Quote #46

“If you can’t explain it to a six year old, you don’t understand it yourself.”
- Albert Einstein

This quote came up in a class I am in today. I brought it up, though I was embarrassed by being unable to quote it reliably. I knew the basic idea, but the instructor was interested in the exact quote. So I went and found it, then decided to share it here too since I really do love the quote.

I have found this quote to be absolutely true and endlessly applicable in almost any situation.

For more than ten years I have interacted with and taught children in a variety of situations. There have been times that I have gone into a classroom thinking I would teach all of the children something that I thought I fully understood, only to emerge an hour later feeling frustrated and inept.

It turns out that the level of understanding required to explain things to six-year-olds is much more in-depth than one might initially assume. We might claim to understand a principle, but until we try really explaining it to someone of a lower understanding than our own, we can’t truly claim to fully understand.

Ever since discovering this principle for myself in practice, I have become much more secure in discerning between things that I understand and things that I do not understand. You can know something without fully understanding it – and that’s OK. Just make sure that you know the difference between knowing and understanding, because it can really get frustrating to realize that you didn’t understand something as well as though thought you did; especially when communicating the idea and finding that you just aren’t getting your point across.

Quote #25

“Never fight an inanimate object.”
- J. O’Rourke

This quote has unexpected meaning for me today.

Sure, at first glance it’s just funny. I picture a guy fighting a couch, or a rock, or maybe a tree. His knuckles are bloody, the inanimate object isn’t sustaining any noticeable damage, and the guy just looks silly. His rage, his folly, and the futility of his actions are all standing out strong.

Today my mind was flooded with chaos when two work related training opportunities hit at the same time. They don’t conflict with each other, but they are both mandatory, and they will turn my life upside down. Lots of complications, both with work and with my family life, began tearing through my brain. It was like a couple of furious tornadoes ripping through the middle of New York City. I couldn’t think straight. I couldn’t make sense of anything.

I guess they call this panic.

The thing is, I don’t generally experience panic in this way. Events don’t set my panic mode off. Situations do, but not by surprise. For example, I know I will panic if someone draws a syringe from their pocket and attempts to jab me with it. I experience irrational fear in the presence of needles. That definitely causes panic. To a lesser degree, I know I will panic in a crowded place if I become stressed. Stress doesn’t make me panic, but stress on top of over-stimulation (such as being around too many people) will generally make me panic a little.

It’s a rare thing to see me panic, even just in my head, in the face of unexpected situations. I am familiar with my limits, and with what makes me panic. But today, in a situation that would normally only cause a fit of frustration, I panicked.

Thankfully, I was able to calm myself down and work my way through the problems. I made a phone call, wrote an email, spoke with my boss, and soon had pretty much set everything up to handle the two training events.

Thinking back on it, my panic mode could have led to me attempting to fight against what had happened. Perhaps part of what had jammed up my logic was that I knew there were forces involved that I couldn’t influence, and yet I couldn’t stop my mind from frantically exploring every possible avenue in search of a solution. Those are forbidden paths, I told myself. You can’t seek solutions there! And yet, the raging storm had already begun, and I just had to wait for the power to die down.

It may have been a unique experience for me, but I have seen it happen before in others. People tend to have these sorts of irrational confrontations with problems from time to time. I think it’s natural.

Being as stressed as I was this morning (the two training events obviously weren’t the only things on my plate at the time), I don’t know what I could have done to prevent that little panic attack, but I do know what prevents the more common, but less intense panic attacks I see in others. It is important to identify the inanimate objects in a problem.

You must choose your battles. You cannot fight against just any element of a problem. Where are the stones? Where are the trees? If you’re trying to solve a problem, but you’re not getting anything but bloody knuckles, perhaps you’re just fighting an inanimate object. The objects you need to fight are almost always contained within yourself.

You should first look inside of yourself and see what you can attack inside of you that might fix the problem. Have you acted immaturely? Have you been selfish? Have you been negligent? Have you made a mistake? Fix it first, then reevaluate. Continue the process until the only things left that could possibly be keeping the problem alive are outside of you. Then look closely at things that reside in your circle of influence. Is there anything that you definitely have some degree of control over that could be changed to fix the problem?

Finally, as a last resort, if nothing in your circle of influence can solve the problem, you begin looking for the right targets on the outside. You find the responsible individual. You find the right tactic. You plan ahead. You strategize. This is where one of my favorite books comes into play. The Art of War taught me a lot about fighting to win.

But in the beginning, ensure that you are not about to engage in battle with an inanimate object. That would just be silly.

