A philosopher of imposing stature doesn't think in a vacuum. Even his most abstract ideas are, to some extent, conditioned by what is or is not known in the time when he lives. Alfred North Whitehead More Quotes by Alfred North Whitehead More Quotes From Alfred North Whitehead The physical doctrine of the atom has got into a state which is strongly suggestive of the epicycles of astronomy before Copernicus . Alfred North Whitehead copernicus doctrine atoms Knowledge does not keep any better than fish. Alfred North Whitehead fishes doe In its solitariness the spirit asks, What, in the way of value, is the attainment of life? And it can find no such value till it has merged its individual claim with that of the objective universe. Religion is world-loyalty. Alfred North Whitehead loyalty way world There is a quality of life which lies always beyond the mere fact of life; and when we include the quality in the fact, there is still omitted the quality of the quality. Alfred North Whitehead quality lying facts The foundations of the world are to be found, not in the cognitive experience of conscious thought, but in the aesthetic experience of everyday life. Alfred North Whitehead foundation everyday beauty The only use of knowledge of the past is to equip us for the present. Alfred North Whitehead use-of-knowledge use-it-or-lose-it past Speech is human nature itself, with none of the artificiality of written language. Alfred North Whitehead human-nature speech language On the ostensible exactitude of certain branches of human knowledge, including mathematics. The exactness is a fake. Alfred North Whitehead fake branches knowledge We think of the number "five" as applying to appropriate groups of any entities whatsoever - to five fishes, five children, five apples, five days... We are merely thinking of those relationships between those two groups which are entirely independent of the individual essences of any of the members of either group. This is a very remarkable feat of abstraction; and it must have taken ages for the human race to rise to it Alfred North Whitehead independent taken children It is impossible to meditate on time and the mystery of nature without an overwhelming emotion at the limitations of human intelligence. Alfred North Whitehead knowledge-and-power emotion impossible Not a sentence or a word is independent of the circumstances under which it is uttered. Alfred North Whitehead independent circumstances conversation The only justification in the use of force is to reduce the amount of force necessary to be used. Alfred North Whitehead force power use Spoken language is merely a series of squeaks. Alfred North Whitehead spoken-language series language Aristotle discovered all the half-truths which were necessary to the creation of science. Alfred North Whitehead creation half science A science which hesitates to forget its founders is lost. Alfred North Whitehead lost forget science Democracy...is a society in which the unbeliever feels undisturbed and at home. If there were only a half dozen unbelievers in America, their well-being would be a test of our democracy. Alfred North Whitehead safety home america It is this union of passionate interest in the detailed facts with equal devotion to abstract generalisation which forms the novelty in our present society . Alfred North Whitehead unions passionate facts Philosophy is the product of wonder. The effort after the general characterization of the world around us is the romance of human thought. Alfred North Whitehead romance effort philosophy The new tinge to modern minds is a vehement and passionate interest in the relation of general principles to irreducible and stubborn facts. All the world over and at all times there have been practical men, absorbed in 'irreducible and stubborn facts'; all the world over and at all times there have been men of philosophic temperament, who have been absorbed in the weaving of general principles. It is this union of passionate interest in the detailed facts with equal devotion to abstract generalisation which forms the novelty of our present society. Alfred North Whitehead principles mind men The study of mathematics is apt to commence in disappointment... We are told that by its aid the stars are weighed and the billions of molecules in a drop of water are counted. Yet, like the ghost of Hamlet's father, this great science eludes the efforts of our mental weapons to grasp it. Alfred North Whitehead stars disappointment father
