This post is a collection of quotes from quote collections (2017-2022) not previously in an official quote list. There are 180 quotes listed below alphabetically by last name and chronologically by publication date for each person.
This post is official quote list 3.
Thomas Aquinas (c. 1225-1274, philosopher)
1. "The greatness of the human being consists in this: that it is capable of the universe." (Quaestiones Disputatae de Veritate, c. 1256-1259)
Archimedes (c. 287-212 BC, mathematician)
2. "How many theorems in geometry which have seemed at first impracticable are in time successfully worked out?" (On Spirals)
Aristotle (384-322 BC, philosopher)
3. "The chief forms of beauty are order and symmetry and definiteness, which the mathematical sciences demonstrate in a special degree." (Metaphysics)
Aristotle (384-322 BC, philosopher)
4. "...we must follow this method and advance from what is more obscure by nature, but clearer to us, towards what is more clear and more knowable by nature. Now what is to us plain and obvious at first is rather confused masses..." (Physics)
Avicenna (c. 980-1037 CE, physician)
5. "The knowledge of anything, since all things have causes, is not acquired or complete unless it is known by its causes." (On Medicine)
Avicenna (980-1037, physician)
6. "God, the supreme being, is neither circumscribed by space, not touched by time; he cannot be found in a particular direction and his essence cannot change." (Quoted in 366 Readings From Islam by Robert Van der Weyer)
6. "God, the supreme being, is neither circumscribed by space, not touched by time; he cannot be found in a particular direction and his essence cannot change." (Quoted in 366 Readings From Islam by Robert Van der Weyer)
Francis Bacon (1909-1992, artist)
7. "The creative process is a cocktail of instinct, skill, culture and a highly creative feverishness. It is not like a drug; it is a particular state when everything happens very quickly, a mixture of consciousness and unconsciousness." (Art-quotes.com)
Roger Bacon (c. 1219-1292, philosopher)
8. "Experimental science is the queen of sciences, and the goal of all speculation." (Quoted in Science at the Medieval Universities by James J. Walsch)
8. "Experimental science is the queen of sciences, and the goal of all speculation." (Quoted in Science at the Medieval Universities by James J. Walsch)
Walter Bagehot (1826-1877, journalist)
9. "We must not let daylight in upon the magic." (AZQuotes.com)
Simone de Beauvoir (1908-1986, philosopher)
10. "I wish that every human life might be pure transparent freedom." (The Blood of Others, 1946)
10. "I wish that every human life might be pure transparent freedom." (The Blood of Others, 1946)
Alexander Graham Bell (1847-1922, inventor)
11. "You cannot force ideas. Successful ideas are the result of slow growth. Ideas do not reach perfection in a day no matter how much study is put upon them." (Interview with Bell, How They Succeeded, 1901)
Henri Bergson (1859-1941, philosopher)
12. "Without this survival of the past into the present there would be no duration, but only instantaneity." (An Introduction to Metaphysics, 1903)
12. "Without this survival of the past into the present there would be no duration, but only instantaneity." (An Introduction to Metaphysics, 1903)
George Berkeley (1685-1753, philosopher)
13. "Abstract terms (however useful they may be in argument) should be discarded in meditation, and the mind should be fixed on the particular and the concrete, that is, on the things themselves." (De Motu, 1721)
Claude Bernard (1813-1878, physician)
14. "What really should be done, instead of gathering facts empirically, is to study them more accurately, each in its special determinism." (Introduction to the Study of Experimental Medicine, 1865)
Claude Bernard (1813-1878, physician)
15. "Indeed, proof that a given condition always precedes or accompanies a phenomenon does not warrant concluding with certainty that a given condition is the immediate cause of that phenomenon. It must still be still established that when this condition is removed the phenomenon will no longer appear." (Introduction to the Study of Experimental Medicine, 1865)
15. "Indeed, proof that a given condition always precedes or accompanies a phenomenon does not warrant concluding with certainty that a given condition is the immediate cause of that phenomenon. It must still be still established that when this condition is removed the phenomenon will no longer appear." (Introduction to the Study of Experimental Medicine, 1865)
George Boole (1815-1864, mathematician)
16. "There is not only a close analogy between the operations of the mind in general reasoning and its operation in the particular science of algebra, but there is to a considerable extent an exact agreement in the laws by which the two classes of operations are conducted." (An Investigation into the Laws of Thought, 1854)
16. "There is not only a close analogy between the operations of the mind in general reasoning and its operation in the particular science of algebra, but there is to a considerable extent an exact agreement in the laws by which the two classes of operations are conducted." (An Investigation into the Laws of Thought, 1854)
Jacob Bronowski (1908-1974, mathematician)
17. "What we really mean by free will... is the visualizing of alternatives and making a choice between them." (The Origins of Knowledge and Imagination, 1978)
17. "What we really mean by free will... is the visualizing of alternatives and making a choice between them." (The Origins of Knowledge and Imagination, 1978)
The Buddha (c. 6th century - 5th century BC, religious leader)
18. "Hatred has never stopped hatred. Only love stops hate. This is the eternal law." (Dhammapada)
Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon (1707-1788, philosopher)
19. "Genius is nothing else than a great aptitude for patience." (Quoted in Barlett's Familiar Quotations by John Bartlett)
Edwin Arthur Burtt (1892-1989, philosopher)
20. "The central place of epistemology in modern philosophy is no accident." (The Metaphysical Foundations of Modern Physical Science, 1925)
20. "The central place of epistemology in modern philosophy is no accident." (The Metaphysical Foundations of Modern Physical Science, 1925)
Leo Buscaglia (1924-1998, writer)
21. "A life of love is one of continual growth where the doors and windows of experience are always open to the wonder and magic that life offers. To love is to risk living fully." (Interview with A Magazine of People and Possibilities, 1998)
Rudolf Carnap (1891-1970, philosopher)
22. "By the logical syntax of language, we mean the formal theory of the linguistic forms of that language - the systematic statement of the formal rules which govern it together with the development of the consequences which follow from these rules." (Logical Syntax of Language, 1934)
22. "By the logical syntax of language, we mean the formal theory of the linguistic forms of that language - the systematic statement of the formal rules which govern it together with the development of the consequences which follow from these rules." (Logical Syntax of Language, 1934)
David Chalmers (1966-now, philosopher)
23. "Why doesn't all this information-processing go on 'in the dark', free of any inner feel? ...We know that conscious experience does arise when these functions are performed, but the very fact that it arises is the central mystery." (Facing Up to the Problem of Consciousness, 1995)
23. "Why doesn't all this information-processing go on 'in the dark', free of any inner feel? ...We know that conscious experience does arise when these functions are performed, but the very fact that it arises is the central mystery." (Facing Up to the Problem of Consciousness, 1995)
Robert Chambers (1802-1871, geologist)
24. "The study of mathematics, generally, is also of great importance in cultivating habits of exact reasoning; and in this respect it forms a useful auxiliary to logic." (Chamber's Information for the People, 1875)
24. "The study of mathematics, generally, is also of great importance in cultivating habits of exact reasoning; and in this respect it forms a useful auxiliary to logic." (Chamber's Information for the People, 1875)
Sri Chinmoy (1931-2007, spiritual leader)
25. "Love the world. Otherwise, you will be forced to carry the heaviest load: your own bitter self." (Ten Thousand Flower Flames, 1979)
Paulo Coelho (1947-now, writer)
26. "The wise are wise only because they love." (Quoted in Elders on Love by Kenneth R. Lakritz and Thomas M. Knoblauch)
Joseph Conrad (1857-1924, writer)
27. "Woe to the man whose heart has not learned while young to hope, to love - and to put trust in life!" (Victory: An Island Tale, 1915)
Marie Curie (1867-1934, chemist)
