I Really Said That?

Another senior moment occurs when someone quotes you. If favorable, fine. If not, maybe not so good. Or cause for denial: I really said that? Remember decades ago? “But Mom, you said I could go.” Or, “Dad, you promised . . .” But oh, that was so long ago but we still remember even if they forget.

Ideally, it would be nice if we were remembered by some of the pithy, weighty or memorable utterances we made. We can forget the rest. Or we would perhaps like to. Recently, I ran into a list, 56 in all, of memorable quotes by non other than the late Albert Einstein. Let me share the first ten with you.

1. “Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius — and a lot of courage — to move in the opposite direction.”
2. “Imagination is more important than knowledge.”
3. “Gravitation is not responsible for people falling in love.”
4. “I want to know God’s thoughts; the rest are details.”
5. “The hardest thing in the world to understand is the income tax.”
6. “Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one.”
7. “The only real valuable thing is intuition.”
8. “A person starts to live when he can live outside himself.”
9. “I am convinced that He (God) does not play dice.”
10. “God is subtle but he is not malicious.”

Yes, these are taken out of context so we are not really sure what precipitated these quotes. Even so, we can take each one at face value and possibly even wish we might have said the same thing, or something similar (but then, we aren’t Einstein).

Interestingly, three of these quotes deal with God. Perhaps we didn’t really expect that but there they are, big as life. And not trivial either. A desire to know what God is thinking, that He doesn’t play dice, and that He is subtle but not malicious. Good thoughts for both believers and non-believers.

Then, Einstein’s thoughts about simplicity. Makes me wonder about the complexities in much of our lives since his death ((March 14, 1879 – April 18, 1955). Take the computer. Attempts have been made to keep it simpler but in my judgment, it just keeps on getting better and more powerful but increasingly complex. And how we complicate so many other things. And what about our capacity for violence?

Is imagination superior to knowledge? What about his thoughts about intuition? And what about Einstein and income tax? Don’t worry about how many you agree with, or disagree. Just be reminded that others, friend and foe, will quite often remember some of what you’ve said. Makes one wonder what Albert might have thought about this compiled list of 56 of his quotes. Take heed. We never know who is listening.