Quotations

A good quotation is an appetizer for the brain – it makes you hungry to do more thinking.

“Science is built up of facts, as a house is built of stones. But a collection of facts is no more a science than a heap of stones is a house.” – Henri Poincare, French mathematician, physicist and astronomer (1854 – 1912).

“Fools act on imagination without knowledge; pedants act on knowledge without imagination.” – Alfred North Whitehead, English mathematician and philosopher (1861 – 1947)

“In the field of observation, chance favors only the prepared mind.” – Louis Pasteur, French chemist (1822 – 1895)

“Let us first understand the facts, and then we may seek the cause.” – Aristotle (384 BC – 322 BC).

“It is easy to lie with statistics. It is hard to tell the truth without statistics.” – Andrejs Dunkels, Swedish mathematician (1939 – 1998)

“Data do not speak for themselves – they need context, and they need skeptical evaluation.” – Allen Wilcox, Physician and reproductive epidemiologist

“Among these things but one thing seems certain – that nothing certain exists, and that nothing is more pitiable or presumptuous than man.” – Pliny the Elder, Roman scholar

“The worth of man lies not in the truth which he possesses, or believes that he possesses, but in the honest endeavor which he puts forth to secure that truth; for not by the possession of, but by the search after, truth, are his powers enlarged, wherein, alone, consists his ever-increasing perfection. Possession fosters content, indolence, and pride.” – Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, German philosopher and writer (1729 – 1781)

“In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule.” – Friedrich Nietzche (1844 – 1900)

“I respect faith, but doubt is what gives you an education.” – Wilson Milner, American playwright (1876 – 1933)

“I am tomorrow, or some future day, what I establish today. I am today what I established yesterday or some previous day.” – James Joyce (1882 – 1941)

“Nothing ever really sets human nature free, but self-control.” Phyllis Bottome, English writer (1884 – 1963)

“There is little that can withstand a man who can conquer himself.” – Louis XIV (1638 – 1715)

“America has believed that in differentiation, not in uniformity, lies the path of progress. It acted on this belief; it has advanced human happiness, and it has prospered.” – Louis D. Brandeis, U.S. Supreme Court Justice (1856 – 1941)

“Beagan agus a ra go maith.” (“Say little, but say it well.”) – Irish saying

“We do not talk – we bludgeon one another with facts and theories gleaned from cursory readings of newspapers, magazines and digests.” – Henry Miller, American author (1891 – 1980)

“Begin somewhere; you cannot build a reputation on what you intend to do.” – James Russell Lowell, American essayist (1819 – 1891)

“Successful people keep moving. They make mistakes, but they don’t quit.” – Conrad Hilton, American hotelier (1887 – 1979)

“Trial by combat of wits in disputations has no attraction for the seeker after truth; to him, the appeal to experiment is the last and only test of the merit of an opinion, conjecture or hypothesis.” – Joseph Mellor, Chemist (1869 – 1938)

“The test of courage comes when we are in the minority. The test of tolerance comes when we are in the majority.” Ralph W. Sockman, American clergyman (1869 – 1970)

“Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage.” – Lao Tzu, Chinese philosopher (6th century BC)

“A great truth is a truth whose opposite is also a truth.” – Thomas Mann, German writer (1875 – 1955)

“It is better to debate an important matter without settling it than to settle it without debate.” – author unknown

“Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.

“It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.” – Aristotle (384 BC – 322 BC)

“None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom, but license.” – John Milton, English poet (1608 – 1674)

“The advancement and diffusion of knowledge … is the only guardian of true liberty.” – James Madison (1751 – 1836)

“Any fool can make things bigger, more complex and more violent. It takes a touch of genius – and a lot of courage – to move in the opposite direction.” – Albert Einstein, Theoretical physicist (1879 – 1955)

“There is no shame in not knowing; the shame lies in not finding out.” – Russian proverb

“What experience and history teach is this: that people and governments have never learned anything from history.” – Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, German philosopher (1770 – 1831)