We live in the best of all possible worlds
Gottfried LeibnizRead
He who understands Archimedes and Apollonius will admire less the achievements of the foremost men of later times.
Interpretation
Understanding past knowledge makes one appreciate modern achievements less.
This quote by Gottfried Leibniz suggests that a deep understanding of the works of great thinkers like Archimedes and Apollonius allows one to see the foundations of modern accomplishments, which might lead to a diminished sense of admiration for contemporary figures. It implies that historical intellectual achievements are so profound that they overshadow the contributions of more recent individuals.
In practice
In a lecture about the importance of historical knowledge in shaping modern science.
We live in the best of all possible worlds
I am so in favor of the actual infinite that instead of admitting that Nature abhors it, as is commonly said, I hold that Nature makes frequent use of it everywhere, in order to show more effectively the perfections of its Author.
It is unworthy of excellent men to lose hours like slaves in the labor of calculation which could be relegated to anyone else if machines were used.
According to their [Newton and his followers] doctrine, God Almighty wants to wind up his watch from time to time: otherwise it would cease to move. He had not, it seems, sufficient foresight to make it a perpetual motion. Nay, the machine of God's making, so imperfect, according to these gentlemen; that he is obliged to clean it now and then by an extraordinary concourse, and even to mend it, as clockmaker mends his work.
..This is why the ultimate reason of things must lie in a necessary substance, in which the differentiation of the changes only exists eminently as in their source; and this is what we call God.
...a distinction must be made between true and false ideas, and that too much rein must not be given to a man's imagination under pretext of its being a clear and distinct intellection.
To acknowledge you were wrong yesterday is to acknowledge you are wiser today.
We can't have full knowledge all at once. We must start by believing; then afterwards we may be led on to master the evidence for ourselves.
I have no regrets, because I've done everything I could to the best of my ability.
Learning to stop sweating the small stuff involves deciding what things to engage in and what things to ignore. From a certain perspective, life can be described as a series of mistakes, one right after another with a little space in between.
If we could choose, we'd always want to be in flow and thriving, but that's not realistic. Growth has levels, and learning how to navigate them is important.
The fact to which we have got to cling, as to a lifebelt, is that it is possible to be a normal decent person and yet be fully alive.
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