"Will it make me look good if I do this?"
"What will people think if I did that?"
Being constantly preoccupied with how to look good in other people's eyes, and then acting upon such instincts may seem to give us a smooth sail through life, but this is, in fact, quite a miserable way to spend our time in this world. Always being tossed around by the demands of our circumstances, we can leave no valuable contribution behind and just end up fading out with time. This is not really the kind of life I would like you to lead.
After all, what we do with our lives and the way we spend our days constitutes the biggest gift that we give to ourselves.
-- Daisaku Ikeda
Japanese text:
KO SUREBA, DO MIRARERU KA, DO NARU KA - SO IU KOTO DAKE O KANGAETE, HITO NI YOKU OMOWARERU YO NI, UMAKU OYOIDE IKU. SORE WA RAKU NA YO NI MIETE, AMARI NI MO WABISHI IKIKATA DE ARU. JOKYO NI HONRO SARE, NAN NO KACHI MO NOKOSAZU, JIDAI TO TOMO NI IRO ASETE IKU JINSEI DE ATTE WA NARANAI.
WAGA JINSEI WA, JIBUN JISHIN E NO SAIKO NO OKURIMONO NAN NO DE ARU.
(Josei ni okuru kotoba 365 nichi, 84 pg.)
"What will people think if I did that?"
Being constantly preoccupied with how to look good in other people's eyes, and then acting upon such instincts may seem to give us a smooth sail through life, but this is, in fact, quite a miserable way to spend our time in this world. Always being tossed around by the demands of our circumstances, we can leave no valuable contribution behind and just end up fading out with time. This is not really the kind of life I would like you to lead.
After all, what we do with our lives and the way we spend our days constitutes the biggest gift that we give to ourselves.
-- Daisaku Ikeda
Japanese text:
KO SUREBA, DO MIRARERU KA, DO NARU KA - SO IU KOTO DAKE O KANGAETE, HITO NI YOKU OMOWARERU YO NI, UMAKU OYOIDE IKU. SORE WA RAKU NA YO NI MIETE, AMARI NI MO WABISHI IKIKATA DE ARU. JOKYO NI HONRO SARE, NAN NO KACHI MO NOKOSAZU, JIDAI TO TOMO NI IRO ASETE IKU JINSEI DE ATTE WA NARANAI.
WAGA JINSEI WA, JIBUN JISHIN E NO SAIKO NO OKURIMONO NAN NO DE ARU.
(Josei ni okuru kotoba 365 nichi, 84 pg.)
