Piet Hein (1905 – 1996)
Danish mathematician, scientist, inventor, and poet.
Living is
a thing you do
now or never —
which do you?
A bit beyond perception's reach
I sometimes believe I see
that Life is two locked boxes, each
containing the other's key.
Man is the animal that draws lines which he himself then stumbles over. In the whole pattern of civilization there have been two tendencies, one toward straight lines and rectangular patterns and one toward circular lines. There are reasons, mechanical and psychological, for both tendencies. Things made with straight lines fit well together and save space. And we can move easily — physically or mentally — around things made with round lines. But we are in a straitjacket, having to accept one or the other, when often some intermediate form would be better.
We shall have to evolve
problem-solvers galore —
since each problem they solve
creates ten problems more.
I am a humble artist
moulding my earthly clod,
adding my labour to nature's,
simply assisting God.
Not that my labour is needed,
yet somehow I understand,
my Maker has deemed it that I too should have
Unmoulded clay in my hand.
Foes
of what's cooking
see no worth behind it.
Those
that are looking
for nothing — will find it.
Love is like
a pineapple,
sweet and
undefinable.
The road to wisdom? — Well, it's plain
and simple to express:
Err
and err
and err again
but less
and less
and less.
As eternity
is reckoned
there's a lifetime
in a second.
The universe may
be as great as they say.
But it wouldn't be missed
if it didn't exist.