Quotes of the Week 1 · Rishab Academy

Quotes of the Week 1

Quote 1: “For there is always light, if only we’re brave enough to see it. If only we’re brave enough to be it.” - Amanda Gorman, The Hill We Climb

Quote 2: “We can never give up longing and wishing while we are thoroughly alive. There are certain things we feel to be beautiful and good, and we must hunger after them.” - George Eliot, The Mill on the Floss

Quote 3: "Do not be fooled by commonplace appearance. Like so many things, it is not what outside, but what is inside that counts." - The Peddler, Aladdin

Quote 4: “To laugh at yourself, is to love yourself.” - Mickey Mouse

Quote 5: “Don’t rush and never settle. If it’s meant to be, it will be.” - Ashton Kutcher

Quote 6: “We need women who are so strong they can be gentle, so educated they can be humble, so fierce they can be compassionate, so passionate they can be rational, and so disciplined they can be free.” - Kevita Ramadas

Quote 7: “Ideals are strengthened by the challenges they endure.” - Courier Six, Fallout: New Vegas

Quote 8: “You mustn't allow yourself to be chained to fate, to be ruled by your genes. Human beings can choose the kind of life that they want to live. What's important is that you choose life... and then live.” - Naomi, Metal Gear Solid

Amanda S. C. Gorman was born on March 7th, 1998 and is an American poet, activist, and model. Her poem which is being quoted was recited on January 20th, 2021 during the inauguration of Joe Biden in Washington, D.C. Her recitation of this quote also marked her as the youngest individual to give an inaugural poet as she was 22 years old. The poem was commended for its wording and praised for its message of unity. Gorman’s other work focuses on oppression, feminism, race, marginalization, and African diaspora. Gorman is also famous for being the first National Youth Poet Laureate. Gorman’s poem describes America’s political state as of the 2020 election and also references other pieces of media like the Bible and Lin Manuel Miranda’s Hamilton play (which Miranda praised Gorman for). Her poem was also described by critics to have significance even after the election.

The Hill We Climb’s quote explains how there will always be light that we can look to, even in our darkest hours. Not only that, but sometimes the easiest light to find is the one within ourself that we can show to the rest of the world.

George Eliot’s The Mill on the Floss was published on April 4th, 1860. George Eliot was actually the pen name for lead Victorian author Mary Ann Evans. This book was her 2nd of 7 books on realism and psychology insight with a typical countryside setting. The title comes from the Dorlcote Mill which the protagonist lives in which is placed right next to the Floss river. The book follows Maggie Tulliver who is desperately trying to revive her parents’ approval. Her brash nature brings her into conflict with her family and as an adult she later experiences this conflict on a greater scale in her relationship with 3 different men. The Mill on the Floss is typically considered one of Eliot’s most autobiographical works and the book is still relevant today in its message.

The Mill on the Floss’s quote explains how there is so much good stuff in life that we can achieve. The first step to achieving such bueatiful things is to recognize their beauty. The second step is to list for that goodness and chase after it.

In 1992, Disney animated the movie Aladdin starring a protagonist of the same name. Aladdin lives in the desert city of Agrabah where he spends his time stealing food from the rich to feed himself with his monkey Abbu. The story is based on the Arabic folktale “One thousand days and one night”. Aladdin finds a magical lamp storing a genie played by the amazing Robin Williams who helps Aladdin impress the Sultan so that Aladdin can be with the Princess, Jasmine. However, the vizier Jafar plots to steal the lamp. The Peddler actually starts off the whole movie by introducing the audience to some of his wares and eventually the genie’s magical lamp. Aladdin had its Disney live action remake in 2019 which was well received. Aladdin’s success led to the creation of two sequels which were both less successful and commonly remembered than the first movie. However, Aladdin has massive success in its soundtrack with two academy awards and a Grammy for the iconic “A Whole New World”.

The Peddler’s quote explains the cliche concept that the importance of a concept is underneath the surface. This concept gains new context in the context of Aladdin as the lamp he refers to not only has the power of the genie, but also the power to absue his wishes.

Mickey Mouse’s quote is not attributed to a specific source, but instead the franchise as a whole. Mickey Mouse himself was created almost a century ago in 1928 by both Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks (he refined Disney’s creation and also animated a lot of Mickey’s original animations like Steamboat Willie). Mickey was created as a replacement for Oswald the Lucky Rabbit who was made just a year earlier. Mickey was also planned to be called Mortimer Mouse. Mickey made his public debut in the now iconic Steamboat Willie short movie. Mickey was inspired by silent film stars like Charlie Chaplin and Douglas Fairbanks in his courageous sympathetic underdog personality. Mickey’s presence in media has only grown since the 1930s with numerous TV shows, video games, comic strips, movies and more. Mickey was also the first cartoon have a star in the Hollywood Walk of Fame as of 1978.

