Famous quotes

Quotes by famous people, credited to who said them. Your own quotes must not match any of these. More are added all the time. 1,158,808 quotes Who coined it · How we decide

English Italiano Polski עברית Français Português فارسی Español 中文 Русский Deutsch العربية हिन्दी 日本語 Ελληνικά Latina

Science

Love Friendship Happiness Hope Fear Courage Death Life Time War Peace Freedom Truth Wisdom Knowledge Science Art Music Nature Money Work Power God Beauty Laughter Family Success and failure Change Dreams Books and reading

“Philosophy is the science of estimating values. The superiority of any state or substance over another is determined by philosophy. By assigning a position of primary importance to what remains when all that is secondary has been removed, philosophy thus becomes the true index of priority or emphasis in the realm of speculative thought.”
Manly P. Hall (1901–1990) said by 1990 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“While the early deists were busy reconstructing Christianity, at the same time being very careful to avoid the accusation of atheism, the world of science had been steadily progressing.”
Jonathan Miller (1934–2019) said by 2019 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Ever since the Reformation, there's a sense in which the road to atheism was paved not with science, but with religious intentions.”
Jonathan Miller (1934–2019) said by 2019 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Writers don't seem to benefit much by the advance of science, although they thrive on superstitions of all kinds.”
Northrop Frye (1912–1991) said by 1991 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The disinterested imaginative core of mythology is what develops into literature, science, philosophy. Religion is applied mythology. (21.101)”
Northrop Frye (1912–1991) said by 1991 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“As the prerogative of Natural Science is to cultivate a taste for observation, so that of Mathematics is, almost from the starting point, to stimulate the faculty of invention.”
James Joseph Sylvester (1814–1897) said by 1897 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It has been said that to appreciate what virtue and morals mean, men must live virtuous and moral lives. It is equally true, that a knowledge of the objects of science is not to be attained by any scheme of definitions, however carefully contrived. He who would know what geometry is, must venture boldly into its depths and learn to think and feel as a geometer.”
James Joseph Sylvester (1814–1897) said by 1897 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: J. J. Sylvester. "A Probationary Lecture on Geometry", Collected Mathematical Papers, Vol. 2 (1908), p. 9
“[This] science is the work of the human mind, which is destined rather to study than to know, to seek the truth rather than to find it.”
Évariste Galois (1811–1832) said by 1832 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Of mathematics — as quoted in Mathematics: The Loss of Certainty (1980) by Morris Kline, p. 99.
“Science had better not free the minds of men too much, before it has tamed their instincts.”
Jean Rostand (1894–1977) said by 1977 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“La science a fait de nous des dieux avant même que nous méritions d'être des hommes.”
Jean Rostand (1894–1977) said by 1977 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“In reality, there is no contradiction between science and religion, whose domains are distinct, and which, far from fighting and persecuting each other, must, on the contrary, complement each other.”
Afrikan Spir (1837–1890) said by 1890 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“In life we only try to produce, to win, and enjoy the more we can; in science, to discover and invent the more we can; in religion, to dominate on the greatest number of people we can; whereas the forming of the character, the further development of the faculties of the intelligence, the refinement of the consciousness and of the heart, are considered incidental things.”
Afrikan Spir (1837–1890) said by 1890 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Science is about measurement, dammit — it's not about ideas. (55:20 in video)”
Robert B. Laughlin (born 1950) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Mr. Gregory: Late Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, and author of the -well-known Examples. Few in so short a life have done so much for science. The high sense which I entertain of his merits as a mathematician, is mingled with feelings of gratitude for much valuable assistance rendered to me in my earlier essays.”
George Boole (1815–1864) first seen 1844 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: George Boole "Mr Boole on a General Method in Analysis," Philosophical Transactions, Vol. 134 (1844), p. 279, Footnote
“I am now about to set seriously to work upon preparing for the press an account of my theory of Logic and Probabilities which in its present state I look upon as the most valuable if not the only valuable contribution that I have made or am likely to make to Science and the thing by which I would desire if at all to be remembered hereafter.”
George Boole (1815–1864) first seen 1851 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Letter to William Thomson (2 January 1851), indicating his early work on what has since become known as Boolean logic.
