When people get rich, they cut themselves off from the context that has earned them these riches - the context of the common men. They forget they are part of society.
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes the disconnect between the wealthy and the common people.
N. R. Narayana Murthy highlights a social phenomenon where individuals who attain wealth may lose touch with their roots and the societal context that helped them succeed. This disconnection can lead to a lack of understanding and empathy towards the struggles faced by the common man, reminding us of the importance of remaining grounded and acknowledging our shared human experience.
In practice
During a talk on social responsibility, one could use this quote to illustrate the importance of staying connected to the community.
When you are in business for a long time, you go through good times and bad times. When you go through bad times, you learn to control costs, satisfy customers better, satisfy employees better and become more transparent. Therefore, you build character in the company.
India is known for much development that has happened since our independence, but at the same time, we have also failed on many levels. It is the responsibility of the future generation to ensure that all these failures are corrected and help create a civilised society with equal opportunities for one and all.
The unique instrument to eradicate poverty and usher in prosperity is our youth.
The biggest impediment to growth is in our minds and not in the world outside, and only constant in the world is change.
The future of any corporation is as good as the value system of the leaders and followers in the organization.
If longevity is the best index to measure a company, a basic requirement is the ability of the corporation to generate new and new leaders.
Many theories of the ancient world seem terribly childish today, a hodge-podge of fables and false comparisons.But our theories will seem childish five-hundred years from now.Every theory is based on some analogy, and sooner or later the theory fails because the analogy turns out to be false. A theory in its day helps to solve the problems of the day.
I live on Earth at present, and I don’t know what I am. I know that I am not a category. I am not a thing — a noun. I seem to be a verb, an evolutionary process – an integral function of the universe.
Day by day we should weigh what we have granted to the spirit of the world against what we have denied to the spirit of Jesus, in thought and especially in deed.
The dual substance of Christ - the yearning, so human, so superhuman, of man to attain God. [...] has always been a deep inscrutable mystery to me. [...] My principle anguish and source of all my joys and sorrows from my youth onward has been the incessant, merciless battle between the spirit and the flesh. [...] And my soul is the arena where these two armies have clashed and met.
The trees reflected in the river - they are unconscious of a spiritual world so near to them. So are we.
It was not in her nature, however, to increase her vexations by dwelling on them. She was confident of having performed her duty, and to fret over unavoidable evils, or augment them by anxiety, was not part of her disposition.
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