Of Goethe, Einstein and Gandhi
Sunday, November 26, 2006 at 3:17 PM

"One ought, everyday, to hear a song, read a fine poem, and, if possible, to speak a few reasonable words." -- Goethe

Now. This is the kind of life I wanna lead. The kind of life which I can immerse myself in the things I like, without feeling that I'm racing against time. I can't believe that I haven't been reading for AGES. Actually I love to read (not just comics ok), but whatever happened to this hobby? After A-levels I thought I would be able to camp at the national libraries and enjoy the serene atmosphere with the books. End up, throughout my 8 months of break, I was just working non-stop almost everyday. My free time was either spent resting at home due to tiredness, or out with friends. I was simply too tired to read. And I wonder if every of my school break is going to be the same again. I need to be enriched. And my sources of enrichment are books, music, literature, art... etc, especially books. Not money, not job. I know I feel much more satisfied and contented with fulfilment of my mental and intellectual needs rather than fulfilment from a job or salary. When one is enriched, he/she will then be able to speak great words of wisdom, or at least, reasonable words, to quote Goethe. Isn't it the same case for religions as well, when one is devoted to a religion and is enriched through various ways?

"There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle." -- Albert Einstein

Wow. Albert Einstein actually said that? Scientists didn't strike me as such philosophical people. Besides, I still haven't gotten over the hell that Einstein gave me with his E=mc^2 theory in JC. But well, undeniably, he made great sense here. I am opting to live the 2nd way or somewhere in between, more inclining towards the 2nd way. Some may argue that, if everything is a miracle, then it won't be called a miracle anymore. Just as the argument goes for uniqueness of individuals: if everyone is unique, then nobody is unique in this world anymore - everyone is the same. Well... If you live the 2nd way, you will more likely to be able to see the beautiful nature of life and understand the greatness of the world around you. Or maybe that only applies to some people like me. I don't know. But if you live the 1st way, you will probably find nothing much to life. But then, the word "miracle" has different meanings to different people. Surprising things may happen in your life to make it more pleasant, but one can't really define it as a miracle. A miracle would have much more meaning than just the existence of an unexpected pleasant event that have low chances of occurring. Shall not go too deep into this philosophical issue. But anyway, this is why I would want to live in between the 2 ways. More of a balance.

"To believe in something, and not live it, is dishonest." -- Gandhi

Yes, this is true, especially for very principle-oriented people. Unfortunately, I am not *that* extreme oriented, so... I do believe, but sometimes I don't live it. Therefore, I shall just leave readers to ponder on Gandhi's words.

FYI, these famous words are taken from today's Chinese newspapers. Interested people can go take a look at 早报周刊 (the small tabloid). It has more than just these 3.

rhapsody in blue.