In a short verse, Bertolt Brecht writes,
I need no gravestone, but
If you need one for me
I wish the inscription would read:
He made suggestions. We
Have acted on them.
Such an epitaph would
Honor us all.
To alter that for this website, I write modestly:
I wish the inscription would read:
"He pondered life. We
Pondered what he pondered."
Such an epitaph would
Honor all who ponder.
Unfortunately, thinking doesn't necessarily lead to efficacious acting as I infer from Brecht's "suggestions"; in fact, it doesn't necessarily lead to any action. It can, in numerous instances, lead to inimical acting, as in the denial of rights and freedoms and even life perpetrated under the "thinking" of Marxists and socialists in the last 150 years and in the enslavement of millions of others under pre-nineteenth-century ideas about human value. But motivating others to think is the first step in getting them to act in ways that can be self-efficacious. There's no promise, of course, and no guarantee of benefits. People do what they do with or without forethought. Nevertheless, if I cannot be known for inspiring action as Bertolt Brecht desired for his legacy, then I desire to be be known for inspiring others to seek insights in the hope that their thoughts will be both self-efficacious and beneficial to others.
What would you want to see on your gravestone?
I need no gravestone, but
If you need one for me
I wish the inscription would read:
He made suggestions. We
Have acted on them.
Such an epitaph would
Honor us all.
To alter that for this website, I write modestly:
I wish the inscription would read:
"He pondered life. We
Pondered what he pondered."
Such an epitaph would
Honor all who ponder.
Unfortunately, thinking doesn't necessarily lead to efficacious acting as I infer from Brecht's "suggestions"; in fact, it doesn't necessarily lead to any action. It can, in numerous instances, lead to inimical acting, as in the denial of rights and freedoms and even life perpetrated under the "thinking" of Marxists and socialists in the last 150 years and in the enslavement of millions of others under pre-nineteenth-century ideas about human value. But motivating others to think is the first step in getting them to act in ways that can be self-efficacious. There's no promise, of course, and no guarantee of benefits. People do what they do with or without forethought. Nevertheless, if I cannot be known for inspiring action as Bertolt Brecht desired for his legacy, then I desire to be be known for inspiring others to seek insights in the hope that their thoughts will be both self-efficacious and beneficial to others.
What would you want to see on your gravestone?
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