Over the years I have collected what seemed to me to be thoughtful and perceptive quotes and sayings most of which are related to the human condition, the nature of society and the place of humanity in the cosmos. I thought that I would share a selection of them with readers of this blog. As they have done for me, some of the quotes may give a degree of additional insight or an enhanced perspective, other sayings may even prove personally helpful. In any event, here is the first selection.
The truth is cruel, but it can be loved and it makes free those who have loved it.
[Santayana]
We have found a strange footprint on the shores of the unknown. We have devised profound theories, one after another, to account for its origin. At last we have succeeded in reconstructing the creature that made the footprint. And lo! It is our own.
[Eddington]
As far as the propositions of Mathematics refer to reality, they are not certain; as far as they are certain, they do not refer to reality.
[Einstein]
In order to seek truth it is necessary once in the course of our life to doubt as far as possible all things.
[Descartes]
Thought is only a flash between two long nights, but this flash is everything.
[Poincare]
I will act as if what I do makes a difference.
[William James]
If nature possesses a universal psyche, it is one far above the common and most impelling feelings of the human psyche. She has certainly never wept in sympathy, nor stretched a hand protectively over even the most beautiful of her creatures.
[E Marais]
The Cosmos is a system in the process of computing its own destiny.
[via J Gleick]
We have loved the stars too fondly to be fearful of the night.
[Epitaph of two amateur astronomers]
God offers to every mind the choice between truth and repose. Take which you please; you can never have both.
[Emerson]
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