It all started with the video of eight years old Success prefering to be caned to missing school. She was sent home for her parent’s inability to pay a N900 examination fee.
A public outcry followed.
However, the viral video on Success, her clear innocence and desire for education above the temporary pain from the whip, has made her an instant success with many falling over themselves to spnsor her education.
But it has also put the Delta State government in a tight spot as another viral video has shown apparent neglect of the Okotie Eboh Primary School 1, Sapele, where Success schools.
The video is a tale of unconscionable abandonment of hundreds of pupils by a government that prides itself in infrastructural development.
Swiftly, however, the State Government has commenced renovation work on the school as fingers are pointing in the direction of civil servants for the neglect, and heads are beginning to roll.
The head-teacher is on suspension for charging illegal examination fees, though many suspect she is a scape-goat for the fresh video, that scandalises the state government. She acted as guide to a young lady who filmed the school, interviewed teachers, pupils, and staff.Video Player
It has been considered a myth to assume
that because twins are identical they will be the same weight and length at
birth. They’re also said not to have
identical fingerprints and that they get sick differently. Well, the Sani
sisters, Ameena and Hadizahave defied all that and more!!! They are alike in everything including
fingerprints!
By Harrison Arubu
Abuja-based Hajia Ameena Hassana Sani
and Hajia Hadiza Hussaina are identical twin sisters with a difference.
They look so remarkably alike that
telling them apart has been one big task for everyone, who comes across,
including their parents, since they were born more than 50 years ago.
According to experts, identical twins
represent a real torture test for biometrics. This holds true in the lives of
the two sisters, whose fingerprints have also confused data capture machines
over the years.
As if that is not enough, they
exhibit certain physiological and personality traits that sometimes make them
seem like two computer monitors connected to one central processing unit.
For instance, one would start a
sentence and the other would finish it, or both would start the same sentence
at the same time with the same choice of words and all the mannerisms and
gestures that follow.
“This thing is in the psyche,’’
Ameena said, “even we can’t explain it. I may be thinking of asking her a
question regarding what I am thinking, and she will just give me the answer
before I let it out.
The Sani Sisters: Ameenat and Hadiza: people who
come across find it difficult to distinguish the two
“And I would yell `stop entering my
brain, you know, stop reading my mind. These are the things that happen to
us,’’ she said. “It is telepathic!’’ Hadiza added.
Sharing their amazing story, the Sani
twins recalled how, on a particular day, they confounded their foster mother
when they inadvertently dressed exactly the same way at different locations.
Hadiza narrated: “There was this time
I was here in Abuja and my sister was in Lagos. We were to go to Kaduna.
“So, that Friday morning I left
Abuja, and arrived in Kaduna by road, while my sister boarded her flight from
Lagos. I met Mama in her living room and after the usual greetings; she said
she needed to make salad, but that she forgot to buy a certain vegetable.
“I said no problem, I would go, and
then I left. About 30 minutes later, my sister arrived home from the airport
and met mama in the living room.
“The old woman started ranting, `what
is wrong with you?! It is almost time to serve the salad, and you have not gone
to buy the vegetable. What are you waiting for?’
“My sister said, `hellooo, excuse me
mama, what vegetables?’ The woman looked at her with surprise and said, `are
you going senile at your early age? You and I just finished talking about
buying vegetable for salad. What are you waiting for? Go and buy it!
“She said, `mama, I am just coming in
from the airport’. The old woman exclaimed, `La illah, illah lah!’
“Mama stepped back, and looking more closely she said, `What! Do you know your sister is dressed exactly the same way, up to earrings?! It was amazing.’’ Both mom and daughter burst out laughing.
Till date, the twins cannot explain
why they both have crooked baby fingers pointing in the same direction, or why
they unconsciously interlock their fingers while walking.
Another surprise: they share and swap
illnesses. While Ameena is prone to stomach upsets, her twin sister is often
down with backaches.
“At some point, we interchange the
ailments. And my sister would say `give me back my backache and take your
stomach upset’.
“We started wondering why. Up till
now, we don’t know why,’’ Ameena said.
