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Unsolved Problems Quotes

Browse 36 quotes about Unsolved Problems.

Unsolved Problems Quotes

“We know a great deal, but our ignorance is sobering and boundless. With each step forward, with each problem which we solve, we not only discover new and unsolved problems, but we also discover that where we believed that we were standing on firm and safe ground, all things are, in truth, insecure and in a state of flux.”

KnowsStatesProblemDealsStepsIgnoranceSafeStandingAll ThingsSolveFirmInsecureBoundlessSteps ForwardFluxUnsolved Problems
Author:Karl Popper
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“The book Dynamic Programming by Richard Bellman is an important, pioneering work in which a group of problems is collected together at the end of some chapters under the heading "Exercises and Research Problems," with extremely trivial questions appearing in the midst of deep, unsolved problems. It is rumored that someone once asked Dr. Bellman how to tell the exercises apart from the research problems, and he replied: "If you can solve it, it is an exercise; otherwise it's a research problem."”

IfsImportantBookEndsProblemTogetherGroupsExerciseResearchMathematicsSolveProgrammingMidstChaptersDrsHeadingsAppearingPioneeringUnsolved Problems
Author:Donald Knuth
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“The child knows only that he engages in play because it is enjoyable. He isn't aware of his need to play--a need which has its source in the pressure of unsolved problems. Nor does he know that his pleasure in playing comes from a deep sense of well-being that is the direct result of feeling in control of things, in contrast to the rest of his life, which is managed by his parents or other adults.”

KnowsNeedsWellsChildrenDoePlayFeelingsProblemParentPleasureResultsSourceAdultsDirectPressureWell BeingContrastEnjoyableUnsolved Problems
Author:Bruno Bettelheim
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“Our teaching of mathematics revolves around a fundamental conflict. Rightly or wrongly, students are required to master a series of mathematical concepts and techniques, and anything that might divert them from doing so is deemed unnecessary. Putting mathematics into its cultural context, explaining what is has done for humanity, telling the story of its historical development, or pointing out the wealth of unsolved problems or even the existence of topics that do not make it into school textbooks leaves less time to prepare for the exam. So most of these things aren't discussed.”

DoneStoriesProblemMightSchoolHumanityWealthExistenceEducationTeachingStudentsMastersDevelopmentConflictConceptsMathematicsFundamentalsHistoricalSeriesMathTechniqueMathematicalUnnecessaryTopicsPointingExplainingTextbooksExamUnsolved Problems
Author:Ian Stewart
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“A capacity, and taste, for reading, gives access to whatever has already been discovered by others. It is the key, or one of the keys, to the already solved problems. And not only so. It gives a relish, and facility, for successfully pursuing the [yet] unsolved ones.”

GivingProblemReadingKeysTasteCapacityAccessFacilityRelishSolved ProblemsUnsolved ProblemsTeachability
Book:Abraham Lincoln: Selected Speeches and Writings
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“Concern for man himself and his fate must always form the chief interest of all technical endeavors, concern for the great unsolved problems of the organization of labor and the distribution of goods-in order that the creations of our mind shall be a blessing and not a curse to mankind. Never forget this in the midst of your diagrams and equations.”

MenMindProblemFormScienceOrderCulturePoliticsInterestJusticeForgetFateMankindCreationBlessingDiversityConcernLaborOrganizationSocial JusticeChiefsCurseMidstGoodsNever ForgetEndeavorEquationsDistributionDiagramsApplied ScienceUnsolved Problems
Author:Albert Einstein
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“All the more recent work on alkaptonuria has... strengthened the belief that the homogentisic acid excreted is derived from tyrosin, but why alkaptonuric individuals pass the benzene ring of their tyrosin unbroken and how and where the peculiar chemical change from tyrosin to homogentisic acid is brought about, remain unsolved problems.”

ProblemIndividualBeliefRingsChemicalsPeculiarAcidUnbrokenHaving StrengthBiochemistryUnsolved ProblemsBenzene
Author:Archibald Garrod
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“There are still many unsolved problems about bird life, among which are the age that birds attain, the exact time at which some birds acquire their adult dress, and the changes which occur in this with years. Little, too, is known about the laws and routes of bird migration, and much less about the final disposition of the untold thousands which are annually produced.”

