Thursday, January 21, 2010

Weekly Blog Post 1

"If my doctor told me I had only six minutes to live, I wouldn't brood. I'd type a little faster." -- Isaac Asimov

To reflect on my randomly selected quote, this quote is saying that if you knew you only had a little time left, instead of focusing on that fact or 'brooding' about it, spend your time working on something. In his case, Isaac says he'd type a little faster because he's a writer (hence being listed among writers' quotes). So the quote doesn't claim that given a little time that we should all exclusively type a little faster, but instead continue to work, leave our mark, or keep on doing that which we enjoy. It could just as easily say help the needy a little faster, prove the theorem a little faster, or just have fun, a little faster.

Time is money. The old quote putting a value on time isn't far from the truth. Time is the most valuable commodity you can't buy. It's a strange thing to think of a place without time (whether it be instantaneous or simultaneous). The value of time is beyond money however. No matter what you value, whether it be happiness, leaving your mark, affecting change, or even money, time is an underlying factor necessary to achieve anything.

From his quote, Asimov would not have you waste your valuable time by brooding over its end, but to use it to its potential. This is similar to another quote (the author and correct wording evades me) that you should write as though you were on your death bed and your audience was on their's, meaning that you should value what you write and you should write so your audience will value it. All of this ties into underlying senses of purpose and reason which entirely different and deeper conversations than this one. But the small summation is to value your time, not to regret its end, and to use it to all its potential.

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