28. "I am among those who think that science has great beauty. A scientist in their laboratory is not only a technician: they are also a child placed before natural phenomena which impress them like a fairy tale." (Quoted in Madame Curie: A Biography by Eve Curie Labouisse)
28. "I am among those who think that science has great beauty. A scientist in their laboratory is not only a technician: they are also a child placed before natural phenomena which impress them like a fairy tale." (Quoted in Madame Curie: A Biography by Eve Curie Labouisse)
Salvador Dali (1904-1989, artist)
29. "Freedom of any kind is the worst for creativity. You know, Dali spent two months in jail in Spain, and these two months were the most enjoyable and happy in my life." (Interview with Victor Bockris, 1974)
John Dee (c. 1527-1608, mathematician)
30. "It is by the straight line and the circle that the first and most simple examples and representation of all things may be demonstrated..." (Monas Hieroglyphica, 1564)
30. "It is by the straight line and the circle that the first and most simple examples and representation of all things may be demonstrated..." (Monas Hieroglyphica, 1564)
Gilles Deleuze (1925-1995, philosopher)
31. "Creation takes place in bottlenecks... it's by banging your head on the wall that you find a way through... You have to open up words, break things open, to free earth's vectors." (Goodreads.com)
Jacques Derrida (1930-2004, philosopher)
32. "I was wondering myself if I know where I am going. So I would answer you by saying, first, that I am trying precisely, to put myself at a point so that I do not know any longer where I am going." (Quoted in The Structuralist Controversy by Richard Macksey and Eugene Donato)
Rene Descartes (1596-1650, philosopher)
33. "No more useful inquiry can be proposed than that which seeks to determine the nature and the scope of human knowledge." (Rules for the Direction of the Mind, 1628)
33. "No more useful inquiry can be proposed than that which seeks to determine the nature and the scope of human knowledge." (Rules for the Direction of the Mind, 1628)
Rene Descartes (1596-1650, philosopher)
34. "The aim of our studies must be the direction of our mind so that it may form solid and true judgments on whatever matters arise." (Rules for the Direction of the Mind, 1628)
34. "The aim of our studies must be the direction of our mind so that it may form solid and true judgments on whatever matters arise." (Rules for the Direction of the Mind, 1628)
Rene Descartes (1596-1650, philosopher)
35. "I think, therefore I am." (Discourse on the Method, 1637)
35. "I think, therefore I am." (Discourse on the Method, 1637)
John Dewey (1859-1952, philosopher)
36. "Individuality is the source of whatever is unpredictable in the world." (Time and Individuality, 1940)
36. "Individuality is the source of whatever is unpredictable in the world." (Time and Individuality, 1940)
Marlene Dietrich (1901-1992, actress)
37. "Quotations: I love them because it is a joy to find thoughts one might have, beautifully expressed with much authority by someone recognizably wiser than oneself." (Marlene Dietrich's ABC, 1962)
37. "Quotations: I love them because it is a joy to find thoughts one might have, beautifully expressed with much authority by someone recognizably wiser than oneself." (Marlene Dietrich's ABC, 1962)
Benjamin Disraeli (1804-1881, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom)
38. "We are all born for love. It is the principle of existence and it's only end." (Sybil, 1845)
James Dobson (1936-2025, psychologist)
39. "Trying to analyze [God's] omnipotence is like an amoeba attempting to comprehend the behavior of man." (Quoted in On Reading the Bible by Bill Bradfield)
39. "Trying to analyze [God's] omnipotence is like an amoeba attempting to comprehend the behavior of man." (Quoted in On Reading the Bible by Bill Bradfield)
Fyodor Dostoevsky (1821-1881, writer)
40. "Oh, how hard it is to be the only one who knows the truth! But they won't understand that. No, they won't understand it." (The Dream of a Ridiculous Man, 1877)
W. E. B. Du Bois (1868-1963, sociologist)
41. "When you have mastered numbers, you will in fact no longer be reading numbers, any more than you read words when reading books. You will be reading meanings." (Goodreads.com)
41. "When you have mastered numbers, you will in fact no longer be reading numbers, any more than you read words when reading books. You will be reading meanings." (Goodreads.com)
Pierre Duhem (1861-1916, physicist)
42. "A symbol is not properly speaking, either true or false; it is rather something more or less well selected to stand for the reality it represents, and pictures that reality in a more or less precise, or a more or less detailed manner." (The Aim and Structure of Physical Theory, 1906)
42. "A symbol is not properly speaking, either true or false; it is rather something more or less well selected to stand for the reality it represents, and pictures that reality in a more or less precise, or a more or less detailed manner." (The Aim and Structure of Physical Theory, 1906)
Will Durant (1885-1981, historian)
43. "Love is the most practical thing in the world. If you take an attitude of love toward everybody you meet, you'll eventually get along." (Quoted in Durants on History from the Ages, with Love, Parade)
Freeman Dyson (1923-now, physicist)
44. "The real world is muddy and messy and full of things we do not yet understand." (Heretical Thoughts about Science and Society, 2007)
44. "The real world is muddy and messy and full of things we do not yet understand." (Heretical Thoughts about Science and Society, 2007)
Thomas Edison (1847-1931, inventor)
45. "I speak without exaggeration when I say that I have constructed 3,000 different theories in connection with the electric light, each one of them reasonable and apparently likely to be true. Yet only in two cases did my experiments prove the truth of my theory." (Interview with George Parson Lathrop, Harper's Magazine, 1890)
Albert Einstein (1879-1955, physicist)
46. "It can scarcely be denied that the supreme goal of all theory is to make the irreducible basic elements as simple and as few as possible without having to surrender the adequate representation of a single datum of experience." (On the Method of Theoretical Physics, 1933)
Albert Einstein (1879-1955, physicist)
47. "Concepts have meaning only if we can point to objects to which they refer and to rules by which they are assigned to these objects." (Quoted in Albert Einstein: His Influence on Physics, Philosophy and Politics, Peter C. Aichelburg, Roman U. Sexl)
Euclid (fl. 300 BC, mathematician)
48. "The laws of nature are but the mathematical thoughts of God." (AZQuotes.com, misattributed)
48. "The laws of nature are but the mathematical thoughts of God." (AZQuotes.com, misattributed)
Leonhard Euler (1707-1783, mathematician)
49. "Yet, in fact, as I shall show here with very good reasons, the properties of the numbers known today have been mostly discovered by observation, and discovered long before their truth has been confirmed by rigid demonstrations." (De Curvis Elasticis, 1744)
49. "Yet, in fact, as I shall show here with very good reasons, the properties of the numbers known today have been mostly discovered by observation, and discovered long before their truth has been confirmed by rigid demonstrations." (De Curvis Elasticis, 1744)
Leonhard Euler (1707-1783, mathematician)
50. "Since the fabric of the universe is most perfect and the work of a most wise Creator, nothing at all takes place in the universe in which some rule of maximum or minimum does not appear... there is absolutely no doubt that every affect in the universe can be explained satisfactorily from final causes, by the aid of the method of maxima and minima, as it can be from the effective causes themselves." (Quoted in The Anthropic Cosmological Principles by Barrow and Tipler)
Michael Faraday (1791-1867, physicist)
51. "I was at first almost frightened when I saw such mathematical force made to bear upon the subject, and then wondered to see that the subject stood it so well." (Letter to James Clerk Maxwell, 1857)
Ludwig Feuerbach (1804-1872, philosopher)
52. "The first philosophers were astronomers. The heavens remind man... that he is destined not merely to act, but also to contemplate." (The Essence of Christianity, 1841)
52. "The first philosophers were astronomers. The heavens remind man... that he is destined not merely to act, but also to contemplate." (The Essence of Christianity, 1841)
Stanley Fish (1938-now, literary critic)
53. "Before the words slide into their slots, they are just discrete items pointing everywhere and nowhere." (How to Write a Sentence and How to Read One, 2011)
