Robert Aitken
Robert Grant Aitken was an American astronomer born on December 31, 1864, in Jackson.
Educated at Williams College, Aitken went on to pursue a career in astronomy that brought him recognition from several of the field's most distinguished institutions. He received the Lalande Prize, the Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society, and the Bruce Medal — three honors that mark the sustained regard in which his work was held by the international scientific community. Each of these awards represents a different body acknowledging his contributions, and together they trace a career that extended well across the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
Aitken died on October 29, 1951, in Berkeley, California, having worked throughout his life in the English language. His biography is anchored by the precision associated with observational astronomy — a field defined by careful measurement, systematic documentation, and the patient accumulation of data over long stretches of time.
Quotes by Robert Aitken
Robert Aitken's insights on:
The self is completely autonomous, yet exists only in resonance with all other selves.
When I’m moved to complain about others I vow with all beings to remember that karma is endless and it’s loving that leads to love.
Watching gardeners label their plantsI vow with all beingsto practice the old horticultureand let plants identify me.
It comes down to practice, and practice, after all, is conduct in keeping with Right Views. Of course, Right Views are not merely opinions, not even Skākyamuni’s opinions, but are views that accord with this realization: we are all in this together and we aren’t here very long. Let’s take care of one another while we can.
Clover is incapable of not nurturing. It can’t do anything but nurture. Shakyamuni is capable of not nurturing. With a poisonous thought, he is a poisonous person. With an enlightened thought, he is an enlightened person. With his great realization, he is unlikely to slip back into poisonous ways, but he could, for he is human.
The Buddha challenged the idea of an immutable soul. He said nothing about the mutable soul, and its survival, though his successors in most streams of Buddhism have had a lot to say on this subject. For all their words, the question of what happens when one dies remains a mystery.
The one who praises you is a thief. The one who criticizes you is your true friend.
