American Gangsta

just back from watching American Gangster with a bunch of friends from work. nice show... pretty thought provoking for me. let me share my thoughts on some of the memorable quotes from the movie.

"you're too loud, you're making too much noise. listen to me, the loudest one in the room is the weakest one in the room."
mind you, there is a lot of truth in the saying "empty vessels make the most noise". there's a difference between being loud and being prominent. i want to stand out at work, but not seen as someone who is all talk and no substance...

if you had watched the movie, Frank Lucas' downfall was brought upon when he broke his own rule of staying low profile. he wore this really expensive (and loud) fur jacket to the boxing game; that was when he caught the attention of the authorities. second takeaway point for this; if you fuck up the rule, the rule fucks you up.

"quitting while you're ahead is not the same as quitting."
knowing when to stop while you're at its best... in a way i was happy i quitted Taekwondo while i was at my peak. look, 7 times consecutive national champion? i don't think anyone in Singapore would ever exceed my achievements... i was sure i could achieve even more if i continued training, if not for the dumb old assholes who are power hungry and play sports with politics. fuck them all... i'm so glad they're paying for their mistakes now. ever since the SEA Games silver i won for my country... TKD is basically nothing but just a bunch of trash who never wins in the eyes of the government...

"judges, lawyers, cops, politicians. they stop bringing dope into this country, about a hundred thousand people are gonna be out of a job."
sometimes, ethics are not the best interest for everyone. always look at the bigger picture. so what if you've done something that seemed "inethical" at that moment in time? if you piece it together...it may just make the whole world work right for everyone. don't be a stick in the mud and be all uptight about moral standards and stuffs, totally cannot stand it. look at what's best for the interest of most people...

"ya are what ya are in this world. that's either one of two things: either you're somebody, or you ain't nobody."
i've always said i wanted to be somebody...well i guess i should have have been more specific... hahaha