“The essence of analysis is surprise. When people are themselves surprised by what they say, that's when they are really making some progress.” PeopleUnderstandingProgressEssenceSurpriseAnalysis Author:Sigmund Freud
“Government, in its very essence, is opposed to all increase in knowledge. Its tendency is always towards permanence and against change...[T]he progress of humanity, far from being the result of government, has been made entirely without its aid and in the face if its constant and bitter opposition.” IfsHas BeensMadeGovernmentFacesHumanityResultsProgressEssenceIncreaseConstantAidsTendenciesBitterOppositionPermanence Author:H. L. Mencken
“The essence of science is that it is always willing to abandon a given idea, however fundamental it may seem to be, for a better one; the essence of theology is that it holds its truths to be eternal and immutable. To be sure, theology is always yielding a little to the progress of knowledge, and only a Holy Roller in the mountains of Tennessee would dare to preach today what the popes preached in the Thirteenth Century, but this yielding is always done grudgingly, and thus lingers a good while behind the event.” MayLittlesIdeasDoneSeemsTodayScienceReligionGivenBehindsProgressCenturyEventsWillingHolyMountainEternalEssenceFundamentalsDareTheologyAbandonPopeTennessee Book:Minority Report Source: Minority Report
“The essence of modernity is that progress no longer waits on genius; instead we have learned to put our faith in the organized efforts of ordinary men. Science is as old as the race, but the effective organization of science is new. Ancient science, like placer mining, was a pursuit of solitary prospectors. Nuggets of truth were found, but the total wealth of knowledge increased slowly. Modern man began to transform this world when he began to mine the hidden veins of knowledge systematically.” MenWorldFaithFoundWaitingWealthEffortRaceProgressModernThis WorldMinesGeniusOrdinaryEssenceOrganizationAncientPursuitOrganizedSolitaryVeinsModernityMiningOrdinary ManModern ManNuggetsWealth Of Knowledge Author:William Wickenden
“Fear is not at the heart of Christianity nor of our nation. The very essence of Christian faith lies in forgiveness. Christians believe that Jesus died so we may live. He took upon himself our sins so that we may be forgiven and thereby gave us a model of forgiveness for others. This is a cycle that allows civility and progress in the face of man's faults and imperfectability.” MenBelieveHeartMayChristianFacesLyingJesusNationsSinChristianityProgressModelsEssenceDiedFaultsCyclesForgivenCivilityChristian Faith Author:Cory Bernardi
“Nations don't start out. There is not a particular moment when they unveil the essence of themselves. They are always a work in progress.” MomentsNationsProgressParticularEssenceWork In Progress Author:Simon Schama
“We always come back to the same misunderstanding. The Jews because of their spirit of revolt, their exclusiveness and the Messianic tendencies which animate them are in essence revolutionaries, but they do not realize it and believe that they are working for 'progress.'...but that which they call justice is the triumph of Jewish principles in the world of which the two extremes are plutocracy and socialism. Present day Anti-Semitism is a revolt against the world of today, the product of Judaism.” WorldBelieveTwoTodaySpiritRealizingJusticePrinciplesProgressProductsEssenceJewExtremesSocialismTendenciesTriumphRevolutionaryJudaismMisunderstandingRevoltPresent DayAnti SemitismPlutocracyTwo Extremes Author:Leon V. DePoncins
“There is no progress whatever. Everything is just the same as it was thousands, and tens of thousands, of years ago. The outward form changes. The essence does not change.” YearsDoeFormProgressYears AgoEssenceTranscendentalism Author:Robert Louis Stevenson
“The history of humanity is the history of human freedom...Freedom is not, as Engels thought, "the recognition of necessity." Freedom is the opposite of necessity. Freedom is necessity overcome. Progress is, in essence, the progress of human freedom. Yes, and after all, life itself is freedom. The evolution of life is the evolution of freedom.” HumansLife IsHumanityProgressEvolutionEssenceOppositesOvercomingRecognitionHuman FreedomEngelsEvolution Of Life Author:Vasily Grossman
“Each new season grows from the leftovers from the past. That is the essence of change, and change is the basic law.” PastMovingLawGrowsProgressEvolutionEssenceSeasonsMoving ForwardLeftovers Author:Hal Borland
“Man only progresses by slowly elaborating from age to age the essence and the totality of a universe deposited within him.” MenAgeUniverseProgressEvolutionEssenceTotality Author:Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
“I think mistakes are the essence of science and law. It's impossible to conceive of either scientific progress or legal progress without understanding the important role of being wrong and of mistakes.” ThinkingImportantLawUnderstandingMistakeRolesProgressImpossibleEssenceBeing WrongScientific Progress Author:Alan Dershowitz