"Earlier this month, the celebrated cellist Yo-Yo Ma turned seventy-an occasion that led him to reflect on not just his own past but also the planet's future. In a letter to fans, he wrote, "Today, I am worried. In the year 2100, my youngest grandchild will be 76. She will be meeting a world I will not see. I wonder what the world will be like then?""
"Not long ago, Ma sent us recommendations for three books that have contributed to his thinking on this theme-books that interrogate timeless aspects of human nature, our complex relationships to one another, and our entanglement with the natural world. (He explores some of these subjects on his newest podcast, " Our Common Nature," which premièred on WNYC last week.) Each book, he shows, offers a different kind of guidance on how to cultivate a better world for our descendants."
"I'm drawn to Marcus Aurelius these days because reading him focusses my thinking, aligns my priorities, and reminds me that there are certain human values that endure across millennia-that trying to practice the virtues of wisdom, justice, courage, and temperance is the best hope I have to lead a balanced life in our impermanent, ever-changing world."
Yo-Yo Ma turned seventy and expressed worry that by 2100 his youngest grandchild will be 76 and will encounter a world he will not see. He recommended three books that shaped his thinking about human nature, relationships, and entanglement with the natural world. He launched the podcast Our Common Nature on WNYC. He values Marcus Aurelius' Meditations because it focuses thinking, aligns priorities, and emphasizes enduring virtues—wisdom, justice, courage, and temperance—as the best hope for a balanced life. He recommended Indigo by Jenny Balfour-Paul and recalled that compartmentalized schooling obscured awareness of interconnectedness.
Read at The New Yorker
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