Great and humble

“Anyone with a disability should focus on what they can do and not regret what they cannot do.”

This inspirational advice comes from a man who knows suffering more than most of us. I am talking about wheelchair-bound British cosmologist Stephen Hawking who was diagnosed with motor neurone disease at 21 and was told he had two years to live. He is now 71 and manages to communicate via a cheek muscle linked to a sensor and computerised voice system.

He told the BBC recently, “Theoretical physics is one field where being disabled is not a handicap. It is all in the mind.” 

Many scientists have made prodigious contributions to humanity and yet remained humble. 

Prolific inventor Thomas Alva Edison once realised that his room was in a mess. The sweeper had not reported for duty. Edison saw his young assistant standing nearby and asked him to tidy up the room. When the youth refused saying it was below his dignity, Edison apologised, picked up a broom and quietly cleaned the room himself. 

Albert Einstein died after refusing surgery, saying, “I want to go when I want. It is tasteless to prolong life artificially. I have done my share, it is time to go elegantly.”