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.

Quote by Alfred North Whitehead

Topics: Alfred North Whitehead Quotes

That a national university in this country is a thing to be desired, has always...

That a national university in this country is a thing to be desired, has always...

Familiar things happen, and mankind does not bother about them. It requires a very unusual...

Familiar things happen, and mankind does not bother about them. It requires a very unusual...

Fools act on imagination without knowledge, pedants act on knowledge without imagination.

Fools act on imagination without knowledge, pedants act on knowledge without imagination.

Our minds are finite, and yet even in these circumstances of finitude we are surrounded...

Our minds are finite, and yet even in these circumstances of finitude we are surrounded...

The absolute pacifist is a bad citizen; times come when force must be used to...

The absolute pacifist is a bad citizen; times come when force must be used to...

Seek simplicity but distrust it.

Seek simplicity but distrust it.

We cannot think first and act afterward. From the moment of birth we are immersed...

We cannot think first and act afterward. From the moment of birth we are immersed...

An enormous part of our mature experience cannot not be expressed in words.

An enormous part of our mature experience cannot not be expressed in words.

The silly question is the first intimation of some totally new development

The silly question is the first intimation of some totally new development

We think in generalities, but we live in detail.

We think in generalities, but we live in detail.

The vitality of thought is in adventure. Ideas won't keep. Something must be done about...

The vitality of thought is in adventure. Ideas won't keep. Something must be done about...

Civilization advances by extending the number of important operations which we can perform without thinking...

Civilization advances by extending the number of important operations which we can perform without thinking...

The Day of Judgment is an important notion: but that Day is always with us

The Day of Judgment is an important notion: but that Day is always with us

The art of progress is to preserve order amid change.

The art of progress is to preserve order amid change.

Fundamental progress has to do with the reinterpretation of basic ideas.

Fundamental progress has to do with the reinterpretation of basic ideas.

Not ignorance, but ignorance of ignorance is the death of knowledge

Not ignorance, but ignorance of ignorance is the death of knowledge

Intelligence is quickness to apprehend as distinct from ability, which is capacity to act wisely...

Intelligence is quickness to apprehend as distinct from ability, which is capacity to act wisely...

Art attracts us only by what it reveals of our most secret self.

Art attracts us only by what it reveals of our most secret self.

Human life is driven forward by its dim apprehension of notions too general for its...

Human life is driven forward by its dim apprehension of notions too general for its...

Speak out in acts; the time for words has passed, and only deeds will suffice.

Speak out in acts; the time for words has passed, and only deeds will suffice.