Reflection
One knows from daily life that one exists for other people; first of all, for those upon whose smiles and well-being our own happiness is wholly dependent, and then for the many, unknown to us, to whose destinies we are bound by the ties of sympathy. A hundred times every day I remind myself that my inner and outer life are based on the labors of other men, living and dead, and that I must exert myself in order to give in the same measure as I have received and am still receiving. A human being is part of a whole, called by us the “Universe,” a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings, as something separated from the rest -a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circles of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty. Only a life lived for others is worth living.
Albert Einstein
Prayer
Create in me a new heart.
Action
How far do your circles of compassion extend? Do you restrict your concern to only a few? How far does your sense of justice extend?
Suggested Reading
Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves.
Philippians 2:1-3
The entire material universe speaks of God’s love, God’s boundless affection for us.
Pope Francis
Let man live at a distance from God, and the universe remains neutral or hostile to him. But let man believe in God, and immediately all around him the elements, even the irksome, or the inevitable organize themselves into a friendly whole, ordered to the ultimate success of life.
Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
That deep emotional conviction of the presence of a superior reasoning power, which is revealed in the incomprehensible universe, forms my idea of God.
Albert Einstein
Look up at the stars and not down at your feet. Try to make sense of what you see, and wonder about what makes the universe exist. Be curious.
Stephen Hawking
Follow your bliss and the universe will open doors where there were only walls.
Joseph Campbell
We are part of this universe; we are in this universe, but perhaps more important than both of those facts, is that the universe is in us.
Neil deGrasse Tyson
The more clearly we can focus our attention on the wonders and realities of the universe about us, the less taste we shall have for destruction.
Rachel Carson
When you feel connected to everything, you also feel responsible for everything. And you cannot turn away. Your destiny is bound with the destinies of others. You must either learn to carry the Universe or be crushed by it. You must grow strong enough to love the world, yet empty enough to sit down at the same table with its worst horrors.
Andrew Boyd
Philosophy is written in this grand book, the universe, which stands continually open to our gaze. But the book cannot be understood unless one first learns to comprehend the language and read the letters in which it is composed.
Galileo Galilei
I’m not somebody who gets teared up or anything, but I still look up at the stars, and it gives me hope, and it gives me energy. I think one of the things that we have to think about it is, we are all a part of this universe.
Mae Jemison
My only true harmony lies deep within my soul, wherever that is. I know that somehow I am in tune with the universe.
Mercedes McCambridge