99. "Those who have not found their true wealth are beggars."

“A beggar had been sitting by the side of a road for over thirty years. One day a stranger walked by. “Spare some change?” mumbled the beggar, mechanically holding out his old baseball cap. “I have nothing to give you,” said the stranger. Then he asked: “What’s that you are sitting on?” “Nothing,” replied the beggar. “Just an old box. I have been sitting on it for as long as I can remember.” “Ever looked inside?” asked the stranger. “No,” said the beggar. “What’s the point? There’s nothing in there.” “Have a look inside,” insisted the stranger. The beggar managed to pry open the lid. With astonishment, disbelief, and elation, he saw that the box was filled with gold.

I am that stranger who has nothing to give you and who is telling you to look inside. Not inside any box, as in the parable, but somewhere even closer: inside yourself.

“But I am not a beggar,” I can hear you say.

Those who have not found their true wealth, which is the radiant joy of Being and the deep, unshakable peace that comes with it, are beggars, even if they have great material wealth. They are looking outside for scraps of pleasure or fulfillment, for validation, security, or love, while they have a treasure within that not only includes all those things but is infinitely greater than anything the world can offer.”

From "The Power of NOW" by Eckhart Tolle, Namaste Publishing and New World Library

98. "The world will not much longer tolerate the unemployment which is inevitably associated with present-day capitalistic individualism."

"The authoritarian state systems of to-day seem to solve the problem of unemployment at the expense of efficiency and of freedom. It is certain that the world will not much longer tolerate the unemployment which, apart from brief intervals of excitement, is associated---and, in my opinion, inevitably associated---with present-day capitalistic individualism. But it may be possible by a right analysis of the problem to cure the disease whilst preserving efficiency and freedom."

From "THE GENERAL THEORY OF EMPLOYMENT, INTEREST AND MONEY" by John Maynard Keynes, BN Publishing

97. "In learning Chinese, you cannot expect progress without mastering pronunciation of the language."

"In learning Chinese, you cannot expect progress without mastering pronunciation of the language. Of course, I do not think there is any language which does not require practicing pronunciation well, but it seems that pronunciation is especially important in Chinese."

From "ABC of Pronunciation of Chinese" by Keiji Ueno, Japan Broadcast Publishing Co., Ltd.

96. "A country's economic power cannot be used as its identity."

"Asked for his impression about the inauguration speech by President Obama, Japan's then-Prime Minister said, "As the world's second-largest economy, we must cooperate with America, the world's largest economy." I think this was a typically-Japanese answer. (snip.) As a matter of course, the world economy ranking changes every year, and a country's "economic power" cannot be used as its identity index. Saying "we want to establish a strong relationship with America as the world's second-largest economy" implies that such a relationship may vary if it becomes No. 3 or No. 5. (snip.) If a musician gets asked, for example, if he wants to collaborate with another musician and if he says, "yes, as the No. 2 musician in the popularity ranking, I wanna do that," he will be laughed at as being loopy in no time."

From "The Remote and Isolated Country, Japan" by Tatsuru Uchida, SHINCHOSHA Publishing Co., Ltd.