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.
To appreciate the noble is a gain which can never be torn from us.
At the risk of appearing predictable, the Bible was and remains the biggest influence on my thinking. I was raised reading it, memorizing passages from it and being guided by it. I still find it a source of wisdom, comfort and encouragement.
Resolved, to study the Scriptures so steadily, constantly and frequently, as that I may find, and plainly perceive myself to grow in the knowledge of the same.
Whatever humans have learned had to be learned as a consequence only of trial and error experience. Humans have learned only through mistakes.
Learning not to crumple before these uncertainties fuels my resolve to print myself upon the texture of each day fully rather than forever.
When you strive for perfection, you compare different versions of what could be instead of being present with what is. Perfectionism is an attempt to inhabit an imaginary world in order to avoid experiencing the world in which you live.
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