KEEP THE OLD WARM

“If we see far, it is because we stand on the shoulders of giants. If you find my ideas hopeful, uplifting, and useful for creating positive change, it is because I stand on the shoulders of giants. My ideas are built on a foundation of ideas that came before me. I am simply a link in a chain that grows stronger with every generation – a chain that is working to bind war and injustice. – Carl Sagan

“The Master said: ‘I transmit but do not create. Being fond of the truth, I am an admirer of antiquity. I venture to be compared with our old Peng.” – 孔夫子 Master Kong (Confucius) The Analects 7:1

In 2024, the level of technological innovation, accumulation of knowledge, and sophistication of societal organization across the world is unprecedented. Yet few would call us wiser than our ancestors. We have improved in so many ways, yet have forgotten that in wisdom, we are students, learning from what came before us, passing it onto future generations, with perhaps a small addition of our own.

We see far today because of lessons from the past and communicated across generations. Yes, a smart phone is incomprehensible to past generations, and they cannot match our ingenuity and skill. Yet a simple quote from thousands of years ago can still improve our character today where we fall short. It is this timeless wisdom that is a chain that stretches through time, and which we should be honored to be a link in.

In this knowledge and wisdom, we do not create, we transmit. We recognize the greatness of the past in this field and we admire it. We venture to live up to the standards of the wise ancients who wish nothing but the best for us and future generations.

We continue to build the chain of wisdom that will never be broken in the long life of humanity.