My Favorite Quotes
On CS at UML |
On Teaching & Learning |
On Living |
On Music |
On Professoring |
On Importance of Self |
On Justice |
On Jesse (J.C.) Owens
For more words to truly live by, see
The Prophet
by the incomparable
Kahlil Gibran.
— Kahlil Gibran, 1883-1931, is chiefly known in the English-speaking
world for his 1923 book The Prophet, an early example of
inspirational fiction including a series of philosophical essays written in poetic
English prose. The book sold well despite a cool critical reception, gaining
popularity in the 1930s and again especially in the 1960s counterculture. Gibran
is the third-best-selling poet of all time, behind Shakespeare and Laozi.
[Wikipedia]
And for even more, see literally thousands of quotes at
http://www.brainyquote.com.
On Studying Computer Science at UMass Lowell
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“... there is nothing like making music and messing with sound to inspire people to learn how to program.”
— Dan Trueman, co-founder of the Princeton Laptop Orchestra (also known as PLOrk) in 2005
“Your job is temporary. Your education is permanent.”
— JMH: Working addresses short-term needs. Studying addresses
long-term goals.
“Don’t forget you’re programming, and don’t
forget your programming!”
— JMH: There’s more to GUI Programming than simply making widgets
appear on the screen.
“All the coolest computer tricks I know I learned from students.”
— JMH: Thank you to the many, many students who have taught me.
“Two wrongs don’t make a right.”
— Unknown: The fact that other students cheat does not justify cheating
by you.
On Teaching, Education, and Learning
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“The mind is not a vessel to be filled, but a fire to be kindled.”
— Plutarch, 46–120
“If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.”
— Sir Isaac Newton, 1642–1727, in a letter to Robert Hooke dated February 5, 1675
“The secret of education lies in respecting the pupil.”
— Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1803–1882, in The
Complete Writings of Ralph Waldo Emerson, edited by Edward Emerson
(published posthumously in 1904)
“Those things for which [a college demands] the most money
[from a student] are never the things which the student most
wants. Tuition, for instance, is an important item in the term bill, while for the
far more valuable education which he gets by associating with the most cultivated of his
contemporaries, no charge is made.”
— Henry David Thoreau, 1817–1862, writing in
Walden (published in 1854)
“The best teacher uses books and appliances as
well as his or her own insight, sympathy, and magnetism.”
— Edward L. Thorndike,
1874–1949, writing in Education (published in 1912)
“Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were
to live forever.”
— Mahatma Gandhi, 1869–1948, preeminent leader of Indian
independence movement from British rule
“I never teach my pupils; I only attempt to provide the
conditions in which they can learn.”
— Albert Einstein, 1879–1955, physicist
“It’s a very ancient saying, but a true and honest thought:
If you become a teacher, by your pupils you’ll be taught.”
— Oscar Hammerstein II, 1895–1960, musician and composer,
particularly of scores for Broadway shows (from the introduction to “Getting To Know You” in The King and I)
“The trick to education is to teach people in such a way that they don’t
realize they’re learning until it’s too late.”
— Harold Eugene “Doc” Edgerton (“Poppa Flash”), 1903–1990,
fabled MIT professor and inventor of the stroboscopic flash
[Learning should be treated] “as an active
process of constructing ideas rather than a passive process of absorbing
information.”
— Daniel J. Boorstin, 1914–2004, Librarian of the United States Congress (1975–1987),
in From Risk to Renewal: Charting a Course for Reform
(p. 117, published in 1993)
“Science is more than a study of molecules and
calculations; it is the love of knowledge and the continued search for
the truth. The study of the sciences promotes humility, leaving us
with a clear sense that we will never understand all there is to
know.”
— Kenneth H. Olsen, 1926–2011, “The Ultimate Entrepreneur,” speaking
at the dedication of the Olsen Science Building at Gordon College, September 27, 2008
“The function of education is to teach one to think intensively
and to think critically. Intelligence plus character — that is the goal of
true education.”
— Martin Luther King, Jr., 1929–1968, Civil Rights Leader
“I remember my mother telling me: ‘Keep stretching your arms
for learning. Someday, somebody will ask you to show how long they are, and they
won’t ask their
color.’”
— Samuel F. Yette, 1929–2011, journalist, author, and educator who became
an influential and sometimes incendiary voice on civil rights
“To learn, read. To know, write. To master, teach.”
— Hindu proverb
On Living
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“Strive not to be a success, but rather to be of value.”
— Albert Einstein, 1879–1955, theoretical physicist who developed the general theory of relativity
“Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any one thing.”
— Abraham Lincoln, 1809–1865, 16th President of United States
“Ah, but a man’s reach should exceed his grasp. Or what’s a heaven for?”
— Robert Browning, 1812–1889, writing in Men and Women (1855), “Andrea del Sarto,” line 98
“The best way to have a good idea is to have lots of ideas.”
