It is wrong for a man to say that he is certain of the objective truth of any proposition unless he can produce evidence which logically justifies that certainty.
Thomas HuxleyRead
To a clear eye the smallest fact is a window through which the infinite may be seen.
Interpretation
Small details can reveal greater truths about the universe.
Thomas Huxley's quote emphasizes the significance of observing small details in life, suggesting that even the most minor facts can provide profound insights into the larger realities of existence. It highlights the power of perception and understanding in grasping the broader dimensions of knowledge and experience.
In practice
During a lecture on the importance of attention to detail in scientific research.
It is wrong for a man to say that he is certain of the objective truth of any proposition unless he can produce evidence which logically justifies that certainty.
The child who has been taught to make an accurate elevation, plan, and section of a pint pot has had an admirable training in accuracy of eye and hand.
Let us have "sweet girl graduates" by all means. They will be none the less sweet for a little wisdom; and the "golden hair" will not curl less gracefully outside the head by reason of there being brains within.
The secret of genius is to carry the spirit of childhood into maturity.
It is the first duty of a hypothesis to be intelligible.
Of the few innocent pleasures left to men past middle life, the jamming of common sense down the throats of fools is perhaps the keenest.
Like a tongue on frozen steel, like flesh in flame β
It must be wonderful to be seventeen, and to know everything.
Pity sidesteps complexity in favor of narratives that we're comfortable with, reducing the nuances of a person's experience to a sound bite.
Don't run away from grief, oβ soul/ Look for the remedy inside the pain/ because the rose came from the thorn/ and the ruby came from a stone.
Doubts are the messengers of the Living One to the honest. They are the first knock at our door of things that are not yet, but have to be, understood. . . . Doubts must precede every deeper assurance; for uncertainties are what we first see when we look into a region hitherto unknown, unexplored, unannexed.
The Past: Our cradle, not our prison; there is danger as well as appeal in its glamour. The past is for inspiration, not imitation, for continuation, not repetition.
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