During the interview for this
article, the writer observed that Hadiza, the younger twin by minutes, is
taller than her sister.
When this was pointed out to them,
Ameena said anatomical variation is something they also constantly swap between
them. It is either one gets taller today and shorter tomorrow or they level up.
Perhaps, the weirdest thing about the
Sani twins is their fingerprints, which seem to be identical as well.
Indications to this effect emerged
during their biometric capturing for voter registration in 2011; the National
Identity Number (NIN), and the Bank Verification Number (BVN). On each
occasion, Ameena’s registration failed, while her sister’s sailed through.
Hadiza said: “The first time we were
captured was in 2011 during voter registration. Since we were both in Kaduna,
we decided to register there. We went for capturing and when the list came out,
my name was there in our ward, but hers was missing.
“We made enquiries and eventually got
someone to inform Attahiru Jega (then Chairman of the Independent National
Electoral Commission, INEC) that there seemed to be a problem with the
capturing of twins, particularly identical twins. I think they didn’t take us
seriously. We thought the belief then in INEC was that no two people could have
similar fingerprints.
“Then we both came to Abuja to
capture for the National Identity Number. We both did it at Radio House; I sat
in front of one system, she sat in front of another. We were captured and given
our slips. The list came out, but only mine was there.’’
Ameena added: “I think it was due to
the alphabets. Her name starts with H, mine A. So, the first alphabet that
comes in gets knocked off. We then started making enquiries and making a case
not just in voter registration but also in National ID.
“Then we also experienced a similar
problem with BVN (Bank Verification Number). We operate in the same bank, but
different accounts. It was a tug of war. Each time we went to the bank they
would say problem with our BVN.
“So, finally we said we wanted to
speak to the person in charge at CBN (Central Bank of Nigeria. We had to
explain to the lady that we were two persons, not one. Eventually, our bank had
to make a case to CBN that we were a peculiar set of twins. That eventually got
that sorted. These are some of the strange things we experience.’’
Born in Sokoto to a Hausa-Fulani
father and a Yoruba mother, Ameena and Hadiza who have been inseparable since
birth, attended the same primary, secondary and tertiary institutions.
It was difficult for their parents to
separate them due to a combination of the fear of losing them and the
traditional superstitions about twins.
They were born on 1st September 1965,
into a family with a history of non-survival of twins. Considering their
traditional backgrounds, their parents and relatives believed there were some
rituals that had to be done to make them survive.
“And then they noticed something: if
one ran temperature, say around noon on a day, by evening the other will also
run temperature.
“That strengthened their belief that
twins had some spiritual powers, and those things guided the way they treated us,
and the decision to keep us together,’’ Hadiza explained.
Keeping them together came with the
big challenge of identifying them. Even their parents couldn’t tell them apart.
As a way out, they had to be tagged with wrist bands in different colours (blue
for Ameena and red for Hadiza).
Hadiza recalled some instances where
she took advantage of the confusion to escape punishment for offences committed
both at home and in secondary school where they were initially placed in the
same class.
“While in secondary school (FGC
Sokoto), I used to be like a tomboy, very brazen, I didn’t have a lot of fears.
I got into a lot of fights with boys. I fought a boy, the teacher came and
broke it up, but the boy decided to report to the principal, who sent for me.
“I went and narrated my version. He
warned me against fighting next time. I left thinking up how to get back at the
guy for reporting me. So, I put some dead insects in his plate, including one
that was not quite dead, because he had phobia for insects.
“The boy knew it was me, so he came
and attacked me. I fought him, fell him to the ground and he went to report me
again. From that point on I had made up my mind that the principal and I would
not see again.
“The principal kept asking for me and
finally he went to Ameena and threatened to punish her. But my sister started
crying, insisting she didn’t know what the man was talking about. The teacher
intervened and said it was possible because we were identical twins, and that
it could be that my twin was responsible.
“I decided that if I was caught and
sent to the principal’s office, my only saving grace would be to also cry and
deny it. So, when I was eventually presented to the principal I denied it in
tears. In order not to punish the wrong person, since he couldn’t get either of
us to admit, he let us go with a warning.’’
