In another passage from 1934, Einstein talks about the value of a human being, reflecting a Buddhist-like approach:
“The true value of a human being is determined primarily by the measure and the sense in which he has attained liberation from the self”.
This theme of liberating the self is also echoed by Einstein later in life, in a 1950 letter to console a grieving father Robert S. Marcus:Big Think
“A human being is a part of the whole, called by us "Universe," a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separate from the rest—a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. The striving to free oneself from this delusion is the one issue of true religion. Not to nourish it but to try to overcome it is the way to reach the attainable measure of peace of mind.”
Albert Einstein's Surprising Thoughts on the Meaning of Life
Paul Ratner
4 comments:
Link doesn't work, Tom.
Thanks. Fixed in post.
Here it is.
42 (the meaning of life according to Douglas Adams)
It's all in the mind y'know. -- John Lennon
Tom, I am going to park this passage here if you don't mind :)
"When society decided citizens should be able to read, we didn’t provide tax credits for books, we created public libraries. When we decided peoples’ houses shouldn’t burn down, we didn’t provide savings accounts for private fire insurance, we hired firefighters and built fire stations. If the broad left takes power again, enough with too-clever-by-half social engineering. Help people and take credit."
Something to think about, eh? Imagine if there were no public libraries and someone proposed to create them as a public good today. They'd be thought of as nuts -- especially from such human abominations as Paul Ryan.
Medicare for all! That's why Canada is a better country than the United States (well, I can think of a few more reasons :)). Our healthcare system may not be perfect, but, damn!, it's infinitely better than the crap you have down south!
http://democracyjournal.org/arguments/keep-it-simple-and-take-credit/
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