Thomas Henry Huxley
science believe justification faith verification
“The man of science has learned to believe in justification, not by faith, but by verification.”
― Thomas Henry Huxley (1825-1895)
fact child preconceive learn content peace
“Sit down before fact as a little child, be prepared to give up every preconceived notion, follow humbly wherever and to whatever abysses nature leads, or you shall learn nothing. I have only begun to learn content and peace of mind since I have resolved at all risks to do this.”
― Thomas Henry Huxley (1825-1895)
skeptic deny possibility
“I am too much of a skeptic to deny the possibility of anything.”
― Thomas Henry Huxley (1825-1895)
rational ground attempt justify instinct
“What we call rational grounds for our beliefs are often extremely irrational attempts to justify our instincts.”
― Thomas Henry Huxley (1825-1895)
known finite unknown infinite ocean island
“The known is finite, the unknown infinite; intellectually we stand on an islet in the midst of an illimitable ocean of inexplicability. Our business in every generation is to reclaim a little more land, to add something to the extent and the solidity of our possessions. And even a cursory glance at the history of the biological sciences during the last quarter of a century is sufficient to justify the assertion, that the most potent instrument for the extension of the realm of natural knowledge which has come into men's hands, since the publication of Newton's ‘Principia’, is Darwin's ‘Origin of Species.”
― Thomas Henry Huxley (1825-1895)
chess-board world pieces phenomena rules laws universe
“The chess-board is the world; the pieces are the phenomena of the universe; the rules of the game are what we call the laws of Nature. The player on the other side is hidden from us. We know that his play is always fair, and patient. But also we know, to our cost, that he never overlooks a mistake, or makes the smallest allowance for ignorance.”
― Thomas Henry Huxley (1825-1895)
world misery ignorance work die
“We live in a world which is full of misery and ignorance, and the plain duty of each and all of us is to try to make the little corner he can influence somewhat less miserable and somewhat less ignorant than it was before he entered.”
― Thomas Henry Huxley (1825-1895)
fact child follow humble abyss nature learn
“Sit down before fact like a little child, and be prepared to give up every preconceived notion, follow humbly wherever and to whatever abyss Nature leads or you shall learn nothing.”
― Thomas Henry Huxley (1825-1895)
man wrong freedom right chain
“It is far better for a man to go wrong in freedom than to go right in chains.”
― Thomas Henry Huxley (1825-1895)
science common sense accurate observation logic
“Science is simply common sense at its best, that is, rigidly accurate in observation, and merciless to fallacy in logic.”
― Thomas Henry Huxley (1825-1895)
education ability lesson like
“Perhaps the most valuable result of all education is the ability to make yourself do the thing you have to do, when it ought to be done, whether you like it or not. It is the first lesson that ought to be learned and however early a man's training begins, it is probably the last lesson that he learns thoroughly.”
― Thomas Henry Huxley (1825-1895)
science suicide creed
“Science commits suicide when it adopts a creed.”
― Thomas Henry Huxley (1825-1895)
rung ladder rest step higher
“The rung of a ladder was never meant to rest upon, but only to hold a man's foot long enough to enable him to put the other somewhat higher.”
― Thomas Henry Huxley (1825-1895)
believe what why moral doubt scutinize
“It is not what we believe, but why we believe it. Moral responsibility lies in diligently weighing the evidence. We must actively doubt; we have to scrutinize our views, not take them on trust. No virtue attached to blindly accepting orthodoxy, however 'venerable'...”
― Thomas Henry Huxley (1825-1895)
learn something everything
“Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.”
― Thomas Henry Huxley (1825-1895)
history truth heresy superstition
“History warns us that it is the customary fate of new truths to begin as heresies and to end as superstitions.”
― Thomas Henry Huxley (1825-1895)
scientific spirit value irrational truth error
“The scientific spirit is of more value than its products, and irrationally held truths may be more harmful than reasoned errors.”
― Thomas Henry Huxley (1825-1895)
medicine suffer crime woe wisdom
“The only medicine for suffering, crime, and all the other woes of mankind, is wisdom.”
― Thomas Henry Huxley (1825-1895)
individual society advance break bond perish
“If individuality has no play, society does not advance; if individuality breaks out of all bonds, society perishes.”
― Thomas Henry Huxley (1825-1895)
education valuable yourself do like
“Perhaps the most valuable result of all education is the ability to make yourself do the thing you have to do, whether you like it or not.”
― Thomas Henry Huxley (1825-1895)
people see great little same thing
“There are some people who see a great deal and some who see very little in the same things.”
― Thomas Henry Huxley (1825-1895)
aphorism books noney literature counter science
“If I may paraphrase Hobbes's well-known aphorism, I would say that 'books are the money of Literature, but only the counters of Science.”
― Thomas Henry Huxley (1825-1895)
advance knowledge reject authority
“Every great advance in natural knowledge has involved the absolute rejection of authority.”
― Thomas Henry Huxley (1825-1895)