Quotes
A Mathematician’s Survival Guide (Pete Casazza)
*************************************************************************************************
Trains in
(Taken from a lecture by Fujia Yang, who attributed the quote to the
Austrian-American physicist Victor Weisskopf.)
*************************************************************************************************
“Life is complex, it
has both real and imaginary parts.”
(Taken
from Jerome Busemeyer, who attributed the quote to an
anonymous source.)
*************************************************************************************************
The
following story was forwarded to me by Jay Yuan.
A professor stood
before his Philosophy 101 class and had some items in front of him.
When the class began,
wordlessly, he picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to
fill it with golf balls. He then asked the students if the jar was full? They
agreed that it was.
So the professor then
picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar
lightly. The pebbles, of course, rolled into the open areas between the golf
balls. He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it
was.
The professor picked
up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up
everything else. He then asked once more if the jar was full. The students
responded with a unanimous .....yes.
The professor then
produced two cans of beer under the table and proceeded to pour the entire
contents into the jar effectively filling the empty space between the sand. The
students laughed. "Now", said the professor, as the laughter
subsided, "I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life...
- The golf balls are
the important things - your family, your partner, your health, your children,
your friends, your favorite passions, things that if everything else was lost
and only they remained, your life would still be full."
- "The pebbles
are the other things that matter like your job, your house, your car.
- The sand is
everything else - the small stuff."
If you put the sand
into the jar first", he continued, "there is no room for the pebbles
or the golf balls. The same goes for your life. If you spend all your time and
energy on the small stuff, you will never have room for the things that are important
to you. Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Play
with your children. Take time to get medical checkups. Take your partner out
dancing. Play another 18. There will always be time to go to work, clean the
house, give a dinner party and fix the disposal."
"Take care of the
golf balls first - the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest
is just sand."
One of the students
raised her hand and inquired what the beer represented. The professor smiled.
"I'm glad you asked. It just goes to show you that no matter how full your
life may seem, there's always room for a couple of beers.
*********************************************************************************************************************************