QUOTE of the day, “no matter what people tell you, words and ideas can change the world” SA, 14 August. The quote comes from the movie, Dead Poets Society, which is one of my two favourite movies by Robin Williams who died last week.
It was sad to learn the news of his death. I appreciated him for acting in Dead Poets Society and Patch Adams.
In Dead Poets Society he depicted an English tutor who is an original thinker and encourages his pupils to ‘find their own voices’.
He landed on a prep school where conformity and traditional way of teaching reigns. “I always thought the idea of education was to learn to think for yourself.”
He goes onto say “now we all have a great need for acceptance, but you must trust that your beliefs are unique, your own, even though others may think them odd or unpopular, even though the herd may go: that's bad.”
In the Patch Adams movie, Robin Williams says “All of life is a coming home. Salesmen, secretaries, coal miners, beekeepers, sword swallowers, all of us. All the restless hearts of the world, all trying to find a way home.”
In both movies he tried to change existing inadequate systems. He was a rebel.
In Dead Poets Society he said “I stand upon my desk to remind myself that we must constantly look at things in a different way.”
Robin’s death is a tragic one, but he’s not the only star who died in this manner.
Marilyn Monroe, Whitney Houston, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Winehouse and several others.
There is a life lesson for people: alcohols and drugs are the enemy of mankind!
“Carpe diem,” people: seize the day!
Axmed Bahjad, Fleet Street, Swindon
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