Mickey Mouse’s quote explains that we can love ourselves by understanding and even laughing at our own faults. We are all human after all and it is natural that we are imperfect, so why not embrace that fact.

Christopher Ashton Kutcher was born on February 7th, 1978 and is an actor, producer, and entrepreneur. Kutcher started acting in 1998 works mainly in comedies with some romantic comedies, science fiction, sitcoms and even comedic thrillers mixed in. Kutcher is also a venture capitalist who co-founded A-Grade Investments. With his company, he made investments in high technology startups like Skype, Airbnb, Duolingo, and ResearchGate among many more. Kutcher has won a good number of awards from Teen Choice Awards and the Young Artist Award.

Kutcher’s quote explains that things shouldn’t be rushed and thing will fall into place with time. As an investor, he has seen this with most of his investments. As an actor, he will surely see this in the future of his career as his experience propels himself further.

Kavita Nandini Ramdas was born in 1963 and is a feminist and activist. Ramdas is a public figure for gender equality and justice. Ramdas is currently the Director of the Women’s Rights Program at the Open Society Foundations. Prior from 1996 to 2010, Ramdas was led the Global Fund for Women as its second president and CEO for the largest organization for women’s right globalally. From 2012 to 2015, she led the Ford Foundation actions for global peace in South Asia. She then served as the Senior Advisor to President Darren Walker on issues related to the foundation’s Global Strategy. She continues to advocate for justice from her home in New York where she lives with her husband as an author.

Ramdas’s quote—while being specific to women—still applies to everyone in the ways that anyone can improve themselves. Her quote also highlights key aspects of what makes people successful and what traits led to success.

Fallout: New Vegas is a video game developed by Obsidian Entertainment and published by Bethesda on October 19, 2010. It is the 4th major game in the series and 6th overall which used a lot of assets as the previous Fallout 3 and was made by many of the same developers. The game follows the main character The Courier or Courier Six. The game is a post apocalyptic role playing game taking place in mainly the south western United States. The story takes place in 2281, 4 years after Fallout 3 and 6 years before Fallout 4. The story follows a power stuggle over the city of New Vegas and the power created by the Hoover Dam. The main 3 forces are the military forces of the New California Reublic, Vegas’s ruler Mr. House and Ceaser’s army from the east. The game allows you to choose how the story ends with 4 main endings.

Courier Six’s quote explains that ideas are strengthened by challenges. Few ideas survive and spread without criticism. Courier Six needed to decide the outcome of a post apocalyptic world based on his ideas, and he probably received critism from those who opposed his plans.

Metal Gear Solid is an action adventure stealth video game made by Konami released in 1998 on the PlayStation. The game is the 3rd in the series and the 8th best selling game on PlayStation. You play as Solid Snake, a soldier, who infiltrates nuclear weapon facilities in order to stop terrorist threats. Metal Gear Solid is still considered one of the most important games of all time and it pioneered the stealth genre and in-game cutscenes with voice acting. The game starts with the Shadow Moses Incident where Liquid Snake leads special forces to rebel against the United States government in order to obtain Big Boss’s body and create an army of super soldiers by utilizing his DNA. Solid Snake is summoned out of retirement for a final mission to stop Liquid Snake. Naomi Hunter is a geneticist who specializes in nanotechnology based gene therapy. She was crucial to the success of Snake’s mission, but she also made some adjustments to some of the nanotechnology she injected which led to some complicated story twists that I can’t properly explain here.

Naomi’s quote emphasis the meaning of choice and not just being tied to your past, genetically or otherwise. Naomi knows the effects that getting caught in the past can have on your future and advises Snake to not get caught in those same webs.

Well, that’s it everyone! There’s the comeback you asked for

@Chinnu B

. Sorry for the extended break everyone. I have had quite a busy start to my school year with a whole lot of difficult tests and projects as well as some fun new experiences. I’ve gone though 2 ACTs with probably more to come in December and after my PSAT score I might just do both the December SAT and ACT, but that’s to be decided on my end. On the more positive side of things, this year is one of my best grade wise despite the higher rigor. Plus, I’ve suddenly found myself with an additional two extra leadership roles in clubs at my school.

In regards to these posts, I plan to have them once a week as the title suggests on Friday or Saturdays probably. Each post will look something like this one with 8 quotes with 2 from each media source. However, unlike before, I will allow for duplicates from a media source as you might have noticed in this post as Aladin and Metal Gear Solid were done before. So, I took their descriptions from old posts and I added to them.

Side note, I’m touring colleges right now and just ran into my geometry teacher from 9th grade at my tour. We are a few hours away from my school.

Have a great day everyone.

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