How many times have I come across a line or statement and had the “A-ha!” moment? It’s beautiful and maddening. Beautiful because I realize that I am not alone and in fact share some inner working of human life with others. Maddening because I wish I could have said it so well. Here’s part of an Isaac Asimov interview with Bill Moyers that I read this morning. They are talking about learning:
“I think it’s the actual process of broadening yourself, of knowing there’s now a little extra facet of the universe you know about and can think about and can understand. It seems to me that when it’s time to die, there would be a certain pleasure in thinking that you had utilized your life well, learned as much as you could, gathered in as much as possible of the universe, and enjoyed it. There’s only this one universe and only this one lifetime to try to grasp it. And while it is inconceivable that anyone can grasp more than a tiny portion of it, at least you can do that much. What a tragedy just to pass through and get nothing out of it.”
Yes. My hope is that somehow or sometimes I manage to pass this excitement on to my students.
Stephen McClurg 