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 βThe 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
Men, however distinguished by external accidents or intrinsick qualities, have all the same wants, the same pains, and, as far as the senses are consulted, the same pleasures.
If you're the person whose problems were solved when you were born, your job is to try and help the people who aren't in that situation. It's very easy to say you're tired of political discussion when all of your problems are solved. I keep trying to think of it that way.
Meditation helps me feel the shape, the texture of my inner life. Here, in the quiet, I can begin to taste what Buddhists would call my true nature, what Jews call the still, small voice, what Christians call the holy spirit.
My theory is that many of the things that move us are things we long for but find hard to do.
Metaphysics is almost always an attempt to prove the incredible by an appeal to the unintelligible.
The only theism worthy of our respect believes in God not because of the way the world is made but in spite of that. The only theism that is no less profound than the Buddha's atheism is that represented in the Bible by Job and Jeremiah.