You can tell other people all the alibis you want. I don't mind. But to yourself try to be honest.
Interpretation
Being honest with oneself is crucial, regardless of what excuses one shares with others.
This quote emphasizes the importance of self-honesty. While it is easy to fabricate excuses or justifications to present to others, true integrity requires that one confronts their own truths and limitations without deception. Self-reflection and honesty with oneself lead to personal growth and authenticity.
In practice
During a motivational speech on personal growth, this quote can show the importance of self-honesty.
When you are famous it is hard to work on small problems. This is what did [Claude Elwood] Shannon in. After information theory, what do you do for an encore? The great scientists often make this error. They fail to continue to plant the little acorns from which the mighty oak trees grow. They try to get the big thing right off. And that isn't the way things go. So that is another reason why you find that when you get early recognition it seems to sterilize you.
Science is composed of laws which were originally based on a small, carefully selected set of observations, often not very accurately measured originally; but the laws have later been found to apply over much wider ranges of observations and much more accurately than the original data justified.
Does anyone believe that the difference between the Lebesgue and Riemann integrals can have physical significance, and that whether say, an airplane would or would not fly could depend on this difference? If such were claimed, I should not care to fly in that plane.
If you don't work on important problems, it's not likely that you'll do important work.
Beware of finding what you're looking for._x000D_ _x000D_ A favorite aphorism he often used.
One of the characteristics of successful scientists is having courage. Once you get your courage up and believe that you can do important problems, then you can. If you think you can't, almost surely you are not going to.
Awareness is like the sun. When it shines on things, they are transformed.
I seem to be thinking rationally again in the style that is characteristic of scientists. However this is not entirely a matter of joy as if someone returned from physical disability to good physical health.
Things that I felt absolutely sure of but a few years ago, I do not believe now. This thought makes me see more clearly how foolish it would be to expect all men to agree with me.
Peaceful is the one who's not concerned with having more or less. Unbound by name and fame, he is free from sorrow from the world and mostly from himself.
I'm an expert in higher level math. You + God = Enough
Look and you will find it - what is unsought will go undetected.
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