53. "Before the words slide into their slots, they are just discrete items pointing everywhere and nowhere." (How to Write a Sentence and How to Read One, 2011)
Graham Flegg (1924-2015, mathematician)
54. "Geometry is the most visual of the mathematical disciplines." (Numbers: Their History and Meaning, 1983)
54. "Geometry is the most visual of the mathematical disciplines." (Numbers: Their History and Meaning, 1983)
Alexander Fleming (1881-1955, biologist)
55. "It is the lone worker who makes the first advance in a subject: the details my be worked out by a team, but the prime idea is due to the enterprises, though, and perception of an individual." (Quoted in Barlett's Familiar Quotations by John Bartlett)
Michel Foucault (1926-1984, philosopher)
56. "The painter is turning his eyes towards us only in so far as we happen to occupy the same position as his subject. We, the spectators, are an additional factor." (The Order of Things: An Archaeology of the Human Sciences, 1970)
56. "The painter is turning his eyes towards us only in so far as we happen to occupy the same position as his subject. We, the spectators, are an additional factor." (The Order of Things: An Archaeology of the Human Sciences, 1970)
Viktor Frankl (1905-1997, psychologist)
57. "Then I grasped the meaning of the greatest secret that human poetry and human thought and believe have to impart: the salvation of man is through love and in love." (Man's Search for Meaning, 1946)
Gottlob Frege (1848-1925, philosopher)
58. "Arithmetic thus becomes simply a development of logic and every preposition of arithmetic a law of logic albeit a derivative one. To apply arithmetic in the physical sciences is to bring logic to bear on observed facts; calculation becomes deduction." (The Foundations of Arithmetic, 1884)
58. "Arithmetic thus becomes simply a development of logic and every preposition of arithmetic a law of logic albeit a derivative one. To apply arithmetic in the physical sciences is to bring logic to bear on observed facts; calculation becomes deduction." (The Foundations of Arithmetic, 1884)
Gottlob Frege (1848-1925, philosopher)
59. "A judgement for me is not the mere grasping of a thought, but the admission of its truth." (On Sense and Reference, 1892)
59. "A judgement for me is not the mere grasping of a thought, but the admission of its truth." (On Sense and Reference, 1892)
Sigmund Freud (1856-1939, psychologist)
60. "The ego represents what we call reason and sanity, in contrast to the id which contains passions." (The Ego and the Id, 1923)
60. "The ego represents what we call reason and sanity, in contrast to the id which contains passions." (The Ego and the Id, 1923)
Galileo Galilei (1564-1642, astronomer)
61. "Philosophy is written in this grand book, which stands continually open before our eyes (I say the 'universe') but can not be understood without first learning to comprehend the language and know the characters it is written. It is written in mathematical language and its characters are triangles, circles and other geometric figures, without which it is impossible to humanly understand a word; without these one is wandering in a dark labyrinth." (The Assayer, 1623)
Martin Gardner (1914-2010, mathematician)
62. "There is not much difference between the delight a novice experiences in cracking a clever brain teaser and the delight a mathematician experiences in mastering a more advanced problem. Both look on beauty bare - that clear, sharply defined, mysterious entrancing order that underlies all structure." (The Scientific American Book of Mathematical Puzzles & Diversions, 1959)
Kahlil Gibran (1883-1931, writer)
63. "Yesterday we obeyed kings and bent our necks before emperors. But today we kneel only to truth, follow only beauty and obey only love." (The Vision: Reflections on the Way of the Soul, 1994 posthumous)
Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890, artist)
64. "I must warn you that everyone will think that I work too fast. Don't you believe a word of it. Is it not emotion, the sincerity of one's feeling for nature, that draws us, and if the emotions are sometimes so strong that one works without knowing one works, when sometimes the strokes come with a continuity and coherence like words in a speech or letter, then one must remember that it has not always been so, and that in time to come there will again be hard days, empty of inspiration. One must strike while the iron is hot and put the forged bars on the side." (Letter to Theo van Gogh, 7 July 1888)
64. "I must warn you that everyone will think that I work too fast. Don't you believe a word of it. Is it not emotion, the sincerity of one's feeling for nature, that draws us, and if the emotions are sometimes so strong that one works without knowing one works, when sometimes the strokes come with a continuity and coherence like words in a speech or letter, then one must remember that it has not always been so, and that in time to come there will again be hard days, empty of inspiration. One must strike while the iron is hot and put the forged bars on the side." (Letter to Theo van Gogh, 7 July 1888)
Amit Goswami (1936-now, physicist)
65. "In this view, consciousness imposes 'downward causation'. In other words, our free will is real. When we act in the world we are really acting with causal power." (Interview with Craig Hamilton, Scientific Proof of the Existence of God, What Is Enlightenment? 1997)
65. "In this view, consciousness imposes 'downward causation'. In other words, our free will is real. When we act in the world we are really acting with causal power." (Interview with Craig Hamilton, Scientific Proof of the Existence of God, What Is Enlightenment? 1997)
Temple Grandin (1947-now, professor)
66. "To understand animal thinking you've got to get away from a language. See my mind works like Google for images. You put in a key word; it brings up pictures. See language for me narrates the pictures in my mind." (NPR: A Conversation with Temple Grandin, 2006)
66. "To understand animal thinking you've got to get away from a language. See my mind works like Google for images. You put in a key word; it brings up pictures. See language for me narrates the pictures in my mind." (NPR: A Conversation with Temple Grandin, 2006)
G. H. Hardy (1877-1946, mathematician)
67. "I believe that mathematical reality lies outside us, that our function is to discover or observe it, and that the theorems which we prove, and which we describe grandiloquently as our 'creations', are simply our notes of our observations." (A Mathematician's Apology, 1941)
67. "I believe that mathematical reality lies outside us, that our function is to discover or observe it, and that the theorems which we prove, and which we describe grandiloquently as our 'creations', are simply our notes of our observations." (A Mathematician's Apology, 1941)
G. H. Hardy (1877-1947, mathematician)
68. "The mathematician's patterns, like the painter's or the poet's must be beautiful; the ideas like the colours or the words, must fit together in a harmonious way. Beauty is the first test: there is no permanent place in the world for ugly mathematics." (A Mathematician's Apology, 1941)
Stephen Hawking (1942-2018, physicist)
69. "Even if there is only one possible unified theory, it is just a set of rules and equations. What is it that breathes fire into the equations and makes a universe for them to describe? The usual approach of science of constructing a mathematical model cannot answer the questions of why there should be a universe for the model to describe. Why does the universe go to all the bother of existing?" (A Brief History of Time, 1988)
69. "Even if there is only one possible unified theory, it is just a set of rules and equations. What is it that breathes fire into the equations and makes a universe for them to describe? The usual approach of science of constructing a mathematical model cannot answer the questions of why there should be a universe for the model to describe. Why does the universe go to all the bother of existing?" (A Brief History of Time, 1988)
Martin Heidegger (1889-1976, philosopher)
70. "We ourselves are the entities to be analyzed." (Being and Time, 1927)
70. "We ourselves are the entities to be analyzed." (Being and Time, 1927)
Martin Heidegger (1889-1976, philosopher)
71. "Why are there beings at all, and why not rather nothing? That is the question... And yet, we are each touched once, maybe even every now and then, by the concealed power of this question, without properly grasping what is happening to us." (What is Metaphysics? 1929)
71. "Why are there beings at all, and why not rather nothing? That is the question... And yet, we are each touched once, maybe even every now and then, by the concealed power of this question, without properly grasping what is happening to us." (What is Metaphysics? 1929)
