WIST Quotations

Feynman, Richard -- Speech (1955-11), “The Value of Science,” National Academy of Sciences Autumn Meeting, California Institute of Technology

Dave — Wed, 14 Oct 2026 20:20:25 +0000

The same thrill, the same awe and mystery, come again and again when we look at any problem deeply enough. With more knowledge comes deeper, more wonderful mystery, luring one on to penetrate deeper still. Never concerned that tht answer may prove disappointing, but with pleasure and confidence we turn over each new stone to find unimagined strangeness leading on to more wonderful questions and mysteries — certainly a grand adventure!

Richard Feynman (1918–1988) American physicist
Speech (1955-11), “The Value of Science,” National Academy of Sciences Autumn Meeting, California Institute of Technology

Collected in (1955-12), "The Value of Science," Engineering and Science, Vol. 19

Forster, E. M. -- A Passage to India, ch. 14 (1924)

Dave — Wed, 08 Aug 2018 20:18:42 +0000

Most of life is so dull that there is nothing to be said about it, and the books and talks that would describe it as interesting are obliged to exaggerate, in the hope of justifying their own existence. Inside its cocoon of work or social obligation, the human spirit slumbers for the most part, registering the distinction between pleasure and pain, but not nearly as alert as we pretend. There are periods in the most thrilling day during which nothing happens, and though we continue to exclaim, “I do enjoy myself,” or, “I am horrified,” we are insincere. “As far as I feel anything, it is enjoyment, horror” — it’s no more than that, really, and a perfectly adjusted organism would be silent.

E. M. Forster (1879–1970) English novelist, essayist, critic, librettist [Edward Morgan Forster]
A Passage to India, ch. 14 (1924)

Byron, George Gordon, Lord -- Don Juan, Canto 2, st. 179 (1819)

Dave — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 08:35:56 +0000

Man, being reasonable, must get drunk;
The best of life is but intoxication;
Glory, the grape, love, gold, in these are sunk
The hopes of all men, and of every nation.

George Gordon, Lord Byron (1788–1824) English poet
Don Juan, Canto 2, st. 179 (1819)