Nature smiles at the union of freedom and equality in our utopias. For freedom and equality are sworn and everlasting enemies, and when one prevails the other dies.
Every science begins as philosophy and ends as art; it arises in hypothesis and flows into achievement.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote suggests that scientific endeavors start with philosophical questions and ideas, ultimately resulting in artistic achievements.
Will Durant's quote illustrates the journey of science, showing that it begins with philosophical inquiries that inspire hypotheses. These theories then translate into practical achievements, reflecting creativity and artistry in unfurling the complexities of the world around us. It emphasizes the interconnectedness of thought, experimentation, and artistic expression in the quest for knowledge.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
In a lecture about the evolution of scientific thought, one could use this quote to emphasize the importance of philosophical questioning.
More from Will Durant
All quotes →The greatest question of our time is not communism vs. individualism, not Europe vs. America, not even the East vs. the West; it is whether men can bear to live without God.
If we have never been amazed by the very fact that we exist, we are squandering the greatest fact of all.
Philosophy is harmonized knowledge making a harmonious life; it is the self-discipline which lifts us to serenity and freedom. Knowledge is power, but only wisdom is liberty.
If you wish to be loved, be modest; if you wish to be admired, be proud; if you wish both, combine external modesty with internal pride.
When liberty destroys order the hunger for order will destroy liberty.
Similar quotes
The cause of freedom is not the cause of a race or a sect, a party or a class - it is the cause of humankind, the very birthright of humanity.
Tell me what you yearn for and I shall tell you who you are. We are what we reach for, the idealized image that drives our wandering.
At the back of my mind I had a sense of us sitting about waiting for some terrible event, and then I would remember that it had already happened.
And just as there are no crimes so detestable that they can prevent the gift of grace, so too there can be no works so eminent that they are owed in condign [deserved] judgment that which is given freely. Would it not be a debasement of redemption in Christ’s blood, and would not God’s mercy be made secondary to human works, if justification, which is through grace, were owed in view of preceding merits, so that it were not the gift of a Donor, but the wages of a laborer?
Here rests his head upon the lap of earth, A youth to fortune and to fame unknown: Fair Science frown'd not on his humble birth, And Melancholy mark'd him for her own.
A church is a soul-saving company or it is nothing.