Be Inspired

So at the end of the third year English book there are a number of (supposedly) inspirational quotes with which to create a sense of aspiration within the classroom.

I'm going to show you how ill thought out they are.

The first is from Walt Disney, the well known anti-semite (to be fair, everyone who was born before 1935 seems to be anti-semitic).

'All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them.'

This is plainly a lie.  Wipe that stupid moustache off your face, you filthy liar.  If you need to be told why this is an untruth, you're either five years old or a king.  Or both.  If you still don't know, I'll just say that the most basic principle as to why this is nonsensical - money.

The next is from Thomas Edison.

'Genius is one percent inspiration, ninety-nine percent perspiration.'

In the case of Edison, it's actually more like one percent stealing ideas, ninety-nine percent driving the creator into the ground while profiteering to the fullest extent possible.  He is a hero to the americans because he's heralded as a great inventor - the truth couldn't be further from reality; interestingly, he should still be a marker by which americans judge themselves for he symbolises america to a tee.

He is a filthy liar, who was rubbish at making things, but great at inventing uses for things that people didn't need.  When it was something useful, he stole the idea and ruined the original creator.  He was a true american patriot, standing on the shoulders of migrants to reach the stars.  See here for one of the many he ripped off.

See if you can guess who this is from:

'We want to live by each other's happiness, not by each other's misery.' (sic)

It's actually from Charlie Chaplin.  I have no idea why it's in a third year middle school English textbook, nor why he was chosen for these words.  I mean, as words go they're not bad, but what is particularly inspiring about him?  I don't know much about the man, nor do I know much about what makes him great enough to appear in this very select list - so I leave it up to you to find fault with this one.

'It is not how much we do, but how much love we put in the doing.  It is not how much we give, but how much love we put in the giving.'

This one is quite difficult, but when you know the answer you'll see it makes sense.  This is much more sensible as the author, Mother Teresa, was known to be quite saintly.  She was a rather nice lady, who liked helping other people.  Fine.  Go do your helping, inspire others to help.  Great.  Nothing wrong with that.

Next.

'Language is to the mind more than light is to the eye.'

This one wouldn't be guessed in a million years, but works well for both the person uttering, and the utterance.  It is Anne Sullivan, the woman who taught Helen Keller (again, someone I'd never heard of before I met americans).  It works because Anne was a teacher - which makes sense in a school.  It also works because it's talking of language highly, and wouldn't you know it, this is an English language textbook!  Full marks.

So all-told, of the five English language quotes they included, I would scrap three because one is pointless, one is from a man who hated jews and made cartoons (giving him roughly the same qualification to help others, as I have to judge him, ha!) and the final is from the perfect american (therefore making him a somewhat dubious role-model for kids outside of america).  The Anne Sullivan quote has two unabashed thumbs up from me.  Not to mention the validity of the quote (in whose opinion?), the quotee is someone who can be admired.

But, of course, this is Japan.  This means that despite these quotes being in an English language textbook, one that the kids are supposedly learning English from, there has to be a Japanese quote to ensure no one thinks Japan is losing face.  To comply with the aforementioned learning English and stuff, it's been translated.  Now, the above quotes had little in common beyond being vaguely upbeat, do gooder nonsense.  This is a prime chance for the educational authorities to pull a fast one, and say something extremely profound, that expounds the Japanese psyche and reaffirms their unshakable knowledge that Japan is the best.  So, with this prime circumstance established, here we go:

The old pond;
A frog jumps in, -
The sound of water.

...  What?