Quote #23

“What is beautiful is good, and who is good will soon also be beautiful.”
- Sappho

This is a difficult concept for some to understand, but I think it’s quite simple.

First, there are many things in our life that are beautiful. Obviously, there are some things that some people see as beautiful that aren’t necessarily good in the purest sense of the word. But to me, if something is inherently, naturally, and at its core beautiful, then it is a good thing.

That first part doesn’t baffle too many people, but I can see how it could become a tool for justifying certain bad behaviors.

It’s the second part that I love though, because it is a powerful statement that I have found to be true throughout my short life.

Those who strive to be and do good, even if they are not on the surface an especially attractive person (physically speaking), they will become beautiful. I have seen this happen time and time again. Even my wife, who was never someone I would consider ugly, didn’t attract me physically in the beginning. But she was working hard at being good. Over time, she became beautiful to me. Beauty is, after all, in the eye of the beholder. And I beheld that she was beautiful.

This works for anyone, any time. People around you who notice the good in you will also see beauty. It may not happen immediately, but that beauty will bloom before their eyes as your goodness and its beauty are revealed to them.

Quote #21

“Men who know the same things are not long the best company for each other.”
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Many people are afraid of things or people that are different. People can be very intolerant of things they don’t understand or aren’t comfortable with.

Differences are the spice of life. If everything I said and did was exactly like what you know and also do, then you wouldn’t find me worth your time – you spend all of your time around someone who is almost exactly the same.

This idea translates into so many other things in life. People who have the same interests can only talk about those interests for so long. They may feel very comfortable together for a while, but they will not long be the best company for each other.

Similarly, things that we find abhorrent in ourselves, when they appear in others, become even more of a nuisance. The similarities between people may bring them together at first, but they are not the glue that binds us, they are not the spice that flavors our relationships.

I am fascinated by people, and especially people who are different from me. The more different they are, the more interesting I find them.

I find that there are many friendships and relationships in my life that began with a shared interest or two and solidified with the discovery of new and interesting things about the other person. There have also been some relationships that began with so many things in common that it was hard to believe we were two separate people. The fact of the matter is, unless there are differences, relationships of the second type usually go stale much faster than relationships of the first type.

I have made my friends from among the most different people I have found. Different from each other, and different from me. That is why I think we have been such good friends, and that is why I feel that my life is as interesting as it is.

I hope I never meet someone too much like myself, and if I do, please don’t make me spend too much time around him. I’ll get bored.

Quote #16

“Build a man a fire, and he’ll be warm for a day. Set a man on fire, and he’ll be warm for the rest of his life.”
- Terry Pratchett

The truth is, I can’t resist a humorous quote. I especially love humorous quotes that contain blatant, glaring truths. In this case, there may not be a whole lot of philosophical value, but at least it’s both true and funny.

Just a quick disclaimer: I wouldn’t ever recommend that you actually set a man on fire to provide him with warmth. There may be certain, unfavorable legal actions taken against you afterward.

Quote #10

“Many a man fails as an original thinker simply because his memory is too good.”
- Friedrich Nietzsche

 

Funny story about this one…  I wanted to quote this to someone, and I couldn’t remember the quote!  Anyone who knows me (even if only casually) can say at least two things about me.  First, that I have a horribly dysfunctional memory and secondly that my thoughts or ways of doing things are often unique, if not completely original.

What makes this quote true?  Does a bad memory always go hand in hand with original thought?  Sure, to many who read this the answers are obvious.  Some people, though, may have difficulty seeing the wisdom that is so carefully enveloped in these simple words.

I am a problem solver.  I love the challenge of a problem that needs solving.  There are usually many solutions that will fit a problem; the challenge isn’t simply to find a solution, but rather to find the best solution.  That elusive best solution is what drives me to solve problems.

Most problems occur many times.  Anyone who has used a Windows computer or had children can tell you all about problems that just keep happening over and over again.  How many times have you seen a problem and thought, “I’ve seen this before, how did I solve it last time?”  I ask myself that question every time, and you know what?  I can never remember how I solved it last time.  So, rather than going through the same motions (by memory) to get the same solution and outcome as last time, I have to solve the problem all over again, following different steps, forming a different solution.  The result of this is often (and inadvertently) the same solution, at times a less effective solution or, on occasion, a much better solution than the last one.

By taking a different approach to the same situations simply because I can’t remember how I did it last time I have found that many of my approaches to life are unique.  People often comment that they never would have thought to do something that way.