Thereafter the sisters were split and
placed in different classes – Hadiza remained in Form 1A, while Ameena was
taken to Form 1B.
The similarity also reflects in their
career choice, which has led them both to the media world. While Ameena
currently heads the multi-media unit of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN),
Hadiza is with the Voice of Nigeria (VON), both parastatals under the Federal
Ministry of Information and Culture.
It all started at Model Primary
School, Sokoto, where they were both in the debate club. Endowed with tellingly
sharp tongues and quick minds, the girls were always found arguing about issues
and driving home their points.
Their late uncle, who was then
working at a television station, decided it was time to take it to the next
level. The station had just started a children’s debate on television.
“ We went for the first session and
the production was wow’’, Hadiza said. “A lot of people started asking for
more. At the end of the day it became a routine thing.
“As we grew older, it stuck. Our
father wanted us to study what was termed more serious arts like Law, Political
Science, Public Administration, but we insisted we wanted to study performing
arts, and got our way.’’
That dream took them to the
University of Ilorin where they secured admission to study performing arts.
Also faced with the challenge of telling them apart, the department later
placed them in different units: Ameena in Music and Hadiza in Drama, the twins
recalled.
But before then, they had got married
after secondary school, with kids: Ameena has three, while Hadiza is blessed
with two.
For the Sani twins, breaking up to
get married to different men was like taking fish out of water. The bond
between them was obviously much stronger than that of marriage.
So, when Ameena’s husband came for
her hand in marriage, expectedly Hadiza did not like either the man or the idea
of her sister leaving her.
“But I had decided I was OK with
him”, the older twin said. “Initially, my sister was like, ‘ it’s ok, take her
away. You want to go with him? Ok, fine leave me and go with him’.
“As soon as she also got married, it
kind of doused that a bit. But new things came up. We discovered we preferred
each other’s company to other persons’.
“My husband found it odd that I
wanted to spend more time with my sister. It goes beyond what we could
explain.”
Hadiza was also more drawn to her
twin sister. Thus it was not difficult for them to divorce their husbands just
to be together.
Divorce also provided the needed
space for them to return to school. Ameena said, “In our society then, when you
finished secondary school that was the highest level of education that was
expected of women.
“Although, there were exceptions,
about married women who had first degrees and even above at that time too, they
were very few and far between.
“But gradually the society embraced
girl-child education to whatever level. Some of us had to fight the battle too.
“We decided that since the kids were
already there and growing, we needed to further our education. We took that
decision and went.”
Interestingly, the Sani twins quarrel
a lot, yet they refuse to be separated. They said the quarrels were usually
over mundane and petty things as siblings would naturally do, but theirs were
even more petty.
“The fight does not last for more
than 15 seconds. We might be quarrelling now, and then something happens like
breaking news on TV, and the next second we are jumping up and hugging.
“As kids if we had an open fight
nobody would want to interfere because there was the tendency for the fight to
turn from us to you coming to make peace. It was quite interesting,” Ameena
said.
Yet another surprise about the twin
sisters are their looks, which offer no clue to their age. At over 50 with 17
grandchildren between them (Ameena has 11, and Hadiza has six, all boys), they
look thirtyish in their slim, petite frames.
They attributed the physique to a
combination of early child bearing and contentment.
“Contentment makes you young,” Hadiza
said. “Early child bearing is another factor,” suggested Ameena. “When you
close the chapter of child bearing before 25, I think you retain that structure
of youth for the rest of your life.”
Talking about contentment, the
sisters said they loved their job to the extent that some persons started
seeing them as married to the profession.
According to them, the foundation was
laid at the university where they were taught by some of the best academic
minds in performing arts, including the late playwright and dramatist Zulu
Sofola, who was their Head of Department.
Added to the that was the mentorship
they received from veteran broadcasters such as Bode Alalade, Julie Coker, Ruth
Benamaisia Opia, among others they described as the creme de la creme of
broadcasting at the Nigeria Television Authority (NTA), where they did their
youth service and later worked for some time.
