Yearning for the Sea
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry was a French writer, poet, aristocrat, journalist, and aviator. He lived from 1900 to 1944. He came to mind as I considered the energies and inspired
work noted in this issue’s interview with Prof. Ali Khademhosseini. Saint-Exupéry shared insightful and inspiring thoughts through memorable analogies from fundamental viewpoints. Here are a few of them:
If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up people to collect wood and don’t assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea.
The machine does not isolate us from the great problems of nature but plunges us more deeply into them.
It is in the compelling zest of high adventure and of victory, and in creative action, that man finds his supreme joys.
It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.
Nobody grasped you by the shoulder while there was still time. Now the clay of which you were shaped has dried and hardened, and naught in you will ever awaken the sleeping musician, the poet, the astronomer that possibly inhabited you in the beginning.
These translations are from various sources but likely carry critical elements of the messages Saint-Exupéry shared. Some contain a unique sense of optimism, and others have shades of darkness associated with failures to engage the self or others. New challenges are ever before us, and there is a sense of urgency associated with embracing opportunities and realizing one’s potential. Be aware that a controlled release researcher and anyone associated with such work could fit rightly with the noble professions mentioned in the last quote.
There are ideas in these that we can relate to and draw from whether in the way we motivate and treat others or the way we motivate and treat ourselves. We are united in unique ways, and our constructive interactions arguably provide our greatest advantage. We are incredibly fortunate to work in professions that introduce fundamental benefits to society, and it is helpful to hold on to that notion.
In this newsletter, the contributors, the CRS Newsletter editorial team, and CRS staff have created another snapshot of current happenings in the field of controlled release and this society. I encourage you to read the Khademhosseini interview. Take a look at the science and the items in your interest area. Consider where you would like to contribute to the CRS “machine,” and above all, build that yearning for the sea, whatever you conceive it to be, in yourself and others.
Chuck Frey