“I am fully assured, that no general method for the solution of questions in the theory of probabilities can be established which does not explicitly recognize, not only the special numerical bases of the science, but also those universal laws of thought which are the basis of all reasoning, and which, whatever they may be as to their essence, are at least mathematical as to their form.”
George Boole (1815–1864) first seen 1853 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: George Boole, "Solution of a Question in the Theory of Probabilities" (30 November 1853) published in The London, Edinburgh and Dublin Philosophical Magazine and Journal of Science‬‎ (January 1854), p. 32
“There is not only a close analogy between the operations of the mind in general reasoning and its operations 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.”
George Boole (1815–1864) said by 1864 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: p. 6; As cited in: Leandro N. De Castro, Fernando J. Von Zuben, Recent Developments in Biologically Inspired Computing, Idea Group Inc (IGI), 2005 p. 236
“That logic, as a science, is susceptible of very wide applications is admitted; but it is equally certain that its ultimate forms and processes are mathematical.”
George Boole (1815–1864) said by 1864 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: p. 12; Cited in: William Stanley Jevons (1887) The Principles of Science: : A Treatise on Logic and Scientific Method. p. 155
“A distinguished writer (Siméon Denis Poisson) has thus stated the fundamental definitions of the science:”
George Boole (1815–1864) first seen 1815 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: p. 243-4; As cited in: "George Boole (1815–64)" in: Oxford Dictionary of Scientific Quotations, Edited by W. F. Bynum and Roy Porter, January 2006
“One can show the following: given any rule, however "fundamental" or "necessary" for science, there are always circumstances when it is advisable not only to ignore the rule, but to adopt its opposite.”
Paul Karl Feyerabend (1924–1994) said by 1994 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The separation of state and church must be complemented by the separation of state and science, that most recent, most aggressive, and most dogmatic religious institution.”
Paul Karl Feyerabend (1924–1994) said by 1994 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Science is an essentially anarchic enterprise: theoretical anarchism is more humanitarian and more likely to encourage progress than its law-and-order alternatives.”
Paul Karl Feyerabend (1924–1994) said by 1994 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I want to defend society and its inhabitants from all ideologies, science included. All ideologies must be seen in perspective. One must not take them too seriously. One must read them like fairy-tales which have lots of interesting things to say but which also contain wicked lies, or like ethical prescriptions which may be useful rules of thumb but which are deadly when followed to the letter.”
Paul Karl Feyerabend (1924–1994) said by 1994 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Today science prevails not because of its comparative merits, but because the show has been rigged in its favour... It reigns supreme because some past successes have led to institutional measures (education; role of experts; role of power groups such as the AMA) that prevent a comeback of the rivals.”
Paul Karl Feyerabend (1924–1994) said by 1994 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Every profession has an ideology and a drive for power that goes far beyond its achievements and it is the task of democracy to keep this ideology and this drive under control. Science is here no different from other institutions.”
Paul Karl Feyerabend (1924–1994) said by 1994 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Many "educated citizens" take it for granted that reality is what scientists say it is and that other opinions may be recorded, but need not be taken seriously. But science offers not one story, it offers many; the stories clash and their relation to a story-independent "reality" is as problematic as the relation of the Homeric epics to an alleged "Homeric world.”
Paul Karl Feyerabend (1924–1994) said by 1994 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Humane science must be adapted to the requirements of a balanced and rewarding life.”
Paul Karl Feyerabend (1924–1994) said by 1994 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It is not pretended that, at the present stage of its development, economic science is able to provide an organon even remotely approaching to what it imagines for itself as its ideal.”
Arthur Cecil Pigou (1877–1959) said by 1959 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Since UFO stands for "unidentified flying object", the word ufology means approximately "knowledge about unknown flying objects", and is therefore a "science" whose content is void by definition. Similar considerations hold for parapsychology.”
Lucio Russo (1944–2025) said by 2025 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The oft-heard comment that Leonardo [da Vinci]'s genius managed to transcend the culture of his time is amply justified. But his was not a science-fiction voyage into the future as much as a plunge into the past.”
Lucio Russo (1944–2025) said by 2025 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Where is the subject that does not branch out into infinity? For every grain of sand is a mystery; so is every daisy in summer, and so is every snow-flake in winter. Both upwards and downwards, and all around us, science and speculation pass into mystery at last.”
