New Delhi, May 22 -- "I believe that life offers you packages. It doesn't offer you good and bad; otherwise, you will choose the good, and you will leave the bad." - Javed Akhtar

LiveMint's quote of the day by Bollywood's veteran screenwriter and lyricist Javed Akhtar is based on a "package" analogy. It is a brilliant piece of modern philosophy. At its core, it challenges a foundational human illusion: the belief that we can optimise life to get only the benefits of our choices without paying the hidden costs.

While Akhtar was originally speaking about the film industry and linguistic shifts, his philosophy applies perfectly to the unique anxieties of 2026.

Javed Akhtar said this insight during an interview with India Knowledge at Whar...