Our kind of research might be one of the first projects to go. Our work is not urgent; it's not the cure for cancer or Alzheimer's. But we have a way of understanding human life that you can't get anywhere else, and it lays the foundation for important, actionable things.
Interpretation
This quote emphasizes the value of understanding human life through research, even if it's not immediately urgent or critical.
In this quote, Robert J. Waldinger reflects on the significance of research that explores the intricacies of human life, acknowledging that while it may not seem urgent compared to pressing medical breakthroughs, it provides vital insights that can lead to meaningful applications in understanding and improving human experience. He underscores the importance of foundational research in shaping future advancements.
In practice
This quote can be shared at a conference on personal development emphasizing the significance of foundational research.
Being human means there's a wall-builder in each of us. Our minds naturally divide the world into me and not-me, us and them. For thousands of years, our sages have taught that we're all one, yet we still divide wherever we look.
It's the quality of your relationships that matters.
The good life is built with good relationships.
It's not just the number of friends you have, and it's not whether or not you're in a committed relationship. It's the quality of your close relationships that matters.
It turns out that people who are more socially connected to family, to friends, to community, are happier, they're physically healthier, and they live longer than people who are less well connected.
People who are more isolated than they want to be from others find that they are less happy, their health declines earlier in midlife, their brain functioning declines sooner, and they live shorter lives than people who are not lonely.
Learn that the present hour alone is man's.
An old trick well done is far better than a new trick with no effect.
The people may be made to follow a path of action but they may not be made to understand it.
I don't like work... but I like what is in work - the chance to find yourself. Your own reality - for yourself, not for others - which no other man can ever know.
Happy is the man who can endure the highest and lowest fortune. He who has endured such vicissitudes with equanimity has deprived misfortune of its power.
Experience is a truer guide than the words of others.
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