"I have suffered a great deal from writers who have quoted this or that sentence of mine either out of its context or in juxtaposition to some incongruous matter which quite distorted my meaning, or destroyed it altogether."
"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."
3 likes
Source: Science and the Modern World. Book by Alfred North Whitehead. Chapter 1: The Origins of Modern Science, 1925.
About the author
Same author
More quotes by Alfred North Whitehead
"The misconception which has haunted philosophic literature throughout the centuries is the notion of 'independent existence.' There is no such mode of existence; every entity is to be understood in terms of the way it is interwoven with the rest of the universe."
"No one who achieves success does so without acknowledging the help of others. The wise and confident acknowledge this help with gratitude."
"The art of progress is to preserve order amid change and to preserve change amid order."
"If a dog jumps into your lap, it is because he is fond of you; but if a cat does the same thing, it is because your lap is warmer."
"There are no whole truths: All truths are half-truths."