Of course, my experience isn’t the experience of everyone with a bad memory.  I would say that a bad memory encourages original thought, it doesn’t create it.  Perhaps if you are one of the unlucky souls who suffers from a good memory and rarely comes up with original thoughts or ideas, you could try this:  Next time you are presented with a familiar situation and you remember how you handled it the last time, forget it.

Forget all about your past experience and start from scratch.  Certainly you want to remember and use the most effective solutions in the beginning, and you wouldn’t want to be caught treading unfamiliar ground coming up with new solutions in an important situation where failure could be devastating.  At first you’ll want to save this for a time when a mistake would have a minimal impact.  Then, as you get better at acting like you don’t have a good memory and your original thoughts begin flowing more easily, you can start using this technique even where you thought you had the best solutions already.

You may find that all of your old solutions were fairly mediocre and some of your new solutions will be quite bright.

Quote #8

“I don’t make jokes, I just watch the government and report the facts.”
- Will Rogers

 

What makes a thing funny?  How is it that a person commenting on our government’s actions could be mistaken for a comedian?

Of course, the reality behind this quote is that Will Rogers was indeed a comedian and a humorist (among many other things), but in search of the deeper truth buried in these words, I ask myself, “What makes a thing funny?”  Especially in the context of government, such a question seems odd and out of place.  The government tends to be dry and boring, how could its products bring laughter to us?

Some of the most universally humorous situations contain out-of-place elements or ideas – they don’t really make sense, but our minds can connect them anyhow and we chuckle as a result.  Perhaps that’s why the government makes us laugh when reported by someone talented enough to spot the funny in the situation.  The government is constantly doing things that don’t make sense.  When reported in their context, these nonsensical actions are inherently funny.

As someone with a direct view into the inner workings of a small portion of our government, I can attest to the truth of this quote.  You don’t need to take the government’s actions out of context to get a good laugh.  You can just take a look at the facts and bust your gut all day long.

Quote #4

“Too bad that all the people who know how to run the country are busy driving taxicabs and cutting hair.”
- Burns, quoted in Life

 

I enjoy this quote because it feels just as sarcastic as it does genuine and either way it contains a great truth.  It’s hard to say (without any background on the context or intented meaning) whether he was being completely serious, satirical or a mixture of both.

However he intended it to be interpreted (and he probably inteded both the sarcastic and genuine meanings) it has great meaning to me this election.  I have another quote (which I’m sure will come up in the future) that deals with politics and deals with a similar idea, and both quotes express an idea that I believe.  I truly feel that political and government entities have lost touch with the reality of their post in society.

On the serious side of this quote, the people who know what needs to be done in this country, the true voice of America, is caught up in the daily routine.  They go to work, do their jobs and go home.  Nothing great happens to improve the nation, nothing spectacular comes along that changes their life.  Those who would do the best job running this country are to busy trying to get by in life to actually do the job.

Now, I think the heavier meaning (the more significant aspect) of this quote is in the sarcasm.  Think about how easy it is for us, as bystanders and witnesses to all that happens in the government, to criticize our leaders and say we could to better.  Even if the government is out of touch with the reality of our lives, they are doing what they believe to be right (at least some of the time, anyhow) and I like to think they are doing the best they can.

Just like the beer can wielding armchair quarterback yelling at his television set Sunday afternoon, many average Americans (especially in the service industries like taxi drivers and hair stylists) tend to pass their time with their customers discussing issues they know very little about and giving their “professional” opinion about how a particular negotiation might have been handled better, or how a particular bill should have been drafted to more fully benefit the community (meaning, benefit them personally).

Perhaps what Burns was getting at was this: Every one of those political backseat drivers could end their argument by saying, “Of course I could do a better job of running the country, but I’m too busy cutting hair, earning my dollar, to actually do anything about it.”

Quote #2

“When a thing is funny, search it carefully for a hidden truth.”
- George Bernard Shaw

I wanted to get this one done early and “stick” it to the front page of this blog because it is going to be a common theme in this project.  Many of the most beloved quotes in history are humorous in nature.  I love getting a little chuckle out of a quote, and it’s nice when the wisdom behind the humor is obvious.  Many times, though, the wisdom may not be so obvious.

One of the missions behind this little project is for me to discover the hidden wisdom or truth behind every quote, funny or not.  Of course, many times my interpretation of the truth will be highly personal, but that’s why I want your comments too.

I encourage any visitor to this site who finds a quote they like to share a brief comment on the quote.  In this way we will all find the truth and wisdom behind the quotes we love.