“A lot of them helped to shape our
dedication and willingness to sacrifice for the work, and things like that,”
said Ameena.
“And that’s why we did not remarry,”
added Hadiza. “The rigours of what we had to do in the office, the children at
home and the responsibilities of wife, sister in-law, daughter in-law, can be
quite daunting.
“Choose your battle, they say, and so we chose the one we could win.” That was how marriage became the opportunity cost. (NAN)
Approximately five times more women than men are victims of sexual assault and young adults are at especially high risk. The impact on young people’s psychological and physical health can be devastating, especially given that this developmental period is when young people should be developing and refining intimacy skills in close relationships.
As a researcher, my instincts are to turn again to the scientific
literature and assess what we know — to look for solutions or at least a clear
way forward.
This focus on female victims leaves one with the strong
impression that they are the protagonists in this story, as I have long argued.
The lessons that these studies propagate are: women should avoid alcohol and drugs at parties, women should never wear tight or revealing clothes, women should essentially live a life avoiding young men because, well, young men.
What is staggering to me is how little we know about the men who
knowingly assault. What little we do know comes mostly from studies of
incarcerated men. But, given how few incidents of sexual violence are even
reported to the police and how few of those even make it to a conviction, these
crimes and the men who perpetrate them are likely very different beasts
altogether from most crimes of sexual assault.
What we need are studies of non-incarcerated men who knowingly
rape. These are the men who work to inebriate and isolate women, for example,
often soliciting the help of friends.
Who really are the men who will divulge how they plan and enact a crime that is in the news each day, without some assurance that they won’t be identified?
Time to study men
who assault
I am certainly encouraged by the work on consent and efforts to ensure that young people learn to distinguish whether a potential sexual partner has given clear and free consent to proceed.
This writing constitutes a call for
researchers to dig deeper. We need to hear from the men who assault. Yes, we
can reach them. No, we should not assume that they are vested in helping
eliminate sexual assault.
However, one feature that emerges
from the few studies that we do have in hand is that men who knowingly assault tend to do
so repeatedly. They often have well-formulated strategies and, with the vanity
of the con artist and bully combined, can be induced in some contexts to tell
all. Or tell alot. And we need that information in order to make a difference.
Let’s stop surveying women about their experiences as victims; it’s time to really zero in on the men who perpetrate these crimes at long last.
Someone said to me last month: “Most men in university who rape young women do it because they don’t understand consent and misunderstand when women say ‘no’.” Yah. Sorry but I call major BS on that. Sexual violence is not a lack of education. It is not a low awareness. It is not misunderstanding or ignorance. It’s not that these people don’t know what ‘no’ means.
Sexual violence is a global social
phenomena wrapped up in misogyny, hypersexualisation of society and children,
economic factors, power struggles, porn culture, rape myths, weak laws and…
individual motivations.
The uncomfortable truth is that
our education cannot undo the damage our society has already done – and we
cannot use education of individuals to change the way our entire society of
millions of people have absorbed messages from porn, advertisement, patriarchy
and the media.
The true way to combat sexual violence is to begin to reflect on the world we have created for ourselves. No point in blaming society when we ARE the society. It is us who allow porn to feature children, violence, rapes, torture, strangling, suffocation and abuse. It is us who allow our children to become sexualised by the media, by marketing and by popular culture. It is us who allow entire generations to be oppressed and harmed by a second powerful group. It is us who are so desperate for power over each other that the heady mix of sex and power gets mixed together to form an influential rape culture that is celebrated and accepted everywhere.
Education alone cannot solve these
issues. We need drastic, human, individual and collective change. Educating
children in a school hall or adults in a small group therapy about abuse and
expecting them to be able to keep themselves safe – and then sending them off
into that society we have created for them is WHY none of this is working.
Educating sex offenders in prisons and community groups and then sending them
off into that very same rape-supportive society we created for them is WHY none
of this is working.
