The vastest knowledge of today cannot transcend the buddhi of the Rishis in ancient India; and science in its most advanced stage now is closer to Vedanta than ever before. Alfred North Whitehead More Quotes by Alfred North Whitehead More Quotes From Alfred North Whitehead Philosophy is the self-correction by consciousness of its own initial excess of subjectivity. Alfred North Whitehead excess self philosophy An enormous part of our mature experience cannot not be expressed in words. Alfred North Whitehead mature-love experience mature Speak out in acts; the time for words has passed, and only deeds will suffice. Alfred North Whitehead speaks-out deeds action It is in literature that the concrete outlook of humanity receives its expression. Alfred North Whitehead literature expression humanity The main importance of Francis Bacon's influence does not lie in any peculiar theory of inductive reasoning which he happened to express, but in the revolt against second-hand information of which he was a leader. Alfred North Whitehead leader lying hands The worst that happened to men of science was that Galileo suffered an honorable detention and a mild reproof, before dying peacefully in his bed. Alfred North Whitehead bed dying men What the learned world tends to offer is one second-hand scrap of information illustrating ideas derived from another second-hand scrap of information. The second-handedness of the learned world is the secret of its mediocrity. Alfred North Whitehead secret hands ideas The preternatural solemnity of a good many of the professionally religious is to me a point against them. Alfred North Whitehead solemnity good-man religious I would be a billionaire if I was looking to be a selfish boss. That's not me. Alfred North Whitehead boss selfish acceptance [In many circumstances,] the most important thing about a proposition is not that it be true, but that it be interesting. Alfred North Whitehead important circumstances interesting Systems, scientific or philosophic, come and go. Each method of limited understanding is at length exhausted. In its prime each system is a triumphant success: in its decay it is an obstructive nuisance. Alfred North Whitehead nuisance decay understanding Civilization advances by extending the number of important operations which we can perform without thinking of them. Alfred North Whitehead technology civilization thinking The aim of science is to seek the simplest explanation of complex facts... Seek simplicity and distrust it. Alfred North Whitehead simplicity statistics facts Order is not sufficient. What is required, is something much more complex. It is order entering upon novelty; so that the massiveness of order does not degenerate into mere repetition; and so that the novelty is always reflected upon a background of system. Alfred North Whitehead doe order science A clash of doctrine is not a disaster, it is an opportunity. Alfred North Whitehead education success opportunity From the moment of birth we are immersed in action, and can only fitfully guide it by taking thought. Alfred North Whitehead birth action ideas Each generation criticizes the unconscious assumptions made by its parent. It may assent to them, but it brings them out in the open. Alfred North Whitehead generations parent criticism The chief danger to philosophy is narrowness in the selection of evidence. Alfred North Whitehead chiefs danger philosophy The human body is an instrument for the production of art in the life of the human soul. Alfred North Whitehead body soul art Every epoch has its character determined by the way its population reacts to the material events which they encounter. Alfred North Whitehead encounters personality character
