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Ordinary to Extra-ordinary

Couple of weeks ago, India witnessed an intense debate on the snooping of certain ministers in the central government. The debate led me to read the book 'No Place to Hide' by Glen Greenwald.

The book is about Ed Snowden - the guy who blew the lid off the extensive snooping on the entire world. The most scary part was the mention that every communication by every Indian is being monitored...



While the book is a fascinating read - I could not stop till I finished it , the most fascinating part of the book is when Ed Snowden reveals what drove him to take great risks which eventually cost him his freedom.

Here are a few quotes from Ed's interview with Glen 

"The true measurement of as person's worth isn't what they say they believe in, but what they do in the defence of those beliefs"

"If you're not acting on your beliefs, then they probably aren't real"

"It is we who infuse life with meaning, through our actions and the stories we create with them"

Ed was greatly influenced by video games where the script involves a protagonist comforting great injustice. Ed says "The protagonist is often an ordinary person, who finds himself faced with grave injustices from powerful forces and has the choice to flee in fear or to fight for his beliefs. And history also shows that seemingly ordinary people who are sufficiently resolute about justice can triumph over most formidable adversaries"

And lastly 

" What keeps a person passive and compliant is the fear of repercussions, but once you let go of your attachment to things that don't ultimately matter - money, career, physical safety - you can overcome that fear"

What Ed has stated are some timeless principles that many ordinary men have followed and went on to do something extraordinary 
  • Live your values and beliefs
  • Your actions infuse meaning into your life 
  • Be Fearless
Often extra-ordinary people (the gifted ones) spend their life doing ordinary things and some ordinary  folks end up doing something extra-ordinary. 

While I do not agree with what Ed did - loyalty to your country supersedes any other principles, some of his quotes did leave an impression.... 


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