Reposted from Thinker's Community: On Life

There are always people who bring up the topic of graduate school with me, but to be honest, I’m not willing to discuss it. Some people plan their future with extreme caution, meticulously calculating every detail, such as when to join a certain club, when to join the party, when to participate in student union work, weighing the time spent reviewing for each exam to get a first-class scholarship, when to publish papers, with an impact factor of several points, where to work first, with a yearly income of how much, then after how long to switch jobs, when to get married, when to buy a car or a house, when to have children, when to be promoted to a certain level of cadre, when to retire, and how much pension to receive.

I’m very opposed to such arrangements. I only focus on one or two of the most important, fundamental, and essential things, and don’t care about other trivial matters. If I find that these trivial things are affecting my main goals, I’ll deal with them directly. If I’m always expecting and guarding against these complex minor things, I won’t be able to accomplish anything major.

What I want is the feeling of forgetting to sleep and eat, what I want is the spirit of Chen Jingrun. Now people are too realistic. Although I don’t agree with some of the ideas of the ancient Greeks, I believe that the level at which they think and focus is higher than that of ordinary people today. I focus on God, truth, and the universe, rather than the cycle of life, money, love, or official career. However, I do attach importance to power and prestige, because only when I have power can I lead the people towards a more noble direction. The majority of people pursue power for the sake of enjoyment or to satisfy their desire for domination, but what I need power for is to have the opportunity to promote truth and educate the people.

My teacher’s sister said something very reasonable.

ps I’ve been away from chemistry studies for a year now, and I haven’t been to the Thought Leaders’ Community for a long time. Today, I went there and saw the above passage, which I highly agree with, so I copied it down.