Albert Einstein Blog » History Blog Project

On Seeking Happiness vs. Seeking Truth

Thomas Schueneman — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 02:48:09 +0000

"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.

On Persistence

Thomas Schueneman — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 02:35:54 +0000

"I think and think for months and years. Ninety-nine times, the conclusion is false. The hundredth time I am right."
-Albert Einstein

Success comes to those that have failed enough.

On Fighting the Good Fight

Thomas Schueneman — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 03:51:53 +0000

"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.

On the Value of the Elevator Speech

Thomas Schueneman — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 03:41:28 +0000

“If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough”
- Albert Einstein

Keep it simple, and you will rule the world.

On Understanding Nature

Thomas Schueneman — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 23:16:56 +0000

"Nature conceals her secrets because she is sublime, not because she is a trickster."
-Albert Einstein

Nature doesn't need our understanding, as much as it needs our respect.

On the Definition of Infinity

Thomas Schueneman — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 02:23:55 +0000

"Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former."
- Albert Einstein

Even the faintest and furthest star, resting at the very edge of the universe, implies a boundary. What knows no bounds is the depth to which the folly of Man can reach.

On Pondering the Requirements for Being God

Thomas Schueneman — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 19:31:19 +0000

"What really interests me is whether God had any choice in the creation of the world."
-Albert Einstein

Could God have just sat quietly "unto himself," or is part of the job of being God creating the world, and the humans that inhabit it?

On the Value of Success, and the Success of Value

Thomas Schueneman — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 02:26:17 +0000

"Try not to become a man of success but rather to become a man of value"
-Albert Einstein

Success takes, value gives.

On Misinterpreting God

Thomas Schueneman — Thu, 21 May 2009 02:43:56 +0000

"I cannot imagine a God who rewards and punishes the objects of his creation and is but a reflection of human frailty."
-Albert Einstein

Man was made in God's image, not He in ours. That we so utterly fail to live up that image is no reflection on God.

On a Choice of Careers

Thomas Schueneman — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 02:27:32 +0000

"The release of atom power has changed everything except our way of thinking… the solution to this problem lies in the heart of mankind.If only I had known, I should have become a watchmaker."
-Albert Einstein