— Linus Pauling, 1901–1994, Nobel Laureate in Chemistry (1954) and Peace (1962)
“Don’t tell me the sky’s the limit when there are footprints on the moon.”
— Paul Brandt, Donald Ewing, & Kent Blazy, in the song There’s a World Out There
“Money can't buy happiness, but it can buy marshmallows, which are kinda the same thing.”
— author unknown
“So be wise, because the world needs more wisdom, and if you cannot be wise,
pretend to be someone who is wise, and then just behave like they would.”
“I want to put a ding in the universe.”
— Steve Jobs, 1955–2011, Apple co-founder, chairman, and CEO
“He who rests, rots.”
— Arthur Fiedler, 1894–1979, longtime conductor of the Boston Pops
“To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all.”
— Oscar Wilde, 1854–1900, Irish author, playwright and poet
“Don't cry because it’s over. Smile because it happened.”
— Dr. Seuss (Theodor Seuss Geisel), 1904–1991, author and poet
“Thou shalt not be a perpetrator; thou shalt not be a victim; and
thou shalt never, but never, be a bystander.”
— Yehuda Bauer, 1926-, Professor of Holocaust Studies, Avraham
Harman Institute of Contemporary Jewry, Hebrew Univ. of Jerusalem Academic Advisor to
Yad Vashem and the Task Force for International Cooperation on Holocaust Education
From Remembrance and Beyond, the keynote
address delivered at the United Nations on Holocaust Memorial Day, January 27, 2006
“Dream is not that which you see while sleeping, it is something that does not let you sleep.”
— A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, 1931–, Indian Scientist, in Wings of Fire: An Autobiography
— (this quote is a favorite of and was brought to my attention by alumnus Pawan Gupta)
“The work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives, and the dream
shall never die.”
— Edward (“Ted”) Kennedy, 1932–2009, after losing the 1980 Democratic
nomination for President to Jimmy Carter
“Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.”
— John Lennon, 1940–1980 (December 8th), from the song
Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy) on the Double Fantasy album
“We can’t control the wind, but we can choose how to adjust our sails.”
— Yiddish proverb
“We can’t change the cards we’re dealt, just how we play the hand.”
— Prof. Randy Pausch, 1961–2008, in his Last Lecture
“The key to life, whether it’s the partner you pick or the business you run, is that you try to see things that other people can’t see.”
— Robert Kraft, owner of the New England Patriots, 1941–
“I tell kids to pursue their basketball dreams, but I tell them to not let that be their only dream.”
— Kareem Abdul Jabbar, National Basketball Association Hall of Famer, 1947–
“You miss 100% of the shots you never take.”
— Wayne Gretzky (“The Great One”), National Hockey League Hall of Famer, 1961–
“I am not sure exactly what heaven will be like,
but I know that when we die and it comes time for God to judge us, He
will not ask, ‘How many good things have you done in your
life?’ Rather, He will ask, ‘How much love did you put
into what you did?’”
— Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta, 1910–1997, Albanian-born Indian Roman Catholic nun
“But the lies we tell ourselves are the ghosts that
haunt the empty house at midnight. And although I pushed [the thought]
from my mind, I felt the breath of that ghosted lie on my face...”
— Gregory David Roberts, 1952–, writing in
Shantaram (published in 2003)
“Some people come into our lives and quickly go.
Some stay for a while and embrace our silent dreams. [But] some people come
into our lives and leave footprints on our hearts, and we are never, ever the
same.”
— Flavia Weedn, 1929–2015, writer and illustrator
“You think the only people who are people
Are the people who look and think like you,
But if you walk the footsteps of a stranger
You’ll learn things you never knew you never knew.”
— from
Colors of the Wind by Alan Menken and
Stephen Schwartz (1995)
“Whether you think you can or you think
you can’t, you’re right.”
— Henry Ford, 1863–1947
“It is one of the
most beautiful compensations of life, that no man can sincerely try to
help another without helping himself.”
— Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1803–1882
“To laugh often and
much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of
children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the
betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty, to find the best in
others; to leave the world a little better; whether by a healthy
child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; to know even one
life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is the meaning
of success.”
— Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1803–1882
“Work like you don’t need the money,
Dance like no one is watching,
Sing like no one is listening,
Love like you’ve never been hurt, and
Live every day as if it will be your last.”
— many claimed authors,
but none of them confirmed
“Days are scrolls: Write on them only what you want remembered.”
— Bachya ibn Paquda, 11th century
“Who is rich? One who is content with his or her portion.”
— Mishnah Tractate Avot, Chapter 4, 1st century (one of
various interpretations)
“It is not your responsibility to finish the work of
tikkun olam
(repairing the world), but you are not free to desist from it either.”
