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Quote by William Cowper

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William Cowper
William Cowper

William Cowper, a renowned English poet, was born on November 26, 1731, and died on April 25, 1800. Known for his lyrical and satirical poems, Cowper's works held a significant place in English literature during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. more

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“All possible truth is practical. To ask whether our conception of chair or table corresponds to the real chair or table apart from the uses to which they may be put, is as utterly meaningless and vain as to inquire whether a musical tone is red or yellow. No other conceivable relation than this between ideas and things can exist. The unknowable is what I cannot react upon. The active part of our nature is not only an essential part of cognition itself, but it always has a voice in determining what shall be believed and what rejected.”

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Author:G. Stanley Hall
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“Although this may seem a paradox, all exact science is dominated by the idea of approximation. When a man tells you that he knows the exact truth about anything, you are safe in inferring that he is an inexact man. Every careful measurement in science is always given with the probable error ... every observer admits that he is likely wrong, and knows about how much wrong he is likely to be.”

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Author:Bertrand Russell
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“As regards authority I so proceed. Boetius says in the second prologue to his Arithmetic, 'If an inquirer lacks the four parts of mathematics, he has very little ability to discover truth.' And again, 'Without this theory no one can have a correct insight into truth.' And he says also, 'I warn the man who spurns these paths of knowledge that he cannot philosophize correctly.' And Again, 'It is clear that whosoever passes these by, has lost the knowledge of all learning.'”

IfsMenLittlesTruthLostAbilityPathClearFourHe ManTheoryAuthorityRegardMathematicsInsightArithmeticPrologueInquirers
Book:Opus Majus, Volumes 1 and 2
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“Dissections daily convince us of our ignorance of the seats of diseases, and cause us to blush at our prescriptions. How often are we disappointed in our expectation from the most certain and powerful of our remedies, by the negligence or obstinacy of our patients! What mischief have we done under the belief of false facts and false theories! We have assisted in multiplying diseases. We have done more — we have increased their mortality.”

IfsDoneFactsTruthBeliefCausesLeaderIgnoranceTheoryDrugDiseaseConvinceMortalityIndifferentMischiefPrescriptionsMultiplyingConvince UsDissection
Author:Benjamin Rush
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