar, Dervis Vadisi: 100 Promissory Sonnets

“Our brainpower is more powerful than wealth, status and body appearance. If we use our brainpower properly, we can achieve any of our goals throughout our lives.”
― Saaif Alam

“Within each public issue, the clearest division is between moderates and extremists. As such, the right third parties in a negotiation are moderates. They, more than extremists, are focused on building a better way of life (tomorrow), whereas most extremists are focused on tearing things down as a penalty for yesterday.”
― Stuart Diamond, Getting More: How to Negotiate to Achieve Your Goals in the Real World

“Wear a smile in the face of ridicule, wear silence in the face of praise.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Yüz Şiirlerin Yüzüğü (Ring of 100 Poems, Bilingual Edition): 100 Turkish Poems with Translations

“Sweet dreams are made of sweat-n-dare. Sweat makes it sweet, dare brings it true.”
― Abhijit Naskar, World War Human: 100 New Earthling Sonnets

“Brain, Heart and Empty Pocket
(Hopeless Sonnet)

Hope is rather important to me, so much so,
I even named a title Esperanza Impossible.
But my hope is not that of wishful inaction,
my hope is a furnace of valiance untamable.

It's more important to be the hope and help,
than have the hope that help is on the way.
No one is too helpless to lift themselves,
all you need is a purpose to define your way.

If this son of a factory worker could conquer
the world with brain, heart and empty pocket,
why do you succumb to fictitious despair,
the greatest hopes are always hopeless!

Rise, revolt and be the hope,
take no defeat as your destiny.
Till your world bathes in your light,
be the hopeless warrior of incorruptibility.”
― Abhijit Naskar, The Divine Refugee

“Rise, revolt and be the hope,
take no defeat as your destiny.
Till your world bathes in your light,
be the hopeless warrior of incorruptibility.”
― Abhijit Naskar, The Divine Refugee

“If this son of a factory worker could conquer
the world with brain, heart and empty pocket,
why do you succumb to fictitious despair,
the greatest hopes are always hopeless!”
― Abhijit Naskar, The Divine Refugee

“The greatest hopes are always hopeless.”
― Abhijit Naskar, The Divine Refugee

“Failure is inevitable, defeat is optional.”
― Abhijit Naskar, The Humanitarian Dictator

“Keep your games tight to get your goals right.”
― Zinny Ekechukwu

“Your dream is your duty.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Generacion Justicia: Día de Los Vivos, Abigitano 2

“Years in making are years of mocking.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Rowdy Scientist: Handbook of Humanitarian Science

“Your dream is your duty, it's your right. Let no mediocrity dim your ambitious light.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Little Planet on The Prairie: Dunya Benim, Sorumluluk Benim

“Those who call you mad will one day worship you.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Mad About Humans: World Maker's Almanac

“One of my goals in life is to become truly rabbinical, to be able to answer closed questions with open questions, to have the internal authority to be a good gatekeeper when intruders approach, and to at least remember to ask, “Why are you asking that?” This, I’ve found, is always a good answer to an unfriendly question, and closed questions tend to be unfriendly.”
― Rebecca Solnit, The Mother of All Questions