Via gutter @ Flickr.
I’m a quote-collector. Using quotes-as-mantras is as close as I get to religion, and I’m passing on the proselytizing goodness to you! If you have them, please send me those thoughts and quotes that you’ve found inspiring, calming, and/or thought-clarifying.
So today I start my other new job, the one I’m totally psyched about: teaching.
It’s not going to make me rich or famous, and it’s not going to save the anyone’s life, but I do think I can make a difference. I think everyone can make a difference, whether in one’s career, through volunteerism, political activism, or simply in the thousand little nothing-things that make up everyday life. So, as I set out to help young people learn about themselves and their world, I’m thinking about a quote from a young person whose own life, short and unglamorous though it was, has made a big difference in the lives of others: Anne Frank. This week’s thought:
How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.
I’ve always been a big fan of the Bene Gesserit litany against fear that goes like this:
I must not fear.
Fear is the mind-killer.
Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration.
I will face my fear.
I will permit it to pass over me and through me.
And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path.
Where the fear has gone there will be nothing.
Only I will remain.
“Another world is not only possible, she is on her way. On a quiet day, I can hear her breathing.” – Arundhati Roy
This one isn’t exactly uplifting and feel-goody, but I love it nonetheless. And it’s ancient!
“Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able?
Then he is not omnipotent.
Is he able, but not willing?
Then he is malevolent.
Is he both able and willing?
Then whence cometh evil?
Is he neither able nor willing?
Then why call him God?
-Epicurius (341 BCE -270 BCE)
“Since we are destined to live out our lives in the prison of our minds, our one duty is to furnish it well. ” — Peter Ustinov
And, to stay in the adult, serious mode:
“Someday we’ll look back and this will all seem funny”-
Bruce Springsteen
“Rosalita”
This is truly one of my favorite quotations. I use it all the time.
Mu daughter, her bf and I just had a long discussion about “Anne Frank”. We agree that it’s really not the best book to teach about the Shoah, but it is the most palatable. I’d like to see schools change to one of the Elie Wiesel short novels. There’s a lot of Holocaust literature that’s age-appropriate and challenging.
Sometimes you’ve got to specifically go out of your way to get into trouble. It’s called fun. (Robin Williams)
PhDork, good luck and have fun with teaching.
I was tutoring first year university students last semester, and there was nothing better than to see that “eureka” lightbulb flash above their heads when they finally understood a theory, engaged in a discussion that challenged the students ideas about the world, felt comfortable asking questions and felt they had a responsibility to help each other out.
You are right that you may not save lives or get rich and famous doing it. There is something enriching about supporting students learning.