Einstein 1921 by F Schmutzer – restoration
Do you often feel like you’re dreaming even though it’s daytime? If you think you’re crazy, you’ll be happy to know that you’re probably just very imaginative. Perhaps even a genius.
There are many forms of mental illness, but daydreaming isn’t one of them. Neither is hearing music in your head, research has shown. But everyone asks this question at least once in their lifetime:
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It’s funny how certain things will occur no matter how small the odds are. Such as winning the lottery, surviving a plane crash, or even the emergence of life on Earth. All these have been known to happen, but ever so sparsely.
When it comes to determining the probability of things happening or not, maths and physics come in very handy. An event that has a 0.00001% probability of occurring will indeed occur if the right conditions are met, or if enough time passes (according to a very popular theorem involving a monkey and a typewriter).
Here at 4PSA we love inspiring quotes. Hence our Quote of the Day series, but I’m not here to talk about that. Instead, I want to delight you with this neat chart by Ninja Infographic that outlines 10 golden rules for success, backed with famous words from the likes of Eleanor Roosevelt, Bill Cosby, Steve Jobs, and Pablo Picasso. But unlike other top-10’s I’ve seen, all these have one big thing in common.
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Don’t you just hate unknown authors? They write the most amazing stuff and you don’t even have a face to put on their work. I jest, of course. I love writings by people who don’t bother signing their hand. It gives off a sense of mystery and romance, generosity on behalf of the author who dispenses wisdom and doesn’t seek reward. It almost makes the lecture even more worthwhile.
Whenever I stumble on a writing whose wordsmith is shrouded in secrecy, my restless imagination springs into action, struggling to fill in the blanks: How old could he be? What if it’s a she? I wonder what tone of voice he had. Where did he live? When did he live? Etc. Anyway, whoever wrote this one must have had a pretty good understanding of the notion of “support:”
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Politics isn’t on everyone’s agenda. Young people, for instance, have little interest in positions of governance and organized control over a community. But according to a guy who lived hundreds of years before Christ, everyone should consider it a very important matter.
He cleverly narrowed it down to a single sentence.
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Whether it’s God or physics that dictates this, apparently things must go askew every once in a while for existence – of any form – to make sense.
I’ve long believed that our world (perhaps even the whole Universe) would have no sense being perfectly balanced in every way. What’s the purpose of things being any different later if they’re okay the way they are now, right? Or, why is there such diversity in nature? Maybe I’m asking all the wrong questions, but apparently George Bernard Shaw saw things in a similar manner.
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Surely you’ve run into this once or twice. Especially if you’re a creative. Making any new thing public exposes that thing to scrutiny. Your work could be perfect any way you look at it, and still you won’t find everyone content with what you’ve put out. The reason? Charles Kettering explains it best in two sentences.
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Try to recall the last time you were surrounded by people who were on a completely different level than you. Did you feel imprisoned, misunderstood? The next time you feel that way, remember these wise words from Charles Cooley.
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Some people are content with just being part of something big. Many Olympics participants for example strongly believe that the most important thing in the Olympic Games is not winning but just taking part.
Vince Lombardi thought the same thing about sports and competitions in general. He is credited with saying the following:
Artist: Samuel Johnson Woolf (1880-1948). Time magazine.
I’ve never been much of a history fan. Whether it had something to do with that tyrant of a teacher I had or my limited attention span, I’ve always found it hard to commit battles and reigning years to memory.