scribbleBox: August 2008

25 August 2008

Research Work: Wise Men

BILL GATES - A Wise Man
by Kelvin E. Cantero, II-Acacia

For me, Bill Gates is a man of wisdom. From a mere bored student, Bill Gates became a multi-bilionaire.

William H. Gates was born on October 28, 1955 to a family with a rich business, political and community service background. His great-grandfather was a state legislator and a mayor, his grandfather was a vice-president of National Bank, and his father was a lawyer.

Bill strongly believes in hardwork. He believes that if you are intelligent and know how to apply your intelligence, you can achieve anything. From childhood, Bill was ambitious, intelligent and competitive. These qualities helped him to attain the position in the profession he chose.

It was a very important decision in Bill Gate's life when he was first introduced to a computer. Bill Gates and his friends were very much interested in computers and formed a "Programmers Group" in late 1968. Bill Gates and his close friend Allen started a new company of their own, Traf-O-Data. They developed a small computer to measure traffic flow. From this project, they earned $20,000. The era of Traf-O-Data came to an end when Gates left college. In 1973, he left home for Harvard University. Allen kept on pushing Bill for opening a new software.

Within a year, Bill Gates dropped out of Harvard. Then he formed Microsoft TM. Microsoft's vision is "A computer on every desk and Microsoft software on every computer". Bill is a visionary person and works very hard to achieve his vision. His belief in high intelligence and hardwork has put him where he is today.

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Research Work: Wise Men

A PROPHETIC WRITER
by Austin Rey Mirabete, II-Acacia

Kahlil Gibran was a Lebanese-American poet, philosopher and artist who wrote "The Prophet," a mystical work composed of prose poems. He was born in Bsherri, Lebanon on January 6, 1883. His mother was the offspring

of a priestly and important family and the Gibran clan was small and distinguished. When he was at the age of 12, his mother took him to live in Boston.

After his mother's death in 1903, Gibran's sister supported him. He worked at painting and writing. He later went to Paris to study art and finally settled in New York City, where he died on April 10, 1931. He was buried in Bsherri, Labanon.

Gibran wrote many books and executed paintings and some sculpture, but it is for "The Prophet" that he was best known. Published in 1923 with illustrations by the author, "The Prophet" was a best seller and has been translated into more than 20 languages. A series of 28 related prose poems, the book touches on such topics as love, freedom, prayer, and death. Gibran's mysticism, evident here as in all his works, reveals an intense preoccupation on the spiritual and visionary. He is the third best selling poet in history after William Shakespeare and Lao Tze.

I have chosen Kahlil Gibran because I have read an excerpt from his book, "The Prophet," which I think is related to every family's life and includes the parent and children relationship. It says, "Your children are not your children. They are the sons and daughters of life's longing for itself. They may come through you but not from you." In simple words, you cannot control the lives of your children. You can only love them because in reality they are not yours. Such lines speak of wisdom beyond words.

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