An opinionless peace

Nothing is more conducive to peace of mind than not having any opinion at all. ~Georg Christoph Lichtenberg

I thoroughly enjoy the daily quotes I receive on my iGoogle customized homepage. This appeared there some time ago, and I’ve spent a lot of time since then visiting it, and thinking about it.

Wikipedia informs us that “Georg Christoph Lichtenberg (1 July 1742 – 24 February 1799) was a German scientist, satirist and Anglophile. As a scientist, he was the first to hold a professorship explicitly dedicated to experimental physics in Germany. Lichtenberg was the youngest of 17 children of pastor Johann Conrad Lichtenberg.

“As a physicist, today he is remembered for his investigations in electricity, for discovering branching discharge patterns on dielectrics now called Lichtenberg figures which are considered today to be examples of fractals. He also discovered the basic principle of modern copy machine technology.

“His ‘waste books’ (Sudelbücher in German) are the notebooks he kept from his student days until the end of his life. The notebooks contain quotations that struck Lichtenberg, titles of books to read, autobiographical sketches, and short or long reflections. It is those reflections that helped Lichtenberg earn his posthumous fame. Today he is regarded as one of the best aphorists in Western intellectual history.”

And so, to return to Herr Doktor Lichtenberg’s aphorism …

“Nothing is more conducive to peace of mind than not having any opinion at all.”

This is excellent advice. It represents the true spirit of intellectual curiosity, and even in Lichtenberg’s day and age, was almost impossible. Our educational system is predicated on the notion that we must form an opinion of our own.

However, dear Georg, was the last of a family of 17 progeny. I’d hazard a guess that his opinion was not only not much solicited, but even if it had been, couldn’t have been heard in the cacophony that that many children would generate. Besides, the idea is full of wisdom.

To form an opinion, one must learn about one’s subject. Most of us think we already know what peace is, what it means, and can even make a suggestion about how to get there. But what if we, like Lichtenberg, take the stance that we do not know what peace is? Wouldn’t we have to inquire about it? Learn about it? Learn from it?

This is what it would be to begin to address peace WITHOUT opinion.

We also would have to admit to ourselves that we don’t know what peace means. We really don’t. And, that we haven’t a genuine clue as to how to get there.

A.J. Muste was quoted in the New York Times many years ago as saying, “There is no way to peace. Peace is the way.”

Let’s follow Lichtenberg’s advice and let go of our opinions in the hope that we might meet and befriend true peace of mind.