William Mountford (1816–1885) said by 1885 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“We are forever trying to sell science because somebody somewhere will get a better toothbrush,” she grumbled. “Whatever happened to sheer curiosity?”
Jack McDevitt (born 1935) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It is a fantastic letter. Very understated. He calls it an optical maser, it’s as if a maser was made to run in the optical. No flamboyant phrase, just straightforward science.”
Peter Franken (1928–1999) first seen 1985 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: describing Ted Maiman's paper announcing the first operational laser. In an interview by Joan Bromberg on March 8, 1985, at University of Arizona. Niels Bohr Library & Archives, American Institute of Physics, College Pa…
“In science by a fiction as remarkable as any to be found in law, what once been published even though it be in the Russian language, is spoken of as known, and it is too often forgotten that the rediscovery in the library may be a more difficult and uncertain process than the first discovery in the laboratory.”
John Strutt, 3rd Baron Rayleigh (1842–1919) first seen 1884 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Lord Rayleigh (1884) as cited in: Brian Vickery (1958) Classification and indexing in science. Preface
“Equipped with his five senses, man explores the universe around him and calls the adventure Science.”
Edwin Hubble (1889–1953) said by 1953 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Science is the one human activity that is truly progressive.”
Edwin Hubble (1889–1953) first seen 1936 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Realm of the Nebulae (1936)
“Science is what we do when we don't know what we're doing.”
Alvaro De Rujula (born 1944) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Facts are not science — as the dictionary is not literature.”
Martin H. Fischer (1879–1962) said by 1962 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The way to advance the nation's prosperity and achieve higher standards of living for all is through science and technology, taking advantage of better tools, methods and organization, and substituting machines and power for human backs.”
Charles Erwin Wilson (1890–1961) first seen 1949 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Charles E. Wilson in, Michigan Business Review, (1949), Vol. 1-2, p. 3
“I may be a minority of one in advocating that one should NOT separate science and politics—partly because I am old enough to remember the Weimar Republic before 1934...”
Edwin Ernest Salpeter (1924–2008) said by 2008 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Logic is not only an exact science, but is the most simple and elementary of all sciences; it ought therefore undoubtedly to find some place in every course of education.”
William Stanley Jevons (1835–1882) said by 1882 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“In this work I have attempted to treat economy as a calculus of pleasure and pain, and have sketched out,almost irrespective of previous opinions, the form which the science,as it seems to me, must ultimately take.”
William Stanley Jevons (1835–1882) said by 1882 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“In short, I do not write for mathematicians, nor as a mathematician, but as an economist wishing to convince other economists that their science can only be satisfactorily treated on an explicitly mathematical basis.”
William Stanley Jevons (1835–1882) said by 1882 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Among minor alterations, I may mention the substitution for the name political economy of the single convenient term economics. I cannot help thinking that it would be well to discard, as quickly as possible, the old troublesome double-worded name of our science.”
William Stanley Jevons (1835–1882) said by 1882 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“In any case I hold that there must arise a science of the development of economic forms and relations.”
William Stanley Jevons (1835–1882) said by 1882 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“but, in reality, there is no such thing as an exact science.”
William Stanley Jevons (1835–1882) said by 1882 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Previous to the time of Pascal, who would have thought of measuring doubt and belief? Who could have conceived that the investigation of petty games of chance would have led to the most sublime branch of mathematical science - the theory of probabilities?”
William Stanley Jevons (1835–1882) said by 1882 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“One of the first and most difficult steps in a science is to conceive clearly the nature of the magnitudes about which we are arguing.”
William Stanley Jevons (1835–1882) said by 1882 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“We shall never have a science of economics unless we learn to discern the operation of law even among the most perplexing complications and apparent interruptions.”
William Stanley Jevons (1835–1882) said by 1882 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I protest against deference to any man, whether John Stuart Mill, or Adam Smith, or Aristotle, being allowed to check inquiry. Our science has become far too much a stagnant one, in which opinions rather than experience and reason are appealed to.”
William Stanley Jevons (1835–1882) said by 1882 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source