
Quotes by famous people, credited to who said them. Your own quotes must not match any of these. More are added all the time. 1,161,747 quotes Who coined it · How we decide
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“The world was sick, and the ills from which it was suffering were mainly due to the perversion of man, his inability to live at peace with himself. The microbe was no longer the main enemy; science was sufficiently advanced to be able to cope with it admirably. If it were not for such barriers as superstition, ignorance, religious intolerance, misery and poverty.”
Brock Chisholm (1896–1971) first seen 1948 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Quoted in: Eubanas, Froilan. "Public health, a progressive science." Monthly Bulletin of the Philippine Health Service. 24 (1948): 1.
“I entertain no doubts as to the truths of the transfinites, which I recognized with God’s help and which, in their diversity, I have studied for more than twenty years; every year, and almost every day brings me further in this science.”
Georg Cantor (1845–1918) said by 1918 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in Modern Mathematicians, (1995) by Harry Henderson. ~
“As for the mathematical infinite, to the extent that it has found a justified application in science and contributed to its usefulness, it seems to me that it has hitherto appeared principally in the role of a variable quantity, which either grows beyond all bounds or diminishes to any desired minuteness, but always remains finite. I call this the improper infinite [das Uneigentlich-unendliche].”
Georg Cantor (1845–1918) said by 1918 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“When I began writing science fiction, when I began reading, heck, I wasn't in any of this stuff I read. The only black people you found were occasional characters or characters who were so feeble-witted that they couldn't manage anything, any way. I wrote myself in, since I'm me and I'm here and I'm writing.”
Octavia Butler (1947–2006) first seen 2000 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: in New York Times (2000). Attributed in Conversations with Octavia Butler (2009)
“We know that mathematicians care no more for logic than logicians for mathematics. The two eyes of exact science are mathematics and logic: the mathematical sect puts out the logical eye, the logical sect puts out the mathematical eye; each believing that it can see better with one eye than with two.”
Augustus De Morgan (1806–1871) said by 1871 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted by Florian Cajori, A History of Mathematics (1894) p. 316.
“They [the English] forget that at this moment there still exists [in India] a body of literature and science which might well be the nucleus of a new civilisation, though every trace of Christian and Mohammedan civilization were blotted out of existence.”
Augustus De Morgan (1806–1871) first seen 1859 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: De Morgan, Augustus. ‘Preface’ to A Treatise on Problems of Maxima and Minima, solved by Algebra, by Ram Chundra. Published under the superintendence of Augustus De Morgan. London: W. H. Allen & Co., 1859.quoted in : Bh…
“Concern for the symbol has completely disappeared from our science. And yet, if one were to give oneself the trouble, one could easily find, in certain parts at least of contemporary mathematics... symbols as clear, as beautiful, and as full of spiritual meaning as that of the circle and mediation. From modern thought to ancient wisdom the path would be short and direct, if one cared to take it.”
Simone Weil (1909–1943) said by 1943 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Need for Roots (1949), p. 292
“The collective is the object of all idolatry, this it is which chains us to the earth. In the case of avarice: gold is of the social order. In the case of ambition: power is of the social order. Science and art are full of the social element also. And love? Love is more or less of an exception: that is why we can go to God through love, not through avarice and ambition.”
Simone Weil (1909–1943) said by 1943 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“O star-eyed Science! hast thou wandered there, To waft us home the message of despair?”
Thomas Campbell (poet) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Also quoted by: Thomas Campbell
“Can all that optics teach, unfold Thy form to please me so, As when I dreamt of gems and gold Hid in thy radiant bow? When Science from Creation's face Enchantment's veil withdraws, What lovely visions yield their place To cold material laws! And yet, fair bow, no fabling dreams, But words of the Most High, Have told why first thy robe of beams Was woven in the sky.”
Thomas Campbell (poet) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The practice of physic is jostled by quacks on the one side, and by science on the other.”
Peter Mere Latham (1789–1875) said by 1875 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The antithesis of 'Sense' & 'Ideas' is the foundation of the Philosophy of Science. No knowledge can exist without the union, no philosophy without the separation, of these two elements.”
William Whewell (1794–1866) said by 1866 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The Idea of Cause is expressed for purposes of science by these three Axioms:—'Every Event must have a Cause':—'Causes are measured by their Effects':—'Reaction is equal and opposite to Action'.”
William Whewell (1794–1866) said by 1866 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Mechanical Science depends on the Conception of Force; and is divided into 'Statics', the doctrine of Force preventing motion, and 'Dynamics', the doctrine of Force producing motion.”
William Whewell (1794–1866) said by 1866 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The two processes by which Science is constructed are the 'Explication of Conceptions' and the 'Colligation of Facts'.”
