Science doesn’t supply happiness; but neither does its lack. The same can be said of social utopias: they aren’t created by science, but neither does lack of science provide them. Science has cast up dangerous and cruel knowledge, which has been exploited for warfare and dictatorial power; but so have cultures so little gifted with scientists that they either make do with imported weapons or rely on clubs, axes, and daggers. Scientific information about our mistakes — for instance, that deforestation invites mud slides and deserts, that overfishing depletes fish stocks — doesn’t guarantee we will avoid such mistakes or correct them, but that is owing to failure to heed what science uncovers.
Jane Jacobs (1916-2006) American-Canadian journalist, author, urban theorist, activist
Dark Age Ahead, ch. 3 “Science Abandoned” (2004)
(Source)
Quotations about:
application
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Nothing in education is so astonishing as the amount of ignorance it accumulates in the form of inert facts.
Henry Adams (1838-1918) American journalist, historian, academic, novelist
The Education of Henry Adams, ch. 25 (1907)
(Source)
We must not forget that when radium was discovered no one knew that it would prove useful in hospitals. The work was one of pure science. And this is a proof that scientific work must not be considered from the point of view of the direct usefulness of it. It must be done for itself, for the beauty of science, and then there is always the chance that a scientific discovery may become like the radium a benefit for humanity.
Marie Curie (1867-1934) Polish-French physicist and chemist [b. Maria Salomea Skłodowska]
“The Discovery of Radium,” lecture, Vassar College (1921-05-14)
(Source)
We all have a pretty clear understanding of goodness, but it seldom applies to the situation we’re in at the moment.
Mignon McLaughlin (1913-1983) American journalist and author
The Neurotic’s Notebook, ch. 5 (1963)
(Source)
An interface is humane if it is responsive to human needs and considerate of human frailties.
Jef Raskin (1943-2005) American computer scientist, writer
The Humane Interface, 1-6 (2000)
(Source)
Write. No amount of self-inflicted misery, altered states, black pullovers or being publicly obnoxious will ever add up to your being a writer. Writers write. On you go.
Alison Louise "A. L." Kennedy (b. 1965) Scottish writer and comedian
In “Ten Rules for Writing Fiction,” The Guardian (20 Feb 2010)
(Source)
Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Willing is not enough; we must do.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) German poet, statesman, scientist
(Attributed)
Used by Bruce Lee, and sometimes attributed to him.
The possession of facts is knowledge; the use of them is wisdom; the choice of them, education. Knowledge is not power but riches, and like them, has its value in spending.
Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) American political philosopher, polymath, statesman, US President (1801-09)
(Spurious)
Widely attributed to Jefferson, but with no citation or written record that can be found.
