“Thinking is more interesting than knowing,
but less interesting than looking”
“Only by joy and sorrow does a person know
anything about themselves and their destiny.
They learn what to do and what to avoid.”
“One of the great joys of life is creativity.
Information goes in, gets shuffled about, and
comes out in new and interesting ways.”
“Most human beings have an absolute and
infinite capacity for taking things for granted”
"Learning sleeps and snores in libraries, but
wisdom is everywhere, wide awake, on tiptoe.
Flaming enthusiasm, backed up by horse sense
and persistence, is the quality that most
frequently makes for success."
"Ethics cannot be based upon our obligations
toward [people], but they are complete and
natural only when we feel this Reverence for
Life and the desire to have compassion for
and to help all creatures insofar as it is in
our power. I think that this ethic will
become more and more recognized because of
its great naturalness and because it is the
foundation of a true humanism toward which we
must strive if our culture is to become truly
ethical."
"Dreams pass into the reality of action. From
the actions stems the dream again; and this
interdependence produces the highest form of
living."
"Three passions have governed my life:
The longings for love, the search for knowledge,
And unbearable pity for the suffering of
[humankind].
Love brings ecstasy and relieves loneliness.
In the union of love I have seen
In a mystic miniature the prefiguring vision
Of the heavens that saints and poets have
imagined.
With equal passion I have sought knowledge.
I have wished to understand the hearts of
[people].
I have wished to know why the stars shine.
Love and knowledge led upwards to the heavens,
But always pity brought me back to earth;
Cries of pain reverberated in my heart
Of children in famine, of victims tortured
And of old people left helpless.
I long to alleviate the evil, but I cannot,
And I too suffer.
This has been my life; I found it worth living."
"Courage, it would seem, is nothing less than
the power to overcome danger, misfortune,
fear, injustice, while continuing to affirm
inwardly that life with all its sorrows is
good; that everything is meaningful even if
in a sense beyond our understanding; and that
there is always tomorrow."
|
