In his book The World As I See It, Einstein writes, “We exist for our fellow men—in the first place for those on whose smiles and welfare all our happiness depends, and next for all those unknown to us personally with whose destinies we are bound up by the tie of sympathy.” He goes on, “A hundred times every day I remind myself that my inner and outer life depend on the labors of other men, living and dead, and that I must exert myself in order to five in the same measure as I have received and am still receiving.” This all on the first page. When I read this for the first time, I closed the book and put it down. Not because I did not want to read more, but because I wanted to sit with what I had just read. We are here for each other. Our purpose is to serve our fellow man. A hundred times I day I am thankful to all those who have contributed to make my life what it is today…Here, we are talking about all of human kind. We are all one. Those that may appear to be as different from you and I as one could be still have very in common. We all have many similar desires, many similar dreams. The desires and dreams that are universal the world over. We all want a good home, a safe place to exist with our family, free of threat from other human beings. We all want the opportunity to live with dignity, to be given opportunities to provide, to nourish our bodies sufficiently and without worry to the contrary. We all want friends and loved ones to laugh with and confide in and to support us when we are in need. We all want peace and love in our daily lives. These are the most basic, yet most profound and deeply yearned for desires of the human soul.
Category: Art and Literature
N.45 On Emerson
Ralph Waldo Emerson once wrote, “To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.” He also wrote, “Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience.” And, “The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well.” And, “People do not seem to realize that their opinion of the world is also a confession of their character.” And, “You become what you think about all day long.” And lastly, from his essay Self-Reliance, “Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your own mind.” This is why we visited his grave in Concord, Massachusetts. Read and reread Emerson.
N.43 The Tolstoy of the Zulus
In a 2013 essay in The Atlantic, Ta-Nehisi Coates writes of Saul Bellow’s question, “Who is the Tolstoy of the Zulus?” Analyzing Bellow’s question, Coates makes note of writer Ralph Wiley’s excellent response. “Tolstoy is the Tolstoy of the Zulus. Unless you find a profit in fencing off universal properties of mankind into exclusive tribal ownership.”
It is good to see things the way Wiley does. Creations as the universal property of humankind.
N.40 The Path To Creativity
Embrace music, languages, mathematics and reading. Wharton professor and author of Originals: How Non-Conformists Move the World, Adam Grant, referenced an interesting study, which showed that Nobel Prize winning scientists are twice as likely as their peers to play a musical instrument, seven times as likely to draw or paint, twelve times as likely to write fiction or poetry, and twenty-two times as likely to perform as dancers, actors or magicians.”
N.39 A Quote From A Tarkovsky Film
In the opening scene of Andrei Tarkovsky’s film The Sacrifice the protagonist is shown planting a tree on a desolate coastline with the help of his young son. The man says to his son, “You know, sometimes I say to myself, if every single day, at exactly the same stroke of the clock, one were to perform the same single act, like a ritual, unchanging, systematic, every day at the same time, the world would be changed.” I played this scene back several times to make sure I wrote it down correctly, as the idea of dedicating yourself to a daily ritual seemed worth noting.
N.34 On Diversity
Embrace diversity. Make friends with those of ethnic, geographic and socioeconomic backgrounds that are different from your own. Try to better understand life through the eyes of others. Open your heart. Cultivate empathy. Study culture. Read widely the books of authors from other parts of the world. Learn a second language. A third and fourth, if you are inclined. Travel. Wherever you go, greet people with a smile.
N.27 Language
One lament of the digital era is the diminished value of the written word. The words of intellectuals and scientists have lost power in today’s culture. Most of us do not have the patience, nor the desire to think deeply enough on a topic to comprehend a well-reasoned position based on fact and logic.
Today, the power lies with those who best utilize juvenile language and overly simplistic catch phrases. Though these bullet pointed statements have little substance, they easily fuel anxiety and encourage the public’s most dangerous impulses. Had Edward Bulwer-Lytton lived today, he may have instead written, “The Tweet is mightier than the sword.” It will serve you well if you can avoid being swayed by such juvenile rhetoric.
Anything you find yourself scrolling through endlessly should be considered for deletion. Limit distractions. Keep open space in your mind for thought and reason. Strengthen your attention span. Read to expand your imagination. Read to seek truth. Read to better yourself. Read for the pure pleasure of it. Remember, the greatest minds that have ever lived have put their thoughts and ideas into books. Buy a bookshelf and fill it. Then buy another, and fill it…
N.26 On Art
In addition to spending ample time in nature, immerse yourself in the beauty of humanity’s creations. Read the great works of literature, the books of the most distinguished philosophical thinkers, the speeches, essays, and manifesto’s of the world’s most astute minds. Become well versed in the fine arts. Spend time in the world’s most cultured cities. Appreciate their architecture and monuments. Visit their museums. This practice will help hone a deep artistic sensibility that will bring immeasurable value to your life.
Notes From A Father 