No problem is too small or too trivial if we can really do something about it.
Interpretation
Every problem, regardless of its size, matters if we can address it effectively.
Richard P. Feynman's quote emphasizes the importance of acknowledging and addressing all problems, no matter how insignificant they may appear. It highlights the value of taking action and the belief that our efforts can make a difference, reinforcing the idea that every challenge is worthy of our attention if we have the means to resolve it.
In practice
In a motivational speech about overcoming challenges, one could quote Feynman to inspire others.
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.
While there's life, there's hope.
The unexpected action of deep listening can create a space of transformation capable of shattering complacency and despair.
You see things less clearly when you open your eyes too wide.
The answer is that we are not helpless in the face of our first impressions. They may bubble up from the unconscious - from behind a locked door inside of our brain - but just because something is outside of awareness doesn't mean it's outside of control.
Wisdom comes with the ability to be still. Just look and listen. No more is needed.
Reality - the way that is, exactly as it is, in every moment - is always kind. It's our story about reality that blurs our vision, obscures what's true, and leads us to believe that there is injustice in the world. I sometimes say that you move totally away from reality when you believe that there is a legitimate reason to suffer.
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