A message to professionals
and commissioners:
Lots of professionals and
commissioners are terrified when faced with the prospect that what they have
been told to do won’t actually protect children or adults from sexual violence
and to them, I say this:
Sometimes, you cannot fix a huge global issue like this – but
you CAN fix the way you or your organisation responds to it. You might not be
able to end sexual violence or abuse or CSE – but you can vastly improve the
way you interact with victims and the services you deliver
Telling someone that the reason they were abused, raped or
assaulted was because they didn’t know any better and that knowing more about
abuse or rape could have stopped it from happening to them is abhorrent
practice – make sure no one in your team says or believes that
Do we make daft promises like ‘We aim to end murder by 2020’ –
no, we don’t. We know that won’t happen. But we are making massive promises
like that in abuse and sexual violence. ‘We aim to end child abuse!’ ‘We aim to
end CSE’. Good for you, but, you won’t. So stop chasing the impossible dream
and focus on what you CAN do. Stop making promises we can’t keep. Stop selling
products that don’t do what you say they do.
Stop commissioning education of victims as preventative or
protective method. It’s patronising and it’s unethical. Focus on asking them
what they need from you or your organisation. Support? Advice? Practical help?
Someone to offload on? Someone to help them with a criminal trial?
Do not use education as an excuse to blame victims of sexual
violence and rape. Education would likely not have made any difference to what
a sex offender chose to do to them. The victim is not the problem here, the
offender is.
When you are thinking about the problem of sexual violence,
think bigger. Look around you. See adverts, music videos, porn, upskirting,
forced marriage, laws, policies, campaigning, imagery, film plots… you live in
a sexually violent society that celebrates forced sexual activity and the
objectification of women and children
Remember that you can do a brilliant job of educating children,
adults, professionals and even offenders – but to do so you must accept that
you can’t predict or control sexual violence perpetrated by offenders you don’t
even know.
Your education might have a positive impact on the people you
are teaching, but please do not assume or expect it to protect them from rape
or abuse – and don’t blame them if they are attacked after you educated them.
Outcomes measurement is important here – do not mix up your
values and beliefs with true outcome measurement. If you educate 500 teenagers
– the outcome is that you provided education to 500 teenagers. The outcome is
not ‘we reduced the risk of 500 teenagers’ or ‘500 teenagers are now educated
in sexual violence’ or ‘500 teenagers now better understand how to protect
themselves’. You provided information, that is what you did.
Jessica Eaton is the founder of VictimFocus and the VictimFocus Charter to reduce victim blaming in professional workplaces and organisations. http://www.victimfocus.org.uk
In 1976, a Ph.D. candidate at Claremont Graduate University placed a rather unusual personal ad in newspapers throughout Los Angeles:
He sat by
his phone, sceptical that it would ring. “I didn’t think that anyone would want
to respond,” said Samuel D. Smithyman, now 72 and a clinical psychologist in
South Carolina.
But the
phone did ring. Nearly 200 times.
At the
other end of the line were a computer programmer who had raped his “sort of
girlfriend,” a painter who had raped his acquaintance’s wife, and a school
custodian who described 10 to 15 rapes as a means of getting even with “rich
bastards” in Beverly Hills.
By the
end of the summer, Dr. Smithyman had completed 50 interviews, which became the
foundation for his dissertation: “The Undetected Rapist.” What was particularly
surprising to him was how normal these men sounded and how diverse their
backgrounds were. He concluded that few generalizations could be made.
Over the past few weeks, women across the world have recounted
tales of harassment and sexual assault by posting anecdotes to social media
with the hashtag #MeToo. Even
just focusing on the second category, the biographies of the accused are so
varied that they seem to support Dr. Smithyman’s observation.
But more recent research suggests that there are some commonalities. In the decades since his paper, scientists have been gradually filling out a picture of men who commit sexual assaults.
The most
pronounced similarities have little to do with the traditional demographic
categories, like race, class and marital status. Rather, other kinds of
patterns have emerged: these men begin early, studies find. They may associate
with others who also commit sexual violence. They usually deny that they have
raped women even as they admit to nonconsensual sex.
This may be partly connected to a tendency to consider sexual assault a women’s issue even though men usually commit the crime. But finding the right subjects also has complicated the research.
