I was born not knowing and have had only a little time to change that here and there.
Interpretation
This quote emphasizes the importance of continuous learning and adapting throughout life.
Richard P. Feynman reflects on the journey of knowledge and the finite time we have to seek understanding and make changes. He acknowledges that life begins with ignorance, but it is our responsibility to pursue knowledge, however limited our time may be to do so.
In practice
In a motivational speech about the importance of lifelong learning.
The philosophical question before us is, when we make an observation of our track in the past, does the result of our observation become real in the same sense that the final state would be defined if an outside observer were to make the observation?
We seem gradually to be groping toward an understanding of the world of subatomic particles, but we really do not know how far we have yet to go in this task.
The first principle is that you must not fool yourself and you are the easiest person to fool.
It has not yet become obvious to me that there's no real problem. I cannot define the real problem; therefore, I suspect there's no real problem, but I'm not sure there's no real problem.
For far more marvelous is the truth than any artists of the past imagined it. Why do the poets of the present not speak of it? What men are poets who can speak of Jupiter if he were a man, but if he is an immense spinning sphere of methane and ammonia must be silent?
Science is a way to teach how something gets to be known, what is not known, to what extent things are known (for nothing is known absolutely), how to handle doubt and uncertainty, what the rules of evidence are, how to think about things so that judgments can be made, how to distinguish truth from fraud, and from show.
That which in mean men we entitle patience is pale cold cowardice in noble breasts.
I was reading an article in the 'New York Times;' it talked about being in the zone, and being in the zone you're so focused that time ceases to exist. It's when you think, 'Oh, I've been doing this for five hours and didn't even know it.' It's the difference between hard work and going, '12 o'clock, not moving.'
When I despair, I remember that all through history the way of truth and love has always won.
Honesty allows us to live with not knowing. We do not know the full story; we do not know where we are in the story. We do not know who, ultimately, is at fault or who will carry the blame in the end.
Do you not see how necessary a world of pains and troubles is to school an intelligence and make it a soul?
The key to growth is the introduction of higher dimensions of consciousness into our awareness.
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