Analogies quotes
78 quotes on this topic — from poets, philosophers, and thinkers across history.
"If genius has any common denominator, I would propose breadth of interest and the ability to construct fruitful analogies between fields."
"We own the Federal Reserve. There is this misconception that the Federal Reserve is some private entity. But if I might give an analogy here, we - U.S. taxpayers - own all the stock in the Federal Reserve."
"I tend to approach things from a physics framework. And physics teaches you to reason from first principles rather than by analogy."
"Growth comes through analogy; through seeing how things connect, rather than only seeing how they might be different."
"Science is nothing but the finding of analogy, identity, in the most remote parts."
Explore further
Browse quotes that often appear alongside analogies — connected by shared ideas and recurring themes.
Quote collection
Follow a thought to its author, or read the full quote page.
"One of the things that I hope will distinguish Amazon.com is that we continue to be a company that defies easy analogy. This requires a lot of innovation, and innovation requires a lot of random walk."
"Divine life is in touch with the whole universe on the analogy of the soul's contact with the body."
"Analogy is even slipperier than logic."
"I do not understand this analogy," Mencheres muttered."
"Poetry is a dissociating and anarchic force which through analogy, associations and imagery, thrives on the destruction of known relationships."
"A useful analogy is to see traditional societies as relying on instantaneous (or minimally delayed) and constantly replenished solar income, while modern civilization is withdrawing accumulated solar capital at rates that will exhaust it in a tiny fraction of the time that was needed to create it."
"... one of the main functions of an analogy or model is to suggest extensions of the theory by considering extensions of the analogy, since more is known about the analogy than is known about the subject matter of the theory itself ... A collection of observable concepts in a purely formal hypothesis suggesting no analogy with anything would consequently not suggest either any directions for its own development."
"Though analogy is often misleading, it is the least misleading thing we have."
"The ego is first and foremost a bodily ego; it is not merely a surface entity, but is itself the projection of a surface. If we wish to find an anatomical analogy for it we can best identify it with the 'cortical homunculus' of the anatomists, which stands on its head in the cortex, sticks up its heels, faces"
"The only analogy I have before me is Socrates. My task is a Socratic task, to revise the definition of what it is to be a Christian. For my part I do not call myself a "Christian" (thus keeping the ideal free), but I am able to make it evident that the others are still less than I."
"Analogies are figures intended to serve as fatal weapons if they succeed, and as innocent toys if they fail."
"There is then no analogy whatever between the operations of the Chess-Player, and those of the calculating machine of Mr. Babbage , and if we choose to call the former a pure machine we must be prepared to admit that it is, beyond all comparison, the most wonderful of the inventions of mankind."
"Identification of rhythm as the casual counterpart of life; wherever there is some life, only perceptible to us when the analogies are sufficiently close."
"The influence exercised over the human mind by apt analogies is and has always been immense. Whether they translate an established truth into simple language or whether they adventurously aspire to reveal the unknown, they are among the most formidable weapons of the rhetorician."
"Apt analogies are among the most formidable weapons of the rhetorician."
"And when someone suggests you believe in a proposition, you must first examine it to see whether it is acceptable, because our reason was created by God, and whatever pleases our reason can but please divine reason, of which, for that matter, we know only what we infer from the processes of our own reason by analogy and often by negation."
"E-books are impervious to analogy."
"There is an analogy between conservation and education reform. The coalition around education reform is the biggest bipartisan thing going in this state right now. We need to recapture the big bipartisan spirit for conservation."
"Put aside your need for a step-by-step manual and instead realize that analogies are your best friend."
"Life is like a box of terrible analogies."
