4 ms·

This echoes the Einstein quote I regard as my personal mantra: "Strive not to be a success, but rather to be of value." - Albert Einstein.

idlewords 15y ago
"Be skeptical of inspirational quotes ascribed to great men" - Gandhi
- jsherry 15y ago
  "Yeah but Einstein wasn't just great according to a number of subjective measures, he was brilliant by just about any objective measure." - Me
- mechanical_fish 15y ago
  "There are only two kinds of quotes: Those that are ascribed to famous people, and those that aren't good enough to make their authors famous." -- mechanical_fish [Note that this doesn't rule out the existence of the many unfortunate authors whose sentences are so good that they get mis-ascribed to even more famous authors, rather than making the original authors themselves famous.] [Zen practitioners will note the existence of a third type of quote: If a sentence is uttered in the woods but nobody is listening, it will never be attributed to anyone famous.]
  - gruseom 15y ago
    whose sentences are so good that they get mis-ascribed to even more famous authors There seems to be a bucketing algorithm that, over time, labels all the quotes in a bucket with the most famous approximately applicable name. For example, "First they laugh at you..." (early 20th century, subject: social activism) goes to Gandhi instead of Nicholas Klein (who? my point exactly); "Not everything that counts can be counted" (mid 20th century, subject: measuring shit) goes to Einstein instead of William Bruce Cameron. Often the quotes themselves get optimized along the way, so Eliot's "Immature poets imitate, mature poets steal" (mid 20th century, subject: art) goes to Picasso, but as the snappier "Good artists copy, great artists steal". It makes sense that this happens as time recedes, for the same reason that you see only the major landmarks at a distance. But it probably gives us a skewed idea of individual genius.
    - mechanical_fish 15y ago
      it probably gives us a skewed idea of individual genius No kidding. Confucius was a very smart person! Also, Moses.
- gruseom 15y ago
  It's true that many such quotes are bogus, but this one can be pinned down. It comes from an interview with Einstein published in LIFE magazine, May 2, 1955: "Never lose a holy curiosity. Try not to become a man of success but rather try to become a man of value. He is considered successful in our day who gets more out of life than he puts in. But a man of value will give more than he receives." http://books.google.com/books?id=dlYEAAAAMBAJ&lpg=PP1&pg=PA64 http://books.google.com/books?id=dlYEAAAAMBAJ&lpg=PP1&#3... Also, I recommend the "Carpet Is So Easy To Care For" ad on the preceding page. "Home means more with carpet on the floor."
  - startupfounder 15y ago
    "Don't believe everything you read on the internet." - Benjamin Franklin
    - gruseom 15y ago
      Huh? If LIFE from 1955 counts as reading something on the internet, then so does http://www.librarius.com/cantales/knigttl1.htm http://www.librarius.com/cantales/knigttl1.htm. (Also, please don't do the memester thing here. The natives don't like it.)

idlewords 15y ago

"Be skeptical of inspirational quotes ascribed to great men" - Gandhi

jsherry 15y ago
"Yeah but Einstein wasn't just great according to a number of subjective measures, he was brilliant by just about any objective measure." - Me
mechanical_fish 15y ago
"There are only two kinds of quotes: Those that are ascribed to famous people, and those that aren't good enough to make their authors famous." -- mechanical_fish [Note that this doesn't rule out the existence of the many unfortunate authors whose sentences are so good that they get mis-ascribed to even more famous authors, rather than making the original authors themselves famous.] [Zen practitioners will note the existence of a third type of quote: If a sentence is uttered in the woods but nobody is listening, it will never be attributed to anyone famous.]
- gruseom 15y ago
  whose sentences are so good that they get mis-ascribed to even more famous authors There seems to be a bucketing algorithm that, over time, labels all the quotes in a bucket with the most famous approximately applicable name. For example, "First they laugh at you..." (early 20th century, subject: social activism) goes to Gandhi instead of Nicholas Klein (who? my point exactly); "Not everything that counts can be counted" (mid 20th century, subject: measuring shit) goes to Einstein instead of William Bruce Cameron. Often the quotes themselves get optimized along the way, so Eliot's "Immature poets imitate, mature poets steal" (mid 20th century, subject: art) goes to Picasso, but as the snappier "Good artists copy, great artists steal". It makes sense that this happens as time recedes, for the same reason that you see only the major landmarks at a distance. But it probably gives us a skewed idea of individual genius.
  - mechanical_fish 15y ago
    it probably gives us a skewed idea of individual genius No kidding. Confucius was a very smart person! Also, Moses.
gruseom 15y ago
It's true that many such quotes are bogus, but this one can be pinned down. It comes from an interview with Einstein published in LIFE magazine, May 2, 1955: "Never lose a holy curiosity. Try not to become a man of success but rather try to become a man of value. He is considered successful in our day who gets more out of life than he puts in. But a man of value will give more than he receives." http://books.google.com/books?id=dlYEAAAAMBAJ&lpg=PP1&pg=PA64 http://books.google.com/books?id=dlYEAAAAMBAJ&lpg=PP1&#3... Also, I recommend the "Carpet Is So Easy To Care For" ad on the preceding page. "Home means more with carpet on the floor."
- startupfounder 15y ago
  "Don't believe everything you read on the internet." - Benjamin Franklin
  - gruseom 15y ago
    Huh? If LIFE from 1955 counts as reading something on the internet, then so does http://www.librarius.com/cantales/knigttl1.htm http://www.librarius.com/cantales/knigttl1.htm. (Also, please don't do the memester thing here. The natives don't like it.)