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Alfred North Whitehead

Alfred North Whitehead Quotes

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Famous Alfred North Whitehead Quotes

“Religion is the vision of something which stands beyond, behind, and within, the passing flux of immediate things; something which is real, and yet waiting to be realised; something which is a remote possibility, and yet the greatest of present facts; something that gives meaning to all that passes, and yet eludes apprehension; something whose possession is the final good, and yet is beyond all reach; something which is the ultimate ideal, and the hopeless quest.”

GivingRealFactsWaitingBehindsVisionPossibilityIdealsUltimateFinalsPossessionPassingPassingsHopelessQuestsRealisedApprehensionFluxElude
Author:Alfred North Whitehead
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“The aim of science is to seek the simplest explanation of complex facts. We are apt to fall into the error of thinking that the facts are simple because simplicity is the goal of our quest. The guiding motto in the life of every natural philosopher should be ``Seek simplicity and distrust it.''”

ThinkingShouldFactsScienceFallGoalNaturalSimpleAimErrorsComplexesSimplicityPhilosopherExplanationQuestsDistrustMottoSimplestSimple And Complex
Book:The Concept of Nature: Tarner Lectures
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“It is impossible not to feel stirred at the thought of the emotions of man at certain historic moments of adventure and discovery - Columbus when he first saw the Western shore, Pizarro when he stared at the Pacific Ocean, Franklin when the electric spark came from the string of his kite, Galileo when he first turned his telescope to the heavens. Such moments are also granted to students in the abstract regions of thought, and high among them must be placed the morning when Descartes lay in bed and invented the method of co-ordinate geometry.”

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Author:Alfred North Whitehead
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“The vitality of thought is in adventure. Idea's won't keep. Something must be done about them. When the idea is new, its custodians have fervour, live for it, and, if need be, die for it. Their inheritors receive the idea, perhaps now strong and successful, but without inheriting the fervour; so the idea settles down to a comfortable middle age, turns senile, and dies.”

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Book:Dialogues of Alfred North Whitehead
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“The study of mathematics is apt to commence in disappointment... We are told that by its aid the stars are weighed and the billions of molecules in a drop of water are counted. Yet, like the ghost of Hamlet's father, this great science eludes the efforts of our mental weapons to grasp it.”

ScienceFatherStarsWaterEffortStudyWeaponsAccountsMathematicsDisappointmentMathAidsBillionsGhostMathematicalMoleculesMath And ScienceEludeDrop Of WaterGreat MathMath Is LikeStudying Mathematics
Author:Alfred North Whitehead
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