We must be willing to fail, to falter, to suffer, in order to become greater versions of ourselves. Sometimes, being shown lesser versions of ourselves can be the key to this personal evolution. And perhaps most importantly, we must recognize that this personal evolution does not occur in a vacuum. To the contrary, we improve ourselves only if we improve the value we represent for the whole of humanity, in whatever modest capacity this may be possible. Here, we are driven by the idea that "a human being is a part of a whole, called by us the 'universe', a part limited in time and space."

This is perhaps the unifying principle in our discussion. The openness which is a recurrent theme here denotes especially the imperative to remain open to one's fellow man. Nothing that we do occurs independently of the needs and wishes of family, friends, communities, societies, civilizations and so on. We are infinitesimal units of an infinitude that is well beyond our comprehension. The best we can do is attempt...

Where we can improve our lives, the lives of those around us and the lives of those beyond us, we have a responsibility to attempt to do so. Only through an openness to the unfamiliar, a willingness to learn from suffering and recognition of the broader magnitude of the universe will allow us to do this.
I have always found that these principles apply directly to my personal experience as well. For example, when I travel to new cities or new countries, I make it a point to talk to as many locals as possible. You can learn so much more from one conversation than you can from one hundred tour books. So I introduce myself to strangers, share experiences with fellow travelers, haggle with shopkeepers and ask cab drivers questions. When I speak to a bartender, I ask him where he's from and what life is like there. If you open yourself up to strangers this way, you can learn so much not just about this new place in the world but also about yourself.