“The whole point of the physical experience is the expansion beyond that which Is. That’s why eternity is eternal. That’s why there is something more than Now. That’s why there is eternally more. Always has been, always will be.”
“Humanity progresses because of attempts to serve. and the more you serve others, the more you re serving yourself.”
“If your actions aren t advancing your goals, stop and ask why.”
“At 54 I m still in progress. And I hope that I always will be. For me becoming isn t arriving somewhere or achieving a certain aim. I see it instead as forward motion.”
“When a person has reached the highest, when they see neither man nor woman, neither black nor white, neither belief nor disbelief, nor any other sects and differentiation, but looks at a person beyond the brandings, then alone has the person attained universal oneness - and such a person is the true revolution incarnate.”
“Ah, we ve had so many masters, Swine or eagle, lean or fat one: Some were tiers, some hyenas, Still we fed this one and that one. Whether one is better than the other: Ah, one boot is always like another When it treads upon you. What I say about them Is we need no other masters: we can do without them! Yes, the wheel is always turning madly, Neither side stays up or down, But the water underneath fares badly For it has to make the wheel go round. (Ach, wir hatten viele Herren Hatten Tiger und Hyänen Hatten Adler, hatten Schweine Doch wir nährten den und jenen. Ob sie besser waren oder schlimmer: Ach, der Stiefel glich dem Stiefel immer Und uns trat er. Ihr versteht, ich meine Dass wir keine andern Herren brauchen, sondern keine! Freilich dreht das Rad sich immer weiter Dass, was oben ist, nicht oben bleibt. Aber für das Wasser unten heisst das leider NurL dass es das Rad halt ewig treibt.)”
“Raising consciousness involves confronting people with issues and truths that they have not really considered before. Many of these truths are uncomfortable and disturbing, but unless we confront them and look for a remedy, humanity cannot move forward.”
“Sisters and brothers of my world, I do not believe in universal acceptance, for I am the very embodiment of universal acceptance. The river doesn t believe in the life-giving powers of its water - the sun doesn t believe in the warmth-giving powers of its rays - the wind doesn t believe in the soothing powers of its breeze. Belief implies an absence of proof, but acceptance is beyond proof. You do not believe that you need oxygen to live, likewise, you do not believe in universal acceptance, for without it, the very fabric of civilization will wither.”
“Peace of being leads to progress.”
“As for Progress it was at one time quite a nuisance, but it never progressed.”
“Progress And again my inmost life rushes louder, as if it moved now between steeper banks. Objects become ever more related to me, and all pictures ever more perused. I feel myself more trusting in the nameless: with my senses, as with birds, I reach into the windy heavens from the oak, and into the small ponds broken-off day my feeling sinks, as if it stood on fishes. (Fortschritt Und wieder rauscht mein tiefes Leben lauter, als ob es jetzt in breitern Ufern ginge. Immer verwandter werden mir die Dinge und alle Bilder immer angeschauter. Dem Namenlosen fühl ich mich vertrauter: Mit meinen Sinnen, wie mit Vögeln, reiche ich in die windigen Himmel aus der Eiche, und in den abgebrochnen Tag der Teiche sinkt, wie auf Fischen stehend, mein Gefühl.)”
“You may be right, Count Falkenstein. Perhaps it does offend against our obvious interests, against of the King and our own, if we display such boundless sympathy for (Benjamin) Franklin and do our best to help him and his rebels. Nonetheless, there is perhaps a deeper wisdom in our attitude than if we were to cover him with abuse and to proceed to attack him from all sides. Since we cannot hold up the progressive spirit of the times, we are assisting it in its advance. We are sawing at the branch on which we are sitting because we know that it is destined to fall”
“I feel more passionate about the teaching side of my job than I have ever been, because it’s so important to convince the younger generation that their ability to question and think is crucial to the future of the world. - 2020 Physics Laureate Andrea Ghez on being a professor.”
“IF YOUR LIFE DOESN T HAVE SOME RISK, YOU ARE SAFE LY SIDELINED”
“Against all our historically-minded culture (out of compassion for our present state), the only excitement is to be found in anticipation (out of impertinence towards our future state). Infinite spaces (Pascal would have nothing to fear today) have become advertising spaces. It is advertising which will fuel all the sidereal infrastructure of communication. No more silent stars or astrological signs. It is advertising which will fuel the no-osphere. The more we colonize virgin space, the more we enter the blackmail space of the fully developed advertising form. Embryos frozen, unfrozen and then reimplanted in the mother s womb. What becomes of frozen embryos whose parents have died accidentally? Orphans of artificial insemination? Billionaire foetuses? Fortunately there is a committee for embryo-genetic control and a commission for the ethics of human reproduction. But the orphans of the concept? What becomes of a frozen concept whose parents have died accidentally?”
“One never moves forward repeating the same steps.”
“I am not suggesting we should be skeptical of the notion that life can get a lot better. Yet this should not be confused with the question of whether any better state we can reasonably expect to bring about — such as a much happier state — can ever morally outweigh all the suffering its creation would entail, including the (risk of) extreme suffering.”