Clarifying
these and other patterns, many researchers say, is the most realistic path
toward curtailing behaviors that cause so much pain.
“If you
don’t really understand perpetrators, you’re never going to understand sexual
violence,” said Sherry Hamby, editor of the journal Psychology of
Violence. That may seem obvious, but she said she receives “10 papers on
victims” for every one on perpetrators.
Surely,
being very educated has little to do with being a rapist. Not
even being a graduate of Business and Economics including a masters’ degree in
Mathematics in the case of international music star, Antoine Christophe Agbepa
Mumba a.k.a. Koffi Olomide could deter him from the lure forced and abusive
sexual intercourse with a woman; more so a minor. Last Monday according to News
Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports, Olomide was given a two years suspended jail
sentence in absentia by a court in France for raping a 15 year-old girl.
She was one of his former dancers and the act was carried out when
she was 15.
This
sentence means that the 62 year-old music composer, producer and singer faces
an arrest if he commits further offenses, according to BBC. The graduate of
Business Economic and pioneer of the soukous genre was order by the court to
pay a fine of 5,000 Euros ($5,700; £4,300) in damages to the former dancer.
He was
also ordered to pay the same amount to the court for illegally bringing three
women into France.
Reports
also stated that Olomide’s lawyer, Emmanuel Marsigny hailed the ruling as a
victory that it would result in the withdrawal of the star’s international
arrest warrant.
The
Kisangani born artist in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) was accused of
raping a young lady between 2002 and 2006 after it was alleged that he seized
her passport.
He went
on trial after four former dancers claimed he sexually assaulted them several
times between 2002 and 2006.
The
assaults allegedly happened in the DRC as well as in France, including at a
villa outside Paris where the women said they were held against their will.
The
dancers said they managed to make a night-time escape from the villa in June
2006, and have not returned to their country since for fear of reprisals.
Prosecutors
at his trial in Nanterre, outside Paris, had sought a seven-year prison
sentence but the court dismissed the assault and kidnapping charges.
The
Master Degree holder in Mathematics was first charged in 2012 with aggravated
rape but the charges were subsequently reduced.
Facing
a French arrest warrant, he fled to DR Congo in 2009 but had initially said he
would appear at the trial to defend himself.
Olomide,
however, failed to show for the trial last month, which was held behind closed
doors at the women’s request.
The court also dismissed the charges against two men accused of
being complicit in the assaults.
Meanwhile, for hitting a Rwandan photojournalist in Lusaka in
2012, he is presently wanted by Zambian police. Also, Olomide already had a
brush with the law in France, with a court finding him guilty of tax fraud in
2006.
The Premium Times Centre for Investigative Journalism, (PTCIJ), Wole
Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism (WSCIJ) and the International
Federal of Women Lawyers, (FIDA) have joined other groups in the country to
mark the International Women’s Day, (IWD) 2019.
The event which is marked every March 8 is intended to advance the cause
of women all over the world.
This year’s theme of the IWD is “think equal, build smart, innovate for
change” while the global campaign slogan is: #BalanceforBetter.
Both themes are intended to motivate women and further bridge the gap
between them and men with the aim of ensuring an improved world.
PTCIJ said arrangements have been made for a ‘tweet meet’ in support of women in the media.
If we want a prestigious career and a sizeable pay check, do we have to settle for unhappiness at work? According to UC Berkeley professor Morten Hansen, the answer is no.
His book Great at Work pinpoints where performance and well-being intersect—the strategies that (according to his research) are linked to being both successful and happy at work. For example, he recommends that we “do less, then obsess”: focus on a few tasks and then devote intense energy to them. In choosing those tasks, we should prioritise what we can do well, efficiently, and with great benefit to others.
Hansen illustrates these strategies and more with case studies from around the world. He hopes readers will be inspired to experiment with how they do their jobs—trying something new, observing the results, and tweaking accordingly. More than anything, that spirit of constant learning may be the path to less burnout, more work-life balance, and more satisfying work.