Werner Heisenberg (1901-1976, physicist)
72. "It is not surprising that out language should be incapable of describing the processes occurring within the atoms, for, as has been remarked, it was invented to describe the experiences of daily life, and these consist only of processes involving exceedingly large number of atoms." (The Physical Principles of Quantum Theory, 1930)
Werner Heisenberg (1901-1976, physicist)
73. "Even for the physicist, the description in plain language will be the criterion of the degree of understanding that has been reached." (Physics and Philosophy, 1958)
73. "Even for the physicist, the description in plain language will be the criterion of the degree of understanding that has been reached." (Physics and Philosophy, 1958)
David Hilbert (1862-1943, mathematician)
74. "A mathematical problem should be difficult in order to entice us, yet not completely inaccessible, lest it mock at our efforts. It should be a guide post on the mazy paths to hidden truths..." (Mathematical Problems, 1900)
Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679, philosopher)
75. "Understanding being nothing else, but conception cause by speech." (Leviathan, 1651)
David Hume (1711-1776, philosopher)
76. "I never can catch myself at anytime without a perception, and never can observe anything but the perception." (A Treatise on Human Nature, 1739)
76. "I never can catch myself at anytime without a perception, and never can observe anything but the perception." (A Treatise on Human Nature, 1739)
David Hume (1711-1776, philosopher)
77. "The whole is a riddle, an enigma, an inexplicable mystery." (The Natural History of Religion, 1757)
77. "The whole is a riddle, an enigma, an inexplicable mystery." (The Natural History of Religion, 1757)
Edmund Husserl (1859-1938, philosopher)
78. "A new fundamental science, pure phenomenology, has developed within philosophy: this is a science of a thoroughly new type and endless scope. It is inferior in methodological rigor to none of the modern sciences." (Pure Phenomenology, 1917)
78. "A new fundamental science, pure phenomenology, has developed within philosophy: this is a science of a thoroughly new type and endless scope. It is inferior in methodological rigor to none of the modern sciences." (Pure Phenomenology, 1917)
Thomas Henry Huxley (1825-1895, biologist)
79. "The method of scientific investigation is nothing but the expression of the necessary mode of working of the human mind." (Our Knowledge of the Causes of the Phenomena of Organic Nature, 1863)
Ibn Khaldun (1332-1406, historian)
80. "Eventually, Aristotle appeared among the Greeks. He improved the methods of logic and systematized its problems and details. He assigned to logic its proper place as the first philosophical discipline and the introduction to philosophy. Therefore he is called the the First Teacher." (Muqaddimah, 1377)
Walter Isaacson (1952-now, writer)
81. "As [Leonardo] did with many of his paintings, he would hang on to the treatises that he was drafting, occasionally make a few new strokes and refinements, but never see them through to being released to the public as complete." (Leonardo da Vinci, 2017)
81. "As [Leonardo] did with many of his paintings, he would hang on to the treatises that he was drafting, occasionally make a few new strokes and refinements, but never see them through to being released to the public as complete." (Leonardo da Vinci, 2017)
Jonathan Ive (1967-now, designer)
82. "I think there is a profound and enduring beauty in simplicity. In clarity. In efficiency. True simplicity is derived from so much more than just the absence of clutter." (Presentation for iOS 7 at WWDC 2013)
82. "I think there is a profound and enduring beauty in simplicity. In clarity. In efficiency. True simplicity is derived from so much more than just the absence of clutter." (Presentation for iOS 7 at WWDC 2013)
Carl Jung (1875-1961, psychologist)
83. "Nevertheless, we have good reason to suppose that behind this veil there exists the uncomprehended absolute object which affects and influences us - and to suppose it even, or particularly, in the case of psychic phenomena about which no verifiable statements can be made." (Memories, Dreams and Reflections, 1963 posthumous)
83. "Nevertheless, we have good reason to suppose that behind this veil there exists the uncomprehended absolute object which affects and influences us - and to suppose it even, or particularly, in the case of psychic phenomena about which no verifiable statements can be made." (Memories, Dreams and Reflections, 1963 posthumous)
Carl Jung (1875-1961, psychologist)
84. "It is the ego that serves to light up the entire system, allowing it to become conscious and thus to be realized." (Man and His Symbols, 1964 posthumous)
84. "It is the ego that serves to light up the entire system, allowing it to become conscious and thus to be realized." (Man and His Symbols, 1964 posthumous)
Franz Kafka (1883-1924, writer)
85. "I think we ought to read only the kind of books that wound and stab us. If the book we are reading doesn't wake us up with a blow on the head, what are we reading it for? ... we need the books that affect us like a disaster, that grieve us deeply, like the death of someone we loved more than ourselves, like being banished into forests far from everyone, like a suicide. A book must be the axe for the frozen sea inside us." (Letter to Oskar Pollak, 27 January 1904)
Michio Kaku (1947-now, physicist)
86. "Mathematics... is the set of all possible self-consistent structures..." (Hyperspace, 1995)
86. "Mathematics... is the set of all possible self-consistent structures..." (Hyperspace, 1995)
Frank C. Keil (psychologist), Robert Andrew Wilson (1964-now, philosopher)
87. "However, the central role of imagery in theories of mental activity was undermined when Kulpe, in 1904, pointed out that some thoughts are not accompanied by imagery..." (The MIT Encyclopedia of Cognitive Sciences, 2001)
87. "However, the central role of imagery in theories of mental activity was undermined when Kulpe, in 1904, pointed out that some thoughts are not accompanied by imagery..." (The MIT Encyclopedia of Cognitive Sciences, 2001)
Johannes Kepler (1571-1630, astronomer)
88. "Geometry is one and eternal shining in the mind of God. That share in it accorded to humans is one of the reasons that humanity is the image of God." (Hamonices Mundi, 1618)
Soren Kierkegaard (1813-1855, philosopher)
89. "When one has once fully entered the realm of love, the world - no matter how imperfect - becomes rich and beautiful, it consists solely of opportunities for love." (Works of Love, 1847)
Paul Klee (1879-1940, artist)
90. "In my productive activity, every time a type grows beyond the stage of its genesis, and I have about reached the goal, the intensity gets lost very quickly, and I have to look for new ways. It is precisely the way which is productive - this is the essential thing: becoming is more important than being." (Diary entry, 1912)
Jacques Lacan (1901-1981, psychologist)
91. "Desire, a function central to all human experience, is the desire for nothing nameable. And at the same time this desire lies at the origin of every variety of animation." (AZQuotes.com)
91. "Desire, a function central to all human experience, is the desire for nothing nameable. And at the same time this desire lies at the origin of every variety of animation." (AZQuotes.com)
Joseph-Louis Lagrange (1736-1813, mathematician)
92. "An ancient writer said that arithmetic and geometry are the wings of mathematics; I believe one can say without speaking metaphorically that these two sciences are the foundation and essence of all the sciences which deal with quantity." (Dans Les Lecons Elementaires sur les Mathematiques, 1795)
Antonie van Leeuwenhoek (1632-1723, biologist)
93. "A man has always to be busy with his thoughts if anything is to be accomplished." (BrainyQuote.com)
Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (1646-1716, philosopher)
94. "Only geometry can hand us the thread [which will lead us through] the labyrinth of the continuum’s composition, the maximum and the minimum, the infinitesimal and the infinite; and no one will arrive at a truly solid metaphysic except he who has passed through this [labyrinth]." (Dissertatio Exoterica De Statu Praesenti et Incrementis Novissimis Deque Usu Geometriae, 1676)
Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (1646-1716, philosopher)
95. "Moreover, we must confess that the perception, and what depends on it, is inexplicable in terms of mechanical reasons, that is, through shapes and motions." (Monadology, 1714)
