The vitality of thought is in adventure. Ideas won't keep. Something must be done about them. When the idea is new, its custodians have fervor, live for it, and if need be, die for it.

Quote by Alfred North Whitehead

Topics: Alfred North Whitehead Quotes

Common sense is genius in homespun.

Common sense is genius in homespun.

It is in literature that the concrete outlook of humanity receives its expression.

It is in literature that the concrete outlook of humanity receives its expression.

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

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

Knowledge is always accompanied with accessories of emotion and purpose

Knowledge is always accompanied with accessories of emotion and purpose

Philosophy begins in wonder. And, at the end, when philosophic thought has done its best,...

Philosophy begins in wonder. And, at the end, when philosophic thought has done its best,...

No period of history has ever been great or ever can be that does not...

No period of history has ever been great or ever can be that does not...

Man can acquire accomplishments or he can become an animal, whichever he wants. God makes...

Man can acquire accomplishments or he can become an animal, whichever he wants. God makes...

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...

Periods of tranquility are seldom prolific of creative achievement. Mankind has to be stirred up.

Periods of tranquility are seldom prolific of creative achievement. Mankind has to be stirred up.

What is morality in any given time or place? It is what the majority then...

What is morality in any given time or place? It is what the majority then...

Simple solutions seldom are. It takes a very unusual mind to undertake analysis of the...

Simple solutions seldom are. It takes a very unusual mind to undertake analysis of the...

When success turns a man's head he faces failure

When success turns a man's head he faces failure

The task of a university is the creation of the future, so far as rational...

The task of a university is the creation of the future, so far as rational...

It is the business of the future to be dangerous; and it is among the...

It is the business of the future to be dangerous; and it is among the...

The total absence of humor from the Bible is one of the most singular things...

The total absence of humor from the Bible is one of the most singular things...

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...

When you're average, you're just as close to the bottom as you are the top.

When you're average, you're just as close to the bottom as you are the top.

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...

I have suffered a great deal from writers who have quoted this or that sentence...

I have suffered a great deal from writers who have quoted this or that sentence...

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

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