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John Arbuthnot Quotes

Physician

John Arbuthnot, born on April 29, 1667, and died on February 27, 1735, was an influential British physician. He made significant contributions to the field of medicine, particularly in the areas of epidemiology and medical statistics.

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Famous John Arbuthnot Quotes

“It is surprising to see what superficial, inconsequential reasonings satisfy the most part of mankind. A piece of wit, a jest, a simile, or a quotation of an Author, passes for a mighty argument.... This weakness and effeminacy of mankind in being persuaded where they are delighted, have made them the sport of orators, poets, and men of wit.”

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Book:The Life and Works of John Arbuthnot, M.D.: Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians

Source: The Life and Works of John Arbuthnot, M.D.: Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians

“The Reader may here observe the Force of Numbers, which can be successfully applied, even to those things, which one would imagine are subject to no Rules. There are very few things which we know, which are not capable of being reduc'd to a Mathematical Reasoning, and when they cannot, it's a sign our Knowledge of them is very small and confus'd; and where a mathematical reasoning can be had, it's as great folly to make use of any other, as to grope for a thing in the dark when you have a Candle standing by you.”

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Author:John Arbuthnot

“The Mathematics are Friends to Religion, inasmuch as they charm the Passions, restrain the Impetuosity of the Imagination, and purge the Mind from Error and Prejudice. Vice is Error, Confusion, and false Reasoning; and all Truth is more or less opposite to it. Besides, Mathematical Studies may serve for a pleasant Entertainment for those Hours which young Men are apt to throw away upon their Vices; the Delightfulness of them being such as to make Solitude not only easy, but desirable.”

Source: An Essay on the Usefulness of Mathematical Learning: In a Letter from a Gentleman in the City, to His Friend at Oxford