And I realized, in this moment of revelation, that what these two men (Dr. Francis Robicsek and Roger Milliken) were revealing was the secret of their extraordinary success, each in his own right. And it lay precisely in that insatiable curiosity, that irrepressible desire to know, no matter what the subject, no matter what the cost, even at a time when the keepers of the Doomsday Clock are willing to bet even money that the human race won’t be around to imagine anything in the year 2100, a scant 93 years from now. “Live each day as if it is your last,” said Mahatma Gandhi. “Learn as if you’ll live forever.” This is what I’m passionate about. It is precisely this. It is this inextinguishable, undaunted appetite for learning and experience, no matter how risible, no matter how esoteric, no matter how seditious it might seem. This defines the imagined futures of our fellow Hungarians — Robicsek, Teszler and Bartok — as it does my own. As it does, I suspect, that of everybody here.
To which I need only add, “Ez a mi munkank; es nem is keves.” This is our task; we know it will be hard.“Ez a mi munkank; es nem is keves. Jó napot, pacák!”
Wow – uplifting and dire. More coffee which I will savor still more with this morning’s reminder.
Let’s skip the dire part and go with the uplifting. I should have edited that party out.
Now there’s a clarion call to start the week! Cannot imagine the possibility that this crazy, maddening, beautiful world could be gone in less than a century, but nevertheless a good ‘kick in the pants’ admonition to suck the marrow out of every day. May your week be filled with discovery and delight, pal!
Yes Lori. I’m not a buyer of that. But the rest, I’m on his bus. Have a great week.
live fully.
The second you are born you are on the road to death. What matters is how you choose to get there.
I’ve been looking for the spark to my ignition and THIS is it! All of it, nothing taken away.
Thank you 🙂
So great. You and Mary Oliver: Be ignited, or be gone.
Ignited, all the way, until I’m gone!
Learn as if you will live forever! Always a student. Great advice.
Live fully while we have this opportunity! Yes! We burn with curiosity and creativity individually, we destroy collectively. Has it ever been so?
That’s it Bela, right there….