YearsLittlesStillsProblemAgeLawScienceKnownBirdResearchAdultsDressesFinalsAcquireRoutesDispositionMigrationUnsolved Problems
Author:Paul Bartsch
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“Empathic listening takes time, but it doesn't take anywhere near as much time as it takes to back up and correct misunderstandings when you're already miles down the road; to redo; to live with unexpressed and unsolved problems; to deal with the results of not giving people psychological air.”

PeopleGivingProblemResultsDealsAirListeningEmpathyMilesPsychologicalTake TimeMisunderstandingDown The RoadUnsolved ProblemsRedos
Book:The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change
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“Although the cooking of food presents some unsolved problems, the quick warming of cooked food and the thawing of frozen food both open up some attractive uses. ... There is no important reason why the the housewife of the future should not purchase completely frozen meals at the grocery store just as she buys quick frozen vegetables. With a quick heating, high-frequency unit in her kitchen, food preparation from a pre-cooked, frozen meal becomes a simple matter.”

ShouldImportantMatterReasonUseProblemScienceSimpleCookingStoresPreparationReason WhyAttractiveMealsKitchenVegetablesUnitsFrozenFrequencyGroceriesHousewifeGrocery StoresHeatingUnsolved ProblemsThawing
Author:Chauncey Guy Suits
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“It is one of our most exciting discoveries that local discovery leads to a complex of further discoveries. Corollary to this we find that we no sooner get a problem solved than we are overwhelmed with a multiplicity of additional problems in a most beautiful payoff of heretofore unknown, previously unrecognized, & as-yet unsolved problems.”

ProblemBeautifulDiscoveryExcitingComplexesLocalsOverwhelmedSpectacularMultiplicityPayoffUnsolved Problems
Book:Synergetics: Explorations in the Geometry of Thinking
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“How wrong it is to use God as a stop-gap for the incompleteness of our knowledge. . . . We are to find God in what we know, not in what we don't know; God wants us to realize his presence, not in unsolved problems but in those that are solved. . . . God is no stop-gap; he must be recognized as the center of life, not when we are at the end of our resources.”

KnowsWantEndsGodUseProblemRealizingResourcesGapsWant UKnowing GodIncompletenessUnsolved Problems
Author:Dietrich Bonhoeffer
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“It is impressive to see a person who has been battered by life in many ways, who is torn by a variety of unsolved problems, who may be alienated from many aspects of the self-but who is still fighting, still struggling, still striving to find the path to a fulfilling existence, moved by the wisdom of knowing, "I am more than my problems."”

WayMayPersonsHas BeensStillsSelfProblemFightingExistenceStruggleKnowingPathAspectMovedStriveVarietyFulfillingTornImpressiveBatteredUnsolved Problems
Book:Nathaniel Brandens Self-Esteem Every Day: Reflections on Self-Esteem and Spirituality
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“For me, consciousness is the most interesting unsolved problem of science, and, in fact, we may never know what it is about a particular arrangement of neurons that gives rise to consciousness. Our consciousness, like the air we breathe or like the passage of time, is central to our existence as intelligent beings.”

KnowsGivingMayFactsProblemInterestingExistenceConsciousnessAirParticularIntelligentBreathePassagesArrangementsMost InterestingPassage Of TimeNeuronsUnsolved Problems
Author:Alan Lightman
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“Experience hobbles progress and leads to abandonment of difficult problems; it encourages the initiated to walk on the shady side of the street in the direction of experiences that have been pleasant. Youth without experience attacks the unsolved problems which maturer age with experience avoids, and from the labors of youth comes progress. Youth has dreams and visions, and will not be denied.”

Has BeensProblemDreamAgeScienceDifficultSidesWalksVisionProgressStreetsYouthLaborExperiencePleasantDeniedAbandonmentShadyDifficult ProblemsUnsolved Problems
Book:In the time of Henry Jacob Bigelow
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