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Alfred North Whitehead

Alfred North Whitehead Quotes

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Famous Alfred North Whitehead Quotes

“In the conditions of modern life the rule is absolute, the race which does not value trained intelligence is doomed. Not all your heroism, not all your social charm, not all your wit, not all your victories on land or at sea, can move back the finger of fate. To-day we maintain ourselves. To-morrow science will have moved forward yet one more step, and there will be no appeal from the judgment which will then be pronounced on the uneducated.”

DoeMovingScienceValuesSocialRaceEducationStepsFateSeaModernLandConditionsVictoryJudgmentAbsolutesMovedFingersWitAppealsCharmHeroismDoomedModern LifeMorrowUneducated
Book:Aims of Education
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“The worth of men consists in their liability to persuasion. They can persuade and can be persuaded by the disclosure of alternatives, the better and the worse. Civilization is the maintenance of social order, by its own inherent persuasiveness as embodying the nobler alternative. The recourse to force, however, unavoidable, is a disclosure of the failure of civilization, either in the general society or in a remnant of individuals. Thus in a live civilization there is always an element of unrest.”

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Author:Alfred North Whitehead
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“The vigour of civilised societies is preserved by the widespread sense that high aims are worth while. Vigorous societies harbour a certain extravagance of objectives, so that men wander beyond the safe provision of personal gratifications. All strong interests easily become impersonal, the love of a good job well done. There is a sense of harmony about such an accomplishment, the Peace brought by something worth while. Such personal gratification arises from aim beyond personality.”

MenWellsDoneJobsCertainStrongInterestPersonalityCivilizationSafeHarmonyAimAriseObjectivesWanderAccomplishmentGood JobGratificationProvisionVigorousWell DoneExtravaganceCivilisedHarbourJob Well DoneCivilised Society
Author:Alfred North Whitehead
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“Other nations of different habits are not enemies: they are godsends. Men require of their neighbours something sufficiently akin to be understood, something sufficiently different to provoke attention, and something great enough to command admiration. We must not expect, however, all the virtues.”

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Book:Science and the Modern World
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“Nature gets credit which should in truth be reserved for ourselves: the rose for its scent, the nightingale for its song; and the sun for its radiance. The poets are entirely mistaken. They should address their lyrics to themselves and should turn them into odes of self congratulation on the excellence of the human mind.”

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Book:Science and the Modern World
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“Great art is more than a transient refreshment. It is something which adds to the permanent richness of the soul's self-attainment. It justifies itself both by its immediate enjoyment, and also by its discipline of the inmost being. Its discipline is not distinct from enjoyment but by reason of it. It transforms the soul into the permanent realization of values extending beyond its former self.”

WritingArtSoulSelfReasonValuesDisciplineArt IsAddRealizationFormerPermanentEnjoymentJustifyGreat ArtRichnessAttainmentTransientExtendingRefreshments
Book:Science and the Modern World
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