“The bigotry of the nonbeliever is for me nearly as funny as the bigotry of the believer.”
-Albert Einstein
Belief (or non-belief) does not inoculate against bigotry.
“The ideals which have always shone before me and filled me with the joy of living are goodness, beauty, and truth. To make a goal of comfort or happiness has never appealed to me; a system of ethics built on this basis would be sufficient only for a herd of cattle.”
-Albert Einstein
Our lives are best not when we’re seeking our own happiness or comfort. Focusing on such blinds us to the real joy of finding the good, marveling at the beauty, and finding even a tiny glimpse of the truth that pervades the universe, but which remains just out of reach for those contemplating too closely if they are comfortable or happy.
Happiness is found in truth, not truth in happiness.
“The individual must not merely wait and criticize, he must defend the cause as best he can. The fate of the world will be such as the world deserves.”
-Albert Einstein
For each of us there is a choice: to lie down, give up, and accept our powerlessness to the unstoppable tide of human history. Or to stand up, brace against the tide, and alter its course – even if only by the smallest margin. The collective course of events is determined by individual effort – or the lack thereof.
In the end, we will reap what we sow.