William Whewell (1794–1866) said by 1866 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The Logic of Induction is the 'Criterion of Truth' inferred from Facts, as the Logic of Deduction is the 'Criterion of Truth' deduced from necessary Principle. In Art, Truth is a means to an end; in Science, it is the only end.”
William Whewell (1794–1866) said by 1866 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“In the Ancient Period of Science, Technical Terms were formed in three different ways:—by appropriating common words and fixing their meaning;—by constructing terms containing a description;—by constructing terms containing reference to a theory.”
William Whewell (1794–1866) said by 1866 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“'Tis strange how like a very dunce, Man, with his bumps upon his sconce, Has lived so long, and yet no knowledge he Has had, till lately, of Phrenology— A science that by simple dint of Head-combing he should find a hint of, When scratching o'er those little pole-hills The faculties throw up like mole hills.”
Thomas Hood (1799–1845) said by 1845 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Thomas Hood, Craniology, reported in Hoyt's New Cyclopedia Of Practical Quotations (1922), p. 597.
“Many children who grow up in our cities are surrounded by the artifacts of science but have good reason to see them as belonging to "the others"; in many cases they are perceived as belonging to the social enemy.”
Seymour Papert (1928–2016) said by 2016 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“We want to learn from the west about science and technology and how to manage the economy, but this must be combined with specific conditions here. That's how we have made great progress in the last twenty years.”
Jiang Zemin (1926–2022) first seen 2000 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in "Jiang Zemin Talks With Wallace" (August 2000), CBS.
“Every rose is an autograph from the hand of the Almighty God. On this world about us He has inscribed His thought, in these marvelous hieroglyphics which sense and science have been these many thousand years seeking to understand. The universe itself is a great autograph of the Almighty.”
Theodore Parker (1810–1860) said by 1860 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Material World and Man's Relation Thereto", Lessons from the World of Matter and the World of Man (1872) edited by Rufus Leighton, p. 9.
“Criticism will need an injection of humility — that is, a recognition of its role as ancillary to the arts, needed only occasionally in a temporary capacity. Since the critic exists only for introducing and explaining, he must be readily intelligible; he has no special vocabulary: criticism is in no way a science or a system.”
Jacques Barzun (1907–2012) said by 2012 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Science does not permit exceptions.”
Claude Bernard (1813–1878) first seen 1855 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Lessons of Experimental Pathology (1855-1856)
“[T]he science of life […] is a superb and dazzlingly lighted hall which may be reached only by passing through a long and ghastly kitchen.”
Claude Bernard (1813–1878) said by 1878 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Our language, in fact, is only approximate, and even in science it is so indefinite that if we lose sight of phenomena and cling to words, we are speedily outside of reality.… [W]e must always cling to phenomena and see in words only expressions empty of meaning, if the phenomena they represent are not definite, or if they are absent.”
Claude Bernard (1813–1878) said by 1878 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“True science teaches us to doubt and to abstain from ignorance.”
Claude Bernard (1813–1878) said by 1878 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Science increases our power in proportion as it lowers our pride.”
Claude Bernard (1813–1878) said by 1878 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Social phenomenology is the science of my own and of others' experience. It is concerned with the relation between my experience of you and your experience of me. That is, with inter-experience. It is concerned with your behaviour and my behaviour as I experience it, and your and my behaviour as you experience it.”
Ronald David Laing (1927–1989) said by 1989 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The experimental researches of Faraday are so voluminous, their descriptions are so detailed, and their wealth of illustration is so great, as to render it a heavy labour to master them. The multiplication of proofs, necessary and interesting when the new truths had to be established, are however less needful now when these truths have become household words in science.”
John Tyndall (1820–1893) first seen 1869 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Preface to the Second Edition (December 1869).
“Religious feeling is as much a verity as any other part of human consciousness; and against it, on the subjective side, the waves of science beat in vain.”
John Tyndall (1820–1893) said by 1893 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Science, which is the logic of nature, demands proportion between the house and its foundation. Theology sometimes builds weighty structures on a doubtful base.”
John Tyndall (1820–1893) said by 1893 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Art has a double face, of expression and illusion, just like science has a double face: the reality of error and the phantom of truth.”
René Daumal (1908–1944) said by 1944 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Of these two literatures, as of the intellect of Europe in general, the main effort, for now many years, has been a critical effort; the endeavour, in all branches of knowledge — theology, philosophy, history, art, science — to see the object as in itself it really is.”