95. "Moreover, we must confess that the perception, and what depends on it, is inexplicable in terms of mechanical reasons, that is, through shapes and motions." (Monadology, 1714)
Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (1646-1716, philosopher)
96. "Now as there is an infinity of possible universes in the ideas of God, and as only one of them can exist, there must be a sufficient reason for God's choice, which determines him toward one rather than another." (Monadology, 1714)
96. "Now as there is an infinity of possible universes in the ideas of God, and as only one of them can exist, there must be a sufficient reason for God's choice, which determines him toward one rather than another." (Monadology, 1714)
Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (1646-1716, philosopher)
97. "Why is there anything at all rather than nothing whatsoever?" (De rerum originatione radicali, 1697)
97. "Why is there anything at all rather than nothing whatsoever?" (De rerum originatione radicali, 1697)
Georges Lemaitre (1894-1966, physicist)
98. "Scientific progress is the discovery of a more and more comprehensive simplicity... The previous successes give us confidence in the future of science: we become more and more conscious of the fact that the universe is cognizable." (Quoted in Cosmology of Lemaitre by O. Godart and M. Heller)
Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519, artist)
99. "Human subtlety... will never devise an invention more beautiful, more simple or more direct than does nature, because in her inventions nothing is lacking, and nothing is superfluous." (The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci, translated by R. C. Bell and Edward John Poynter)
99. "Human subtlety... will never devise an invention more beautiful, more simple or more direct than does nature, because in her inventions nothing is lacking, and nothing is superfluous." (The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci, translated by R. C. Bell and Edward John Poynter)
Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519, artist)
100. "The eye, which is called the window of the soul, is the principal means by which the central sense can most completely and abundantly appreciate the infinite works of nature; and the ear is the second, which acquires dignity by hearing of the things the eye has seen." (The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci, translated by R. C. Bell and Edward John Poynter)
100. "The eye, which is called the window of the soul, is the principal means by which the central sense can most completely and abundantly appreciate the infinite works of nature; and the ear is the second, which acquires dignity by hearing of the things the eye has seen." (The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci, translated by R. C. Bell and Edward John Poynter)
Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519, artist)
101. "Though I may not, like them, be able to quote other authors, I shall rely on that which is much greater and more worthy - on experience, the mistress of their Masters. They go about puffed up and pompous, dressed and decorated with [the fruits], not of their own labours, but of those of others. And they will not allow me my own. They will scorn me as an inventor." (The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci, translated by R. C. Bell and Edward John Poynter)
101. "Though I may not, like them, be able to quote other authors, I shall rely on that which is much greater and more worthy - on experience, the mistress of their Masters. They go about puffed up and pompous, dressed and decorated with [the fruits], not of their own labours, but of those of others. And they will not allow me my own. They will scorn me as an inventor." (The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci, translated by R. C. Bell and Edward John Poynter)
George Henry Lewes (1817-1878, literary critic)
102. "...it is in the selection of the characteristic details that the artistic power is manifested." (The Principles of Success in Literature, 1865)
102. "...it is in the selection of the characteristic details that the artistic power is manifested." (The Principles of Success in Literature, 1865)
John Locke (1632-1704, philosopher)
103. "This is that which I think great readers are apt to be mistaken in; those who have read of everything, are thought to understand everything too; but it is not always so. Reading furnishes the mind only with materials of knowledge; it is thinking that makes what we read ours." (Quoted in Some Thoughts Concerning Education by Ruth Weissbourd Grant and Nathan Tarcov)
Albertus Magnus (c. 1200-1280, friar)
104. "Nature must be the foundation and model of science; thus Art works according to Nature in everything it can. Therefore, it is necessary that the Artist follows Nature and operates according to her." (Compounds of Compounds)
Thomas Mann (1875-1955, writer)
105. "Socrates... said the subtlest thing of all: that the lover was nearer the divine than the beloved." (Death in Venice,1912)
William Moulton Marston (1893-1947, psychologist)
106. "Suppose your child's ideal becomes a superman who uses his extraordinary power to help the weak. The most important ingredient in the human happiness recipe still is missing love." (The Secret History of Wonder Woman, 2014)
James Clerk Maxwell (1831-1879, physicist)
107. "Mathematicians may flatter themselves that they posses new ideas which mere human language is yet unable to express. Let them make the effort to express these ideas in appropriate words without the aid of symbols, and if they succeed, they will not only lay us laymen under a lasting obligation, but we venture to say, they will find themselves very much enlightened during the process..." (Quoted in Thomson and Tait's Natural Philosophy by W. Thomson and P. G. Tait)
Ernst Mayr (1904-2005, biologist)
108. "Biological classifications have two major objectives: to serve as a basis of biological generalizations in all sort of comparative studies and to serve as key information storage system." (Quoted in Ontological foundations in knowledge organization by C. Gnoli)
108. "Biological classifications have two major objectives: to serve as a basis of biological generalizations in all sort of comparative studies and to serve as key information storage system." (Quoted in Ontological foundations in knowledge organization by C. Gnoli)
Michelangelo (1475-1564, artist)
109. "Every beauty which is seen here below by persons of perception resembles more than anything else that celestial source from which we all are come." (Veggio nel tuo bel viso, Signor mio)
John Stuart Mill (1806-1873, philosopher)
110. "Persons of genius, it is true, are, and always like to be, a small minority; but in order to have them, it is necessary to preserve the soil in which they grow. Genius can only breathe freely in an atmosphere of freedom." (On Liberty, 1859)
Richard von Mises (1883-1953, mathematician)
111. "I am prepared to concede without further argument that all the theoretical constructions, including geometry, which are used in the various branches of physics are only imperfect instruments to enable the world of empirical fact to be reconstructed in our minds." (Probability, Statistics and Truth, 1928)
111. "I am prepared to concede without further argument that all the theoretical constructions, including geometry, which are used in the various branches of physics are only imperfect instruments to enable the world of empirical fact to be reconstructed in our minds." (Probability, Statistics and Truth, 1928)
Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592, philosopher)
112. "It is a thorny undertaking, and more so than it seems, to follow a movement so wandering as that of our mind, to penetrate the opaque depths of its innermost folds, to pick out and immobilize the innumerable flutterings that agitate it." (Essais, 1580-1595)
112. "It is a thorny undertaking, and more so than it seems, to follow a movement so wandering as that of our mind, to penetrate the opaque depths of its innermost folds, to pick out and immobilize the innumerable flutterings that agitate it." (Essais, 1580-1595)
Montesquieu (1689-1755, jurist)
113. "Nothing is a greater obstacle to our progress in knowledge, than a bad performance of a celebrated author; because, before we instruct we must begin with undeceiving." (Libquotes.com)
G. E. Moore (1873-1958, philosopher)
114. "If I am asked, 'What is good?' my answer is that good is good, and that is the end of the matter. Or if I am asked, 'How is that to be defined?' my answer is that it cannot be defined, and that is all I have to say about it." (Principia Ethica, 1903)
