Einstein (11/27)

"A question that sometimes drives me hazy: am I or are others crazy?"
Well, after recovering from the violent laughing fit, I spoke to an inanimate object as if it would transmit the message back in time so good ol' Albert could hear me say "Definitely you man, but don't worry. The best people are."
As for my more intelligent response...
Einstein looked at things in a very different way than others. Being a grown man in a conformist society with this opinion probably didn't help his assumption that he was crazy.
Crazy in the more recent sense isn't anything to be ashamed of unless you want to conform to the norm. In his time though, it's a truer meaning of the word. Crazy for him would have been a negative adjective. 

In my opinion, Albert Einstein was exactly the way he needed to be, regardless of what the norm expected.

Einstein (11/26)

"Common sense is the collection of prejudices aquired by age eighteen."
So, my first reaction: Does that mean every adult has common sense but no child does?
That CAN'T be right.
Second reaction: Does that mean I can ignore what I've come to know as my common sense as just go with my first impulse at all times?
Not if I don't want to get myself KILLED!
Third reaction: Einstein just meant regarding people! NOW I get it!
Hopefully you immediately jumped to the third conclusion, unlike me. My mind often diverges, so I've come to love the phrase "But I digress.."

Einstein (11/25)

"Few are those who see with their own eyes and feel with their own hearts."
With every quote I analyze, I see more of the disgust Einstein had for the way people allow themselves to be led through life by the other members of society.
To Einstein, life was about discovery and learning, and about each person finding his or her own way to interpret how things work and why they do.
As beautiful as that idea may be, I'm not sure it's within the capabilities of the average human. I'm entirely supportive of everyone being able to do what they want and being free to mess up on their own, so long as their means of finding happiness do not harm others.
I also think that those lines of thinking are what formed the USA. When the founding fathers endorsed Jefferson's words with their signatures- "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. " Declaration of Independence- they were defining the purpose of the government: to protect the rights of the people. Not to provide for them throughout their lives, not to make sure everyone has everything they want, but to protect the natural born rights of the citizens who have given their agreement to be protected and to not violate the rights of others.
Perhaps it is the growth of the control of communication that has dulled the individuality in people across the country. America is coming out of an incredibly difficult stage: conformism.
But good news for my generation: we're too hard-headed to let it continue on with us.

Einstein (11/23)

"Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important thing is to not stop questioning."
This quote confuses me. I can't figure out quite what it means because I don't know what he means by questioning... Questioning what? Are we questioning our actions? Our dreams? Our connections? Or simply the way the world works?
My analysis of this quote is directly related to my comprehension of it.

Einstein day 6

"It is a miracle that curiosity survives formal education."
This quote inspires a lot of thought regarding how rigid and unnecessarily structured the education system and topics of discussion have become. Immediately I am reminded of how English teachers force interpretation of novels, poems and other pieces of literature. While the desire to read is a common thing in the students in my Lit class, the adversity to forced interpretation of written art results in a decreased urgency to form those neuropathways in our adolescent minds (the lack of time with which to do so notwithstanding.)

Einstein day 5

It's really early on Sunday, November 20. As in, just after midnight. I have to pack my computer for my trip though, so I'm doing this entry very early.
"I have no special talent. I am only passionately curious."
This is one of my favorite quotes, period. I've posted it on Facebook, used it in school projects, etc.
Einstein was absolultely brilliant, there's no question about that. But he saw his powerful desire to learn as natural curiosity, not anything special. According to one source, when he was 7 years old, he wanted to understand how hens kept their eggs warm, so he sat on a set of eggs from the chicken house that belonged to his sister. His sister's husband beat him for it, but she wasn't angry.
A passion for learning is something I can understand. I love to learn new things.
I have more packing to do if my laundry is done.

Einstein 3 (a day late) and 4

I. Fail. Miserably.
It's day four and I've already missed a post. Oh well. You guys get two today!
From yesterday (11/18)
"Everything that can be counted does not necessarily count; everything that counts cannot necessarily be counted."
I LOVE this one. I know I'll probably say this about every single quote I pick, but it's so true.
Though things that can be counted may be nice, or may make everyday life simpler (appliances, gadgets, knick-knacks), it's not going to be something that will change your life or fix your personal faults. A nice oven is fantastic, but it's not going to make my tendencies to ignore the dirty cookie pans any less prominant.
In the same respect, things that really matter, things that change your life or your person for the better-they shouldn't be enumerated.
While social networking sites are wonderful ways of keeping in contact with loved ones, it's always struck me as odd that people brag about the number of friends they have on Facebook. The love and warmth of friendship isn't felt through the number of people on my friends list but rather our reactions to seeing each other after long periods of time on outings we set up on Facebook, or the jokes we share after long hours chatting away during the summer.
I guess my point is that even for a mathematician, numbers didn't matter in that way to Einstein. And I don't think they should matter to anyone else, either.
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Day 4 (11/19)
"There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as if everything is a miracle."
In everything, you can see a work of God. That's my opinion. The way the flowers know how to open to the sun, the way water freezes from the top down because ice expands and has less density than liquid H2O... I could go on and on for days.
People don't have to believe in intelligent design to see the beauty and wonder surrounding us though. Anyone an be astounded by how perfectly the world works together, every ecosystem a puzzle that creates a puzzle piece to form the astonishing planet we live on.
To me, every work of nature is a work of God, and a miracle of life.

Einstein Day 2

I didn't want to post because it's late and I'm tired, but I'm doing this post challenge. Never give up, never surrender!
The quote "Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new"
First thought: SO TRUE!
Second thought: my first attempts at almost everything are kind of pathetic.
Third thought: I wonder if Einstein was thinking of bicycling or public speaking when he said this. Those are the two things that I think people are so incredibly scared to try that they say they can't without even trying, albeit one is generally faced much earlier in life than the other. (If you could give a coherent speech and keep the audience enraptured and truely interested at 5, congratulations. If you didn't learn bicycling early, isn;t it nice to understand now?)
Fourth (and final) thought: What kind of jerk claims to have never made a mistake?

First Einstein Quote! (11/16)

"The man of science is a poor philosopher"
It is my goal to prove this wrong over the course of the next month and a half. Though Einstein was a brilliant mathematician and a world shaping physicist, he also has many brilliant quotes that inspire me every day. His philosophies about life are unlike the learned but biased Greek philosophers, and far more applicable to my experience on this beautiful rock I call home.