Genius and wisdom are not always combined. Take the advent of the atomic bomb…please…
I hate to think that it is only in the face of our own mortality that true wisdom kicks in, granting us understanding and peace at a final reckoning. Is it too much to ask that we grasp the fleeting nature of creature-hood; the ridiculous lightness of ego and esteem before we realize that both are little more than self-reflection?
Perhaps, it matters not when we experience the epiphany but that it IS experienced. Steve Jobs gave us the ability to communicate in ways we never imagined even two short decades ago. He lived, arguably, half a life-time. And, in all his achievement, notoriety and wealth, in the end, he understood the base meaning of this life we hold as true:
The physical is fleeting; the ephemeral, eternal. There is genius in wisdom. I wonder if the opposite is true?
“Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure – these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.”
Thank you, Steve Jobs, for sharing your genius and your wisdom.
The universe is better for it.
May we all use it well.