Ideals Which Have Lighted My

¶ … ideals which have lighted my way, and time after time have given me new courage to face life cheerfully, have been Kindness, Beauty, and Truth. The trite subjects of human efforts, possessions, outward success, luxury have always seemed to me contemptible." Albert Einstein

Einstein's quote certainly sheds light on the concepts and things in life that he held most dear. I would agree with him that kindness, beauty, and truth all hold far more intrinsic cultural and societal value than do human efforts, possessions, outward success, and luxury. Humans can strive to do good things in the name of kindness or truth, and these accomplishments can be great or small. But in accomplishing them through kindness or truth, there is more of a personal, emotional, or spiritual gain than there ever could be if the original motivation was outward success. Kindness, beauty, and truth are all things that every human can strive for, and things that benefit the whole, and not only the individual. These are endearing and lasting ideas and concepts, whereas possessions and luxury can only follow a person as far as they can physically go. I believe that far more genuine good can be done when humans are motivated by kindness than when they are motivated my material items.

"The genius of our ruling class is that it has kept a majority of the people from ever questioning the inequity of a system where most people drudge along, paying heavy taxes for which they get nothing in return." Gore Vidal

Historian Vidal has a unique perspective on the human condition. He has seen the dichotomy between the "haves" and the "have-nots" and has taken the position that the ruling elite have rigged the system in their favor, against those who are poor or have little or no social standing. I would agree with Mr. Vidal that there are a very small number of people who control the vast majority of resources on this planet. Those people who are not controlling the resources often pay dearly to use them, and will always be in debt to those who are in the ruling class. Human history shows us that the ruling elite have always tried to set the economic, educational, and social systems up in their favor and I don't believe it to be any different even in today's modern times.

"Education is what survives when what has been learned has been forgotten." B.F. Skinner

Skinner's quote illustrates the unfortunate disconnect between what is learned and what is taught. There are many students who, when presented with a subject that is particularly interesting or motivating, actually learn about it. Skinner is saying that when people do not care about what they are learning about, and are no longer motivated to use the information, they forget it. But the fact that they were "educated" at one time or another never goes away. I agree with Mr. Skinner here because there are many examples of people who are not very intelligent who have gone to school in years past and acquired an education. These people have not really learned anything though, hey just have a piece of paper stating that they have an education. An education does not make someone smart. A person's willingness to us an educational opportunity to learn does.

"Being powerful is like being a lady. If you have to tell people you are, you aren't." Margaret Thatcher