114. "If I am asked, 'What is good?' my answer is that good is good, and that is the end of the matter. Or if I am asked, 'How is that to be defined?' my answer is that it cannot be defined, and that is all I have to say about it." (Principia Ethica, 1903)
G. E. Moore (1873-1958, philosopher)
115. "Moral conduct, or duty, is defined as the obligation to select that action which will achieve more good than any alternative action..." (Goodreads.com)
115. "Moral conduct, or duty, is defined as the obligation to select that action which will achieve more good than any alternative action..." (Goodreads.com)
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791, composer)
116. "I pay no attention whatever to anybody's praise or blame. I simply follow my own feelings." (Goodreads.com)
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791, composer)
117. "Neither a lofty degree of intelligence nor imagination nor both together go to the making of genius. Love, love, love, that is the soul of genius." (Goodreads.com)
Lewis Mumford (1895-1990, sociologist)
118. "These historic manifestations of love are not recorded in the day's newspaper of current radio program: they are hidden to the people who possess only fashionable minds." (Values for Survival, 1946)
John von Neumann (1903-1957, mathematician)
119. "If people do not believe that mathematics is simple, it is only because they do not realize how complicated life is." (Remarks at the Association for Computing Machinery Annual Meeting, 1947)
119. "If people do not believe that mathematics is simple, it is only because they do not realize how complicated life is." (Remarks at the Association for Computing Machinery Annual Meeting, 1947)
John von Neumann (1903-1957, mathematician)
120. "A large part of mathematics which becomes useful developed with absolutely no desire to be useful, and in a situation where nobody could possibly know in what area it would become useful; and there were no general indications that it ever would be so." (The Role of Mathematics in the Sciences and in Society, 1954)
120. "A large part of mathematics which becomes useful developed with absolutely no desire to be useful, and in a situation where nobody could possibly know in what area it would become useful; and there were no general indications that it ever would be so." (The Role of Mathematics in the Sciences and in Society, 1954)
Isaac Newton (1643-1727, physicist)
121. "A heavenly master governs all the world as sovereign of the universe. We are astonished by him by reason of his perfection, we honor him and fall down before him because of his unlimited power." (Quoted in Our Humanist Heritage by George Frater)
121. "A heavenly master governs all the world as sovereign of the universe. We are astonished by him by reason of his perfection, we honor him and fall down before him because of his unlimited power." (Quoted in Our Humanist Heritage by George Frater)
Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900, philosopher)
122. "Underneath this reality in which we live and have our being another different reality lies concealed..." (The Birth of Tragedy, 1872)
122. "Underneath this reality in which we live and have our being another different reality lies concealed..." (The Birth of Tragedy, 1872)
Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900, philosopher)
123. "Art is the supreme task and the truly metaphysical activity in this life." (The Birth of Tragedy, 1872)
Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900, philosopher)
124. "We have seen how it is originally language which works on the construction of concepts, a labor taken over in later ages by science." (On Truth and Lies in an Nonmoral Sense, 1873)
124. "We have seen how it is originally language which works on the construction of concepts, a labor taken over in later ages by science." (On Truth and Lies in an Nonmoral Sense, 1873)
Novalis (1772-1801, poet)
125. "Every beloved object is the center of a paradise." (Blüthenstaub, 1798)
Rasheed Ogunlaru (1970-now, writer)
126. "In life, one has a choice to take one of two paths: to wait for some special day - or to celebrate each special day." (AZQuotes.com)
Talcott Parsons (1902-1979, philosopher)
127. "Special emphasis should be laid on this intimate interrelation of general statements about empirical fact with the logical elements and structure of theoretical systems." (AZQuotes.com)
127. "Special emphasis should be laid on this intimate interrelation of general statements about empirical fact with the logical elements and structure of theoretical systems." (AZQuotes.com)
Blaise Pascal (1623-1662, mathematician)
128. "Logic has borrowed, perhaps, the rules of geometry, without comprehending their force... it does not thence follow that they have entered into the spirit of geometry, and I should be greatly averse... to placing them on a level with that science that teaches the true method of directing reason." (The Art of Persuasion)
Wolfgang Pauli (1900-1958, physicist)
129. "The deepest pleasure in science comes from finding an instantiation, a home, for some deeply felt, deeply held image." (Quoted in The Origins of Order by Stuart Kauffman)
129. "The deepest pleasure in science comes from finding an instantiation, a home, for some deeply felt, deeply held image." (Quoted in The Origins of Order by Stuart Kauffman)
Linus Pauling (1901-1994, chemist)
130. "Facts are the air of scientists. Without them you can never fly." (AZQuotes.com)
130. "Facts are the air of scientists. Without them you can never fly." (AZQuotes.com)
Charles Sanders Peirce (1839-1914, philosopher)
131. "The truth is, the mind is not subject to 'law' in the same rigid sense that matter is." (The Law of Mind, 1892)
131. "The truth is, the mind is not subject to 'law' in the same rigid sense that matter is." (The Law of Mind, 1892)
Philolaus (c. 470-385 BC, philosopher)
132. "The essence of things is eternal; it is a unique and divine nature, the knowledge of which does not belong to man." (Quoted in The Life of Pythagoras by Iamblichus)
132. "The essence of things is eternal; it is a unique and divine nature, the knowledge of which does not belong to man." (Quoted in The Life of Pythagoras by Iamblichus)
Max Planck (1858-1947, physicist)
133. "We must assume behind this force the existence of a conscious and intelligent spirit. This spirit is the matrix of all matter." (The Nature of Matter, 1944)
133. "We must assume behind this force the existence of a conscious and intelligent spirit. This spirit is the matrix of all matter." (The Nature of Matter, 1944)
John Polkinghorne (1930-2021, theologian)
134. "If the physicists seem to achieve their ends more successfully than the theologians, that is simply a reflection of how much easier science is than theology." (Goodreads.com)
134. "If the physicists seem to achieve their ends more successfully than the theologians, that is simply a reflection of how much easier science is than theology." (Goodreads.com)
Karl Popper (1902-1994, philosopher)
135. "Bold ideas, unjustified anticipations, and speculative thought, are our only means for interpreting nature: our only organon, our only instrument, for grasping her. And we must hazard them to win our prize. Those among us who are unwilling to expose their ideas to the hazard of refutation do not take part in the scientific game." (The Logic of Scientific Discovery, 1934)
Ptolemy (c. 100-170 AD, mathematician)
136. "We consider it good principle to explain the phenomena by the simplest hypothesis possible." (Almagest)
136. "We consider it good principle to explain the phenomena by the simplest hypothesis possible." (Almagest)
Pythagoras (c. 570-495 BC, mathematician)
137. "There is geometry in the humming of the strings, there is music in the spacing of the spheres." (Quoted in The Mystery of Matter by Louise B. Young)
Anatol Rapoport (1911-2007, psychologist)
138. "A fundamental value in the scientific outlook is concerned with the best available map of reality." (Science and the Goals of Man, 1950)
138. "A fundamental value in the scientific outlook is concerned with the best available map of reality." (Science and the Goals of Man, 1950)
Gerhard Richter (1932-now, artist)
139. "I pursue no objectives, no systems, no tendency; I have no program, no style, no direction. I have no time for specialized concerns, working themes, or variations that lead to mastery. I steer clear of definitions. I don't know what I want. I am inconsistent, non-committal, passive; I like the indefinite, the boundless; I like continual uncertainty." (Doubt and Belief in Painting, 2003)
Philip Roth (1933-2018, novelist)
140. "Memories of the past are not memories of facts but memories of your imaginings of the facts." (The Facts: A Novelist's Autobiography, 1988)
140. "Memories of the past are not memories of facts but memories of your imaginings of the facts." (The Facts: A Novelist's Autobiography, 1988)
