In order to arrive at knowledge of the motions of birds in the air, it is first necessary to acquire knowledge of the winds, which we will prove by the motions of water in itself, and this knowledge will be a step enabling us to arrive at the knowledge of beings that fly between the air and the wind.

I’m a strict, strict agnostic. It’s very different from a casual, ‚I don’t know.‘ It’s that you cannot present as knowledge something that is not knowledge. You can present it as faith, you can present it as belief, but you can’t present it as fact.

It is beyond a doubt that all our knowledge begins with experience.

I cannot discover that anyone knows enough to say definitely what is and what is not possible.

The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new discoveries, is not ‚Eureka!‘ but ‚That’s funny…‘

The advancement and diffusion of knowledge is the only guardian of true liberty.

The study and knowledge of the universe would somehow be lame and defective were no practical results to follow.

The best books… are those that tell you what you know already.

There’s nothing you can know that isn’t known.

It’s funny; recently I’ve started to notice people’s impersonations of me, and it’s basically like a hyperactive child.

As commanders and staff officers, we are coaches and sentries for our units: how can we coach anything if we don’t know a hell of a lot more than just the TTPs?

Study the past, if you would divine the future.

Democracy is the art and science of running the circus from the monkey cage.

The things I want to know are in books; my best friend is the man who’ll get me a book I ain’t read.

Let it be your constant method to look into the design of people’s actions, and see what they would be at, as often as it is practicable; and to make this custom the more significant, practice it first upon yourself.

Thought must be divided against itself before it can come to any knowledge of itself.

It is indeed a matter of great difficulty to discover, and effectually to distinguish, the true motions of particular bodies from the apparent because the parts of that immovable space, in which those motions are performed, do by no means come under the observation of our senses.

The god whom science recognizes must be a God of universal laws exclusively, a God who does a wholesale, not a retail business. He cannot accommodate his processes to the convenience of individuals.

All that mankind has done, thought or been: it is lying as in magic preservation in the pages of books.

Electrical science has revealed to us the true nature of light, has provided us with innumerable appliances and instruments of precision, and has thereby vastly added to the exactness of our knowledge.

Have you ever noticed that anybody driving slower than you is an idiot, and anyone going faster than you is a maniac?

There are three kinds of men. The one that learns by reading. The few who learn by observation. The rest of them have to pee on the electric fence for themselves.

Knowledge becomes evil if the aim be not virtuous.

The most remarkable discovery in all of astronomy is that the stars are made of atoms of the same kind as those on the earth.

Science has not yet mastered prophecy. We predict too much for the next year and yet far too little for the next 10.

When I began in 1960, individuality wasn’t an accepted thing to look for; it was about species-specific behaviour. But animal behaviour is not hard science. There’s room for intuition.

At its heart, engineering is about using science to find creative, practical solutions. It is a noble profession.

I was bold in the pursuit of knowledge, never fearing to follow truth and reason to whatever results they led, and bearding every authority which stood in their way.

When you know a thing, to hold that you know it, and when you do not know a thing, to allow that you do not know it – this is knowledge.

Take from the philosopher the pleasure of being heard and his desire for knowledge ceases.

One science only will one genius fit; so vast is art, so narrow human wit.

For, verily, great love springs from great knowledge of the beloved object, and if you little know it, you will be able to love it only little or not at all.

No notice is taken of a little evil, but when it increases it strikes the eye.

God may exist, but science can explain the universe without the need for a creator.

You’ve got to invest in the world, you’ve got to read, you’ve got to go to art galleries, you’ve got to find out the names of plants. You’ve got to start to love the world and know about the whole genius of the human race. We’re amazing people.

It doesn’t matter how beautiful your theory is, it doesn’t matter how smart you are. If it doesn’t agree with experiment, it’s wrong.

No man can reveal to you nothing but that which already lies half-asleep in the dawning of your knowledge.

Understanding science and pushing the boundaries of science is what makes me immensely satisfied.

The motions which the planets now have could not spring from any natural cause alone, but were impressed by an intelligent Agent.

Knowledge and human power are synonymous.

Science in the modern world has many uses; its chief use, however, is to provide long words to cover the errors of the rich.

The man who is a pessimist before 48 knows too much; if he is an optimist after it, he knows too little.

A capacity, and taste, for reading gives access to whatever has already been discovered by others.

If you make listening and observation your occupation you will gain much more than you can by talk.

What religion a man holds, to what race he belongs, these things are not important; the really important thing is this knowledge: the knowledge of God’s plan for men. For God has a plan, and that plan is evolution.

Libraries raised me.

We as women, we have to understand that we know more, just even instinctively, than we think we do.

I bade adieu to mechanical inventions, determined to devote the rest of my life to the study of the inventions of God.

I wash my hands of those who imagine chattering to be knowledge, silence to be ignorance, and affection to be art.

Shun no toil to make yourself remarkable by some talent or other; yet do not devote yourself to one branch exclusively. Strive to get clear notions about all. Give up no science entirely; for science is but one.

It vexes me when they would constrain science by the authority of the Scriptures, and yet do not consider themselves bound to answer reason and experiment.

Jurisdictions across the U.S. are snapping up algorithms as tools to help judges make bail and bond decisions. They’re being sold as race- and gender-neutral assessments that allow judges to use science in determining whether someone will behave if released from jail pending trial.

The observer, when he seems to himself to be observing a stone, is really, if physics is to be believed, observing the effects of the stone upon himself.

Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so.

Some scientists claim that hydrogen, because it is so plentiful, is the basic building block of the universe. I dispute that. I say there is more stupidity than hydrogen, and that is the basic building block of the universe.

By denying scientific principles, one may maintain any paradox.

He had read much, if one considers his long life; but his contemplation was much more than his reading. He was wont to say that if he had read as much as other men he should have known no more than other men.

In order for the United States to do the right things for the long term, it appears to be helpful for us to have the prospect of humiliation. Sputnik helped us fund good science – really good science: the semiconductor came out of it.

How pathetically scanty my self-knowledge is compared with, say, my knowledge of my room. There is no such thing as observation of the inner world, as there is of the outer world.

There is nothing so pitiful as a young cynic because he has gone from knowing nothing to believing nothing.

Ignorance, the root and stem of all evil.