A ship is always safe at the shore: This a powerful quote by Einstein, highlighting the importance of risk and failing in life. I love his attitude towards failure especially with the quote about the electric bulb where he says, I didn’t fail 1,000 times. The light bulb was an invention with 1,000 steps. We can extend a similar parallel in this quote – a ship is safe at the shore.
The main point in this quote is to remember that our life is not just about staying in the comfort zone and avoiding all risks. Our purpose is not just to still and wait for life to happen. It is about exploring the adventurous side within us and having fun with life. With that in mind let’s try and explore the meaning of Einstein’s words, a ship is safe at the shore.
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A ship is always safe at the shore but that’s not what it is built for
A ship is safe at the shore – but what is its purpose? What is our purpose? If we are unable to answer these questions, it is our job to go and find out. Unless we do that explicitly, we are in the danger of going along with the motions of life. These motions will eventually lead us to a place where we stop and question – what did I do with my life? And why did I waste so much time in finding it?
I’m certain we all have a journey to go through and each of our realisations are different. But we are to recognise what acts like our shore and what our purpose is. Unless we do that, we are stuck in a limbo that seduces us to be in the same place without any progress.
Living in the comfort zone of the shore
Our Comfort zone holds us back. The comfort Zone is comfortable for a reason. Everything is a known here. We don’t have to take any risks. All of this is quite safe, this comfort zone is extremely boring. It doesn’t let us explore who we are.
It also doesn’t know what we’re capable of. In some ways this comfort zone is holding us back. So, the question here is, how long are we willing to let this comfort zone define our life. This quote taps into the inner desire to go beyond our limitations and listen to the adventure that’s calling us.
Risk is a part of our life – Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all!
Whether we like it or not risk is an inherent part of our life. As Helen Keller says, life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all. It is the same as the ship being at shore. If a ship doesn’t take the risk of going into the water, it rusts in the same place. Eventually it will die.
A ship is always safe at the shore, but that is not what it is built for
Albert Einstein
Although it might lead to longer life because it was in the comfort zone of the shore, it never really ventured out to see what it was capable of. It failed to explore the beauties and stories of what open waters would bring. The biggest regret of a ship at shore is that it never set sail or went into the waters.
We can’t let our lives be the same, can we? It is scary to take risks, but it is a bigger risk is to not do anything at all. We ought to secure our base, make sure that a fall doesn’t hurt us. But we must take the leap. There’s no point in avoiding risks and staying at the shore. Our job is to set sail, not stagnate!
References:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Einstein
https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/9810.Albert_Einstein
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This is Really Inspiring. “The sea is harsh, but is also wonderful and joyous. You do meet magical creatures along the way and encounter amazing experiences.” I loved this point, and i have a deep feeling for this too.
Nice to hear from you Aslam. This is one of my favourites too, I loved reading about the philosophical side of Albert Einstein, esp when he takes the funny note on talking about relativity. This quote is a very powerful and impactful one.
– There are so many opportunities that keep coming our way, we cast them aside in the fear of unknown
– But what if we are built to take these risks and try out new things
– What if our lives are about exploring every possibility that is in front of us and surprising ourselves at every stage?
Just to wonder about it makes me fascinated about the possibilities and the expansion of our capacities to create them