“Wheresoever she was, THERE was Eden.”
— inscription supposedly placed by Adam on Eve’s gravestone,
according to Mark Twain, 1835–1910, in the The 30,000
Dollar Bequest and Other Stories (published in 1906)
On Music
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“Those who wish to sing always find a song.”
— Swedish Proverb
“None of us can hide or guard our secrets when we sing.
And India is a nation of singers whose first love is the kind of song we turn
to when crying just isn’t enough.”
— Gregory David Roberts, 1952-, writing in
Shantaram (published in 2003)
“Everybody looks better singing.”
— Alan Gurganus, 1947-, American novelist, short story writer, and essayist
“Music is the art of thinking with sounds.”
— Jules Combarieu, 1859–1916, French musicologist (posted on
the wall of the Westbrook Performing Arts Center, Westbrook, Maine)
“Where words fail, music speaks.”
— Hans Christian Anderson, 1805–1875, Danish author and poet
(posted on the wall of the Westbrook Performing Arts Center, Westbrook, Maine)
“Sometimes the love that you feel inside
Gets lost between your heart and your mind,
And the words don’t really say the things you wanted them to.
But then you hear in someone’s song
What you’ve been trying to say all along,
And somehow with the magic of music the message comes through.
...
Music speaks louder than words
It’s the only thing that the whole world listens to.
Music speaks louder than words,
When you sing, people understand.”
—
Music Speaks Louder Than Words by
Harold Payne, Edgar Pease, and Mike Scarpiello
On Being a Professor
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“What a gig!”
— Herman Hampton, bassist and Berklee College of Music
faculty member
“If we can’t write a 3-page proposal in 3 days,
we’re in the wrong business.”
— Prof. Fred Martin, UMass Lowell CS
“Now that I’m 64, I’m only working half days – 12 hours!”
— JMH: A paraphrase of Leo Robbins (1923–1993) as quoted by his son, Phil Robbins, in Tim Russert’s Wisdom of Our Fathers (2007), p. 95.
“He always had a student in his office.”
— The Rev. Dr. (formerly Prof.)
Marian Williams, as a suggested epitaph for Jesse ... hopefully not to be used
for some time!
:)
On the Importance of Self
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“All the suffering in the world has come
From wanting happiness for yourself.
And all the happiness in the world has come
From wanting to make others happy.”
— Shantideva, 8th-century Indian Buddhist scholar, writing in
A Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way Of Life (circa 700 A.D.)
“For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”
— Luke 14:11
“The graveyards are full of irreplaceable people.”
— UMass Lowell colleague Prof. Haim Levkowitz
“You’re never a star in your own constellation.”
— Unknown, heard perhaps 50 years ago when I was working at Digital Equipment Corporation
“Take a bucket. Fill it with water. Stick your foot in it.
Pull your foot out of it. The size of the hole left behind is the amount you’ll be
missed when you’re gone.”
— Unknown, as related to me by my UMass Lowell colleague Prof. Giampiero Pecelli (1942-2017)
“There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there has
always been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding
its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that
democracy means that ‘my ignorance is just as good as your
knowledge’.”
— Isaac Asimov, 1980
On Justice
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“The opposite of poverty is not wealth. In too many places,
the opposite of poverty is justice.”
— Bryan Stevenson
“We have a system of justice in this country that treats you much
better if you”re rich and guilty than if you’re poor and innocent.”
— Bryan Stevenson
“Each of us is more than the worst thing we’ve ever
done.”
— Bryan Stevenson
“The true measure of our character is how we treat the poor, the
disfavored, the accused, the incarcerated, and the condemned.”
— Bryan Stevenson
“The death penalty is not about whether people deserve to die for
the crimes they commit. The real question of capital punishment in this country is,
Do we deserve to kill?”
— Bryan Stevenson
“Keep on loving one another as brothers and sisters. Do not
forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown
hospitality to angels without knowing it. Continue to remember those in prison as
if you were together with them in prison, and those who are mistreated as if you
yourselves were suffering.”
— The Bible, Hebrews 13
Video:
Bryan Stevenson on “Race and History,” interview by
Drew Gilpin Faust, President, Harvard University (2016, 1:00:07)
Interesting Fact About a Famous Jesse
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Jesse
Owens’s first name wasn’t really Jesse. His family called him
“JC,” the initials for his real first and middle names, James
Cleveland. When he went to a new school outside of Chicago at age 10 and the
teacher asked him for his name, she misunderstood his slow southern drawl. She
wrote his name down as Jesse, and it stuck with him ever since.
Please note that there is no “i” in Jesse. Male Jesses virtually never
use an “i” in their names, while female Jessies typically do. I spell
my name the same way as Jesse Jackson, Jesse James, and Jesse Owens. And by the
way, I prefer to be called Jesse, not Jess, please.