Bertrand Russell (1872-1970, philosopher)
141. "Pure mathematics consists entirely of assertions to the effect that, if such and such proposition is true of anything, then such and such another proposition is true of that thing." (Recent Work on the Principles of Mathematics, 1901)
141. "Pure mathematics consists entirely of assertions to the effect that, if such and such proposition is true of anything, then such and such another proposition is true of that thing." (Recent Work on the Principles of Mathematics, 1901)
Ernest Rutherford (1871-1937, physicist)
142. "An alleged scientific discovery has no merit unless it can be explained to a barmaid." (Quoted in Einstein: The Man and His Achievement by G. J. Whitrow)
142. "An alleged scientific discovery has no merit unless it can be explained to a barmaid." (Quoted in Einstein: The Man and His Achievement by G. J. Whitrow)
Ernest Rutherford (1871-1937, physicist)
143. "When we have found how the nucleus of atoms is built up we shall have found the greatest secret of all - except life. We shall have found the basis of everything - of the earth we walk on, of the air we breathe, of the sunshine, of our physical body itself, of everything in the world, however great or however small - except life." (Quoted in The Wit and Wisdom of the 20th Century by Frank Pepper)
143. "When we have found how the nucleus of atoms is built up we shall have found the greatest secret of all - except life. We shall have found the basis of everything - of the earth we walk on, of the air we breathe, of the sunshine, of our physical body itself, of everything in the world, however great or however small - except life." (Quoted in The Wit and Wisdom of the 20th Century by Frank Pepper)
Jean-Paul Sartre (1905-1980, philosopher)
144. "Imagination is not an empirical or superadded power of consciousness, it is the whole of consciousness as it realizes its freedom." (Imagination: A Psychological Critique, 1936)
Simon Schama (1945-now, historian)
145. "Historians are left forever chasing shadows, painfully aware of their inability ever to reconstruct an ideal world in its completeness however thorough or revealing their documentation." (Dead Certainties, 1991)
145. "Historians are left forever chasing shadows, painfully aware of their inability ever to reconstruct an ideal world in its completeness however thorough or revealing their documentation." (Dead Certainties, 1991)
Friedrich Schelling (1775-1854, philosopher)
146. "God, however, as identity of the highest order, remains above all reality and eternally has merely an indirect relationship." (Philosophy and Religion, 1804)
146. "God, however, as identity of the highest order, remains above all reality and eternally has merely an indirect relationship." (Philosophy and Religion, 1804)
Erwin Schrodinger (1887-1961, physicist)
147. "[Science] cannot tell us a word about red and blue, bitter and sweet, physical pain and physical delight; it knows nothing of beautiful and ugly, good or bad, god and eternity. Science sometimes pretends to answer questions in these domains, but the answers are very often silly that we are not inclined to take them seriously." (Nature and the Greeks, 1954)
147. "[Science] cannot tell us a word about red and blue, bitter and sweet, physical pain and physical delight; it knows nothing of beautiful and ugly, good or bad, god and eternity. Science sometimes pretends to answer questions in these domains, but the answers are very often silly that we are not inclined to take them seriously." (Nature and the Greeks, 1954)
Erwin Schrodinger (1887-1961, physicist)
148. "Consciousness cannot be accounted for in physical terms. For consciousness is absolutely fundamental. It cannot be accounted for in terms of anything else." (Quoted in The Observer)
148. "Consciousness cannot be accounted for in physical terms. For consciousness is absolutely fundamental. It cannot be accounted for in terms of anything else." (Quoted in The Observer)
John Searle (1932-now, philosopher)
149. "You cannot think clearly if you cannot speak and write clearly." (The Storm Over the University, 1990)
149. "You cannot think clearly if you cannot speak and write clearly." (The Storm Over the University, 1990)
Sylvia Serfaty (1975-now, mathematician)
150. "It's really beautiful to observe, as you progress in your mathematical maturity, how everything is somehow connected." (The Beauty of Mathematics: It Can Never Lie to You, 2017)
Herbert Spencer (1820-1903, sociologist)
151. "How often misused words generate misleading thoughts." (The Principles of Ethics, 1897)
Baruch Spinoza (1632-1677, philosopher)
152. "A definition, if it is to be called perfect, must explain the inmost essence of a thing, and must take care not to substitute for this any of its properties." (On the Improvement of the Understanding, 1662)
Baruch Spinoza (1632-1677, philosopher)
153. "The more reality or being a thing has, the greater number of its attributes." (Ethics, 1677)
153. "The more reality or being a thing has, the greater number of its attributes." (Ethics, 1677)
Peter Strawson (1919-2006, philosopher)
154. "Part of my aim is to exhibit some general and structural features of the conceptual scheme in terms of which we think about particular things." (Individuals, 1959)
154. "Part of my aim is to exhibit some general and structural features of the conceptual scheme in terms of which we think about particular things." (Individuals, 1959)
Nikola Tesla (1856-1943, inventor)
155. "I do not think there is any thrill that can go through the human heart like that felt by the inventor as he sees some creation of the brain unfolding to success... Such emotions make a man forget food, sleep, friends, love, everything." (Quoted in Marconi and Tesla: Pioneers of Radio Communication by Tim O'Shei)
155. "I do not think there is any thrill that can go through the human heart like that felt by the inventor as he sees some creation of the brain unfolding to success... Such emotions make a man forget food, sleep, friends, love, everything." (Quoted in Marconi and Tesla: Pioneers of Radio Communication by Tim O'Shei)
Nikola Tesla (1856-1943, inventor)
156. "The mind is sharper and keener in seclusion and uninterrupted solitude. No big laboratory is needed in which to think. Originality thrives in seclusion free of outside influences beating upon us to cripple the creative mind. Be alone, that is the secret of invention; be alone, that is when ideas are born." (Quoted in Nikola Tesla's Life & Work by Istvan G. Kocsis)
Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862, philosopher)
157. "I find it so difficult to dispose of the few facts which to me are significant, that I hesitate to burden my attention with those which are insignificant, which only a divine mind could illustrate. Such is, for the most part, the news in newspapers and conversation. It is important to preserve the mind's chastity in this respect." (Life Without Principle, 1863)
Alan Turing (1912-1954, computer scientist)
158. "If one wants to make a machine mimic the behaviour of the human computer in some complex operation one has to ask him how it is done, and then translate the answer into the form of an instruction table. Constructing instruction tables is usually described as 'programming'." (Computing Machinery and Intelligence, 1950)
158. "If one wants to make a machine mimic the behaviour of the human computer in some complex operation one has to ask him how it is done, and then translate the answer into the form of an instruction table. Constructing instruction tables is usually described as 'programming'." (Computing Machinery and Intelligence, 1950)
Alan Turing (1912-1954, computer scientist)
159. "We may hope that machines will eventually compete with men in all purely intellectual fields. But which are the best ones to start with? Many people think that a very abstract activity, like the playing of chess, would be best. It can also be maintained that it is best to provide the machine with the best sense organs that money can buy, and then teach it to understand and speak English." (AZQuotes.com)
159. "We may hope that machines will eventually compete with men in all purely intellectual fields. But which are the best ones to start with? Many people think that a very abstract activity, like the playing of chess, would be best. It can also be maintained that it is best to provide the machine with the best sense organs that money can buy, and then teach it to understand and speak English." (AZQuotes.com)
Mark Twain (1835-1910, writer)
160. "We have not the reverent feeling for the rainbow that the savage has, because we know how it is made. We have lost as much as we gained by prying into that matter." (A Tramp Abroad, 1880)