This year was an enlightening year for readers of books on the science of a meaningful life. Many books we encountered looked at broader, societal issues that affect our well-being, giving us practical advice for weathering hard times or for making a difference in the lives of those around us.
Among our favourites is one by Marc Freedman titled, “How to Live Forever: The Enduring Power of Connecting the Generations.” Another is by Morton Hansen titled, Great at Work: How Top Performers Do Less, Work Better, and Achieve More.
We have done a brief review of both books below.
Tech billionaires may be hoping to cheat death with cryopreservation and artificial intelligence. But Marc Freedman argues that people who want to “live forever” should wake up to what really matters in life: our generativity, or making the world a better place for the generations coming after us.
Through fostering relationships across generations, older adults can find purpose, put their wisdom to use, and make their later years more joyful and productive, Freedman suggests. He provides illustrative stories of successful intergenerational programs that have made a difference in the lives of seniors and younger people alike. Anyone interested in bridging the “age divide” will find ample ideas and resources in the book for doing so.
Freedman makes a strong case for tapping into seniors’ potential for contributing to society. People are living much longer these days; giving to others and finding purpose in later life are what will keep us vital as we age.
Another Christmas season gone. Most families and individuals have engaged in divers acts of giving. From donating cash and gifts to the less privileged, to supporting displaced persons, or providing free services to the indigent.
Generosity and selflessness are virtues that should be part of our daily life. Giving ought to be a lifestyle and not something we do on occasions. It’s also important to remember that giving doesn’t always feel great. The opposite could very well be true. Giving can make us feel depleted and taken advantage of. But, regardless of our feelings, we keep giving and serving others because that just might be the secret to living a life that is not only happier but also healthier, wealthier, more productive, and meaningful.
According to a Tara Parker-Pope in the New York Times, gift giving has long been a favourite subject for studies on human behaviour with psychologists, anthropologists, economists and marketers all weighing in. They have found that giving gifts is a surprisingly complex and important part of human interaction, helping to define relationships and strengthen bonds with family and friends. Indeed, psychologists say it is often the giver, rather than the recipient, who reaps the biggest psychological gains from a gift.
For centuries, the greatest thinkers have suggested the same thing: Happiness is found in helping others. None of us would be where we are today were if not for the great circumstances in which we have grown up. Therefore, it is not just a good thing to give back, it is our duty to try and make the world a better place for those less fortunate than ourselves.
We have rounded up some inspiring musings on selflessness and generosity:
“If you want happiness for an hour, take a nap. If you want happiness for a day, go fishing. If you want happiness for a year, inherit a fortune. If you want happiness for a lifetime, help somebody.” Chinese saying.
“True leaders are selfless. They have always been servants of the people first.” Anonymous
“Only those who have learned the power of sincere and selfless contribution experience life’s deepest joy: true life’s deepest joy: true fulfilment.” Tony Robbins
“A hero is somebody who is selfless. Who is generous in spirit. Who just tries to give back as much as possible and help people. A hero to me is someone who saves people and who really deeply cares.” Debi Mazar
“Helping one person might not change the world, but it could change the world for one person.” Anonymous
“Selfless acts are a source of profound meaning for yourself and your life.” Ron Kaufman
“The happiest are the givers, not the takers.” Anonymous
“It is under the greatest adversity that there exists the greatest potential for doing good, both for oneself and others.” Dalai Lama
“You don’t need a reason to help people.” Anonymous
“It’s when you’re acting selflessly that you are at your bravest.” Veronica Roth
“Practice being selfless. You end up getting more than you anticipate when your soul is giving.” Anonymous
“Learn to love without condition. Talk without bad intention. Give without any reason. And most of all, care for people without any exception.” Anonymous
“Give to the world the best you have. And the best will come back to you.” Madeline Bridges
“Real love is about being selfless, not selfish.” Anonymous
“A candle loses nothing by lighting another candle.” James Keller
“For it is in giving that we receive.” Saint Francis of Assisi
“The sole meaning of life is to serve humanity.” Leo Tolstoy
“We make a living by what we get; we make a life by what we give.” Winston Churchill
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