“Through God’s Eyes”—Biographies of People Quoted

Here are quick bios of everyone quoted in Through God’s Eyes. I’ve put together these bios by pulling info off of Wikipedia and websites dedicated to the individual in question.

This post is a work in progress. Some people have proven difficult or impossible for me to identify, so any corrections or new information would be greatly appreciated. Let me emphasize that: I want to make this listing as perfect as possible, so your suggestions are expected and welcomed. Click here to e-mail me directly.

Abdu’l-Bahá‘ (1844-1921). Son of Bahá’u’lláh, the founder of the Bahá’í faith. Born Abbas Effendi in Tehran, Iran, he took the name Abdu’l-Bahá’, the “servant of Baha.” His father appointed him the one authorized interpreter of the Bahá’í teachings and as head of the faith after his own passing.

Ackerman, Diane (1948- ). American author, poet, and naturalist known best for her books, A Natural History of the Senses (a poetic investigation of the five senses) and The Zookeeper’s Wife (a nonfiction account of the keepers of the Warsaw Zoo who saved hundreds of people from Nazi hands). Her most recent book, the memoir, One Hundred Names for Love, was described by Booklist as, “A gorgeously engrossing, affecting, sweetly funny, and mind-opening love story of crisis, determination, creativity, and repair.” It was a Finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Circle Critics Award.

A Course in Miracles. A self-study metaphysical curriculum that promotes forgiveness as the road to inner peace and the remembrance of the unconditional love of God. No author is listed for the book, but Helen Schucman wrote it with the help of William Thetford, based on what she called an “inner voice” that she identified as Jesus.

Adams, Douglas (1952-2001). English writer and dramatist best known as the author of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, which originated in 1978 as a BBC radio comedy before developing into a “trilogy” of five books that sold more than fifteen million copies in his lifetime and generated a television series, several stage plays, comics, a computer game, and in 2005 a feature film.

Addison, Joseph (1672-1719). English essayist, poet,

GOATs are Human Too!

Albert Einstein

When it comes to physicists, Albert Einstein is widely perceived to be the GOAT (Greatest Of All Time). Indeed, the iconic Father of Relativity was a global rock star in his lifetime. When he visited Japan in 1922, adoring crowds streamed after him wherever he went.

Einstein was always ill at ease with such adulation. He was so revered that people tended to see him as superhuman. His self-deprecating manner and comments did nothing to puncture his image as the most brilliant man who ever lived.

In today’s celebrity-crazy culture, we routinely deify anyone and everyone who has even the slightest combination of talent and fame. Such idol worship is not only a disservice to them but to us as well, because by elevating these essentially normal human beings above ourselves, we devalue our own lives.

By all accounts, Einstein was a kind, gracious and down-to-earth man. He loved the peace and isolation he found at Princeton University, probably the only place on earth where he could walk around and not be praised and gushed over by passersby every other step.

The following Einstein quotes from the book The New Quotable Einstein offer a revealing glimpse into the humble nature of this legendary figure.

Thanks to my having hit upon the fortunate idea of introducing the relativity principle into physics, you (and others) enormously overestimate my scientific abilities, to the point where this makes me somewhat uncomfortable.
Letter to Arnold Sommerfeld, January 14, 1908 (age 29)

WIth fame I become more and more stupid,