160. "We have not the reverent feeling for the rainbow that the savage has, because we know how it is made. We have lost as much as we gained by prying into that matter." (A Tramp Abroad, 1880)
Voltaire (1694-1778, writer)
161. "If this is the best of possible worlds, what then are the others?" (Candide, 1759)
161. "If this is the best of possible worlds, what then are the others?" (Candide, 1759)
Voltaire (1694-1778, writer)
162. "Doubt is not a pleasant condition, but certainty is an absurd one." (Letter to Fredrick William, Prince of Prussia, 28 November 1770)
Alfred Russel Wallace (1823-1913, naturalist)
163. "To say that mind is a product or function of protoplasm, or of its molecular changes, is to use words to which we can attach no clear conception. You cannot have, in the whole, what does not exist in any of the parts; and those who argue thus should put forth a definite conception of matter, with clearly enunciated properties, and show, that the necessary result of a certain complex arrangement of the elements or atoms of that matter, will be the production of self-consciousness." (Considerations to the Theory of Natural Selection, 1870)
163. "To say that mind is a product or function of protoplasm, or of its molecular changes, is to use words to which we can attach no clear conception. You cannot have, in the whole, what does not exist in any of the parts; and those who argue thus should put forth a definite conception of matter, with clearly enunciated properties, and show, that the necessary result of a certain complex arrangement of the elements or atoms of that matter, will be the production of self-consciousness." (Considerations to the Theory of Natural Selection, 1870)
James Watt (1736-1819, inventor)
164. "I can think of nothing else than this machine." (Letter to Dr. Lind, 29 April 1765)
Max Weber (1864-1920, sociologist)
165. "The fate of our times is characterized by rationalization and intellectualization and, above all, by the disenchantment of the world." (Science as a Vocation, 1917)
165. "The fate of our times is characterized by rationalization and intellectualization and, above all, by the disenchantment of the world." (Science as a Vocation, 1917)
Max Weber (1864-1920, sociologist)
166. "Sociology is the science whose object is to interpret the meaning of social action and thereby give a causal explanation of the way in which the action proceeds and the effects which it produces. By 'action' in this definition is meant the human behaviour when and to the extent that the agent or agents see it as subjectively meaningful" (The Nature of Social Action, 1922)
Simone Weil (1909-1943, philosopher)
167. "There is a reality outside the world, that is to say, outside space and time, outside man's mental universe, outside any sphere whatsoever that is accessible to human faculties. Corresponding to this reality, at the centre of the human heart, is the longing for an absolute good, a longing which is always there and is never appeased by any object in this world." (Draft for a Statement of Human Obligation, 1943 posthumous)
167. "There is a reality outside the world, that is to say, outside space and time, outside man's mental universe, outside any sphere whatsoever that is accessible to human faculties. Corresponding to this reality, at the centre of the human heart, is the longing for an absolute good, a longing which is always there and is never appeased by any object in this world." (Draft for a Statement of Human Obligation, 1943 posthumous)
Simone Weil (1909-1943, philosopher)
168. "The most important part of education - to teach the meaning of to know." (Waiting on God, 1950 posthumous)
168. "The most important part of education - to teach the meaning of to know." (Waiting on God, 1950 posthumous)
William Whewell (1794-1866, philosopher)
169. "And so no force however great can stretch a cord however fine into a horizontal line which is actually straight." (Elementary Treatise on Mechanics, 1819)
169. "And so no force however great can stretch a cord however fine into a horizontal line which is actually straight." (Elementary Treatise on Mechanics, 1819)
William of Ockham (c. 1287-1347, philosopher)
170. "It is pointless to do with more what can be done with fewer." (Summa Logicae, c. 1323)
E. O. Wilson (1929-2021, biologist)
171. "We are drowning in information, while starving for wisdom. The world henceforth will be run by synthesizers, people able to put together the right information at the right time, think critically about it, and make important choices wisely." (Consilience: The Unity of Knowledge, 1998)
Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889-1951, philosopher)
172. "It is not how things are in the world that is mystical, but that it exists." (Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus, 1922)
172. "It is not how things are in the world that is mystical, but that it exists." (Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus, 1922)
Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889-1951, philosopher)
173. "Without philosophy thoughts are, as it were, cloudy and indistinct: its task is to make them clear and to give them sharp boundaries." (Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus, 1922)
173. "Without philosophy thoughts are, as it were, cloudy and indistinct: its task is to make them clear and to give them sharp boundaries." (Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus, 1922)
Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889-1951, philosopher)
174. "Uttering a word is like striking a note on the keyboard of imagination." (Philosophical Investigations, 1953 posthumous)
174. "Uttering a word is like striking a note on the keyboard of imagination." (Philosophical Investigations, 1953 posthumous)
Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889-1951, philosopher)
175. "What I hold fast to is not one proposition but a nest of propositions." (On Certainty, 1969 posthumous)
175. "What I hold fast to is not one proposition but a nest of propositions." (On Certainty, 1969 posthumous)
Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889-1951, philosopher)
176. "There is no more light in a genius than any other honest man, but he has a particular kind of lens to concentrate this light into a burning point." (Culture and Value, 1980 posthumous)
176. "There is no more light in a genius than any other honest man, but he has a particular kind of lens to concentrate this light into a burning point." (Culture and Value, 1980 posthumous)
Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889-1951, philosopher)
177. "Philosophical problems can be compared to locks on safes, which can be open by dialing a certain word or number so that no force can open the door until just this word has been hit upon, and once it is hit upon any child can open it." (Philosophical Occasions, 1993 posthumous)
177. "Philosophical problems can be compared to locks on safes, which can be open by dialing a certain word or number so that no force can open the door until just this word has been hit upon, and once it is hit upon any child can open it." (Philosophical Occasions, 1993 posthumous)
Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889-1951, philosopher)
178. "Are you a bad philosopher then if what you write is hard to understand? If you were better you would make what is difficult easy to understand but who says that's possible." (Quoted in Wittgenstein: A Wonderful Life documentary by Christopher Sykes, BBC)
178. "Are you a bad philosopher then if what you write is hard to understand? If you were better you would make what is difficult easy to understand but who says that's possible." (Quoted in Wittgenstein: A Wonderful Life documentary by Christopher Sykes, BBC)
Friedrich Wohler (1800-1882, chemist)
179. "Organic chemistry just now is enough to drive one mad. It gives me the impression of a primeval forest full of the most remarkable things, a monstrous and boundless thicket, with no way of escape, into which one may well dread to enter." (AZQuotes.com)
179. "Organic chemistry just now is enough to drive one mad. It gives me the impression of a primeval forest full of the most remarkable things, a monstrous and boundless thicket, with no way of escape, into which one may well dread to enter." (AZQuotes.com)
Zhuang Zhou (c. 369-286 BC, philosopher)
180. "Division is the same as creation; creation is the same as destruction. There is no such thing as creation or destruction, for these conditions are again levelled together into One." (Zhuangzi)
180. "Division is the same as creation; creation is the same as destruction. There is no such thing as creation or destruction, for these conditions are again levelled together into One." (Zhuangzi)
