QuoteProject
It is a fraud of the Christian system to call the sciences human invention; it is only the application of them that is human.
Thomas Paine
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

Paine argues that science is a natural discovery, while its application is a human endeavor.

In this quote, Thomas Paine emphasizes that the principles of science are inherent in nature and not mere human creations. He suggests that while humans apply scientific knowledge in various contexts, the fundamental truths of science are universal and exist independently of human interpretation or invention.

Themes

ScienceHuman InventionApplicationTruthKnowledge

In practice

Example use cases

In a debate about the role of science in society, one could use this quote to highlight the distinction between the discovery of scientific facts and human application.

More from Thomas Paine

A long habit of not thinking a thing wrong gives it a superficial appearance of being right.
Thomas PaineRead
That God cannot lie, is no advantage to your argument, because it is no proof that priests can not, or that the Bible does not.
Thomas PaineRead
I consider the war of America against Britain as the country's war, the public's war, or the war of the people in their own behalf, for the security of their natural rights, and the protection of their own property.
Thomas PaineRead
Had the news of salvation by Jesus Christ been inscribed on the face of the sun and the moon, in characters that all nations would have understood, the whole earth had known it in twenty-four hours, and all nations would have believed it; whereas, though it is now almost two thousand years since, as they tell us, Christ came upon earth, not a twentieth part of the people of the earth know anything of it, and among those who do, the wiser part do not believe it.
Thomas PaineRead
The end of all political associations is the preservation of the natural and imprescriptible rights of man; and these rights are liberty, property, security, and resistance of oppression.
Thomas PaineRead
To reason with goverments, as they have existed for ages, is to argue with brutes. It is only from the nations themselves that reforms can be expected
Thomas PaineRead

Similar quotes

If you do not think well of Him because His qualities are beautiful then think well of Him because of the way He treats you.
Ibn Ata AllahRead
American cities are like badger holes, ringed with trash--all of them--surrounded by piles of wrecked and rusting automobiles, and almost smothered in rubbish. Everything we use comes in boxes, cartons, bins, the so-called packaging we love so much. The mountain of things we throw away are much greater than the things we use.
John SteinbeckRead
...But listen, there will be more joy in heaven over the tears of a repentant sinner than over the white robes of a hundred just men.
Victor HugoRead
It is clear that there is some difference between ends: some ends are energeia [energy], while others are products which are additional to the energeia.
AristotleRead
The Puritans left England for America not because they couldn't be Puritans in their mother country, but because they were not allowed to force others to become Puritans; in the New World, of course, they could and did.
Gore VidalRead
Fundamentally the marksman aims at himself.
D.T. SuzukiRead

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.