Matthew Arnold (1822–1888) said by 1888 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“One of the stranger beliefs in science fiction is a passionate belief in Beautiful Writing--lots and lots of extraspecial exciting words thrown no hurled no CASCADED upon the reader in a shimmering shower of precious verbal gleaming gleanings and a singing pillar of righteous fiery syntactic spinach. The only thing that was good in that sentence was the spinach, and the hell with it.”
John Barnes (born 1957) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Overprotecting intellectual property is as harmful as underprotecting it. Creativity is impossible without a rich public domain. Nothing today, likely nothing since we tamed fire, is genuinely new: Culture, like science and technology, grows by accretion, each new creator building on the works of those who came before. Overprotection stifles the very creative forces it's supposed to nurture.”
Alex Kozinski (born 1950) first seen 1512 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Dissenting in the White v. Samsung Elec. Am., Inc., 989 F.2d 1512 (9th Cir. 1993) ruling. .
“The crucial question which confronts us in psychology and other aspects of the science of man is precisely this chasm between what is abstractly true and what is existentially real for the given living person.”
Rollo May (1909–1994) first seen 1983 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: p. 13; also published in The Discovery of Being : Writings in Existential Psychology (1983), Part II : The Cultural Background, Ch. 5 : Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, and Freud, p. 52
“Far too large a section of the treatment of disease is to-day controlled by the big manufacturing pharmacists, who have enslaved us in a plausible pseudo-science.”
William Osler (1849–1919) first seen 1909 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Treatment of Disease Can Lancet 1909;42:899-912, As quoted in The Quotable Osler, ACP Press, 2008
“Every one of you will have to face the ordeal of every student in this generation who sooner or later tries to mix the waters of science with the oil of faith. You can have a good deal of both if you only keep them separate. The worry comes from the attempt at mixture.”
William Osler (1849–1919) said by 1919 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Take the sum of human achievement in action, in science, in art, in literature—subtract the work of the men above forty, and while we should miss great treasures, even priceless treasures, we would practically be where we are today … The effective, moving, vitalizing work of the world is done between the ages of twenty-five and forty.”
William Osler (1849–1919) said by 1919 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Medicine is a science of uncertainty and an art of probability.”
William Osler (1849–1919) said by 1919 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Learn the ABC of science before you try to ascend to its summit.”
Ivan Pavlov (1849–1936) first seen 1936 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Bequest to the Academic Youth of Soviet Russia (1936).
“The A B C of any science of wealth production is the necessity of co-ordination and concert of effort; whereas competition, conflict, and endless cross-purposes were the sum and substance of the economic methods set forth by these writers.”
Edward Bellamy (1850–1898) said by 1898 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It is for the philosophic student to trace the train of thought which underlies the magicians practice; to draw out the few simple threads of which the tangled skein is composed; to disengage the abstract principles from their concrete applications; in short, to discern the spurious science from the bastard art.”
James Frazer (1854–1941) said by 1941 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“From the earliest times man has been engaged in a search for general rules whereby to turn the order of natural phenomena to his own advantage, and in the long search he has scraped together a great hoard of such maxims, some of them golden and some of them mere dross. The true or golden rules constitute the body of applied science which we call the arts; the false are magic.”
James Frazer (1854–1941) said by 1941 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“For ages the army of spirits, once so near, has been receding farther and farther from us, banished by the magic wand of science from hearth and home, from ruined cell and ivied tower, from haunted glade and lonely mere, from the riven murky cloud that belches forth lightning, and from those fairer clouds that pillow the silvery moon or fret with flakes of burning red the golden eve.”
James Frazer (1854–1941) said by 1941 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The abundance, the solidity, and the splendor of the results already achieved by science are well fitted to inspire us with a cheerful confidence in the soundness of its method.”
James Frazer (1854–1941) said by 1941 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“We are ready to expand the friendly people-to-people exchanges and enhance exchanges and cooperation in science, technology, culture, education, and other areas.”
“The Chinese and the Americans are great peoples. The Americans are optimistic, full of enterprising drive, down to earth, and innovative. In just over 200 years, they have turned the United States into the most developed country in the world, and made phenomenal achievements in economic development and science and technology.”
“The question, "How well does one read?" is a bad question...essentially unanswerable. A more proper question is "How well does one read poetry, or history, or science, or religion?" No one I have ever known is so brilliant as to have learned the languages of all fields of knowledge equally well. Most of us do not learn some of them at all.”
Neil Postman (1931–2003) said by 2003 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Magic words and incantations are as fatal to our science as they are to any other. Methods, when classified and separated, acquire their true bearing and perspective as a means to an end, not as ends in themselves. We seek to find peace of mind in the word, the formula, the ritual. The hope is an illusion.”
Benjamin N. Cardozo (1870–1938) said by 1938 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source