22 September 2011

Feynman's Rainbow

Just finished this book and want to share some of Richard Feynman's words of wisdom. Good practice jotting down inspirational passages from my leisure readings in preparation for the English IRP.

On how to stay motivated in the face of difficult problems:
I fool myself into thinking I have an extra chance. That I have something to contribute. Otherwise I may as well wait for him to do it, whoever it is.
Tried this before the math test today, got me oh so close to answering the last question.

On how to not spoil your happiness:
She taught me that one has to irrational sometimes. That doesn't men stupid, it just means that there are occasions, situations, you should think about, and others you shouldn't ... My rule is when you are unhappy, think about it. But when you're happy, don't. Why spoil it? You're probably happy for some ridiculous reason and you'd just spoil to know it.
qft.

Lastly, the book includes a quotation from Einstein that appears in Zen & Motorcycle Maintenance (which is also on my reading list):
Man tries to make himself in the fashion that suit him best, a simplified and intelligible picture of the world ... and thus to overcome it ... He makes this cosmos and its construction the pivot of his emotional life in order to find in this way the peace and serenity which he cannot find in the whirlpool of personal experience

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