Do not imagine that mathematics is hard and crabbed, and repulsive to common sense. It is merely the etherealization of common sense.
Lord KelvinRead
We only know God in His works, but we are forced by science to admit and to believe with absolute confidence in a Directive Power-in an influence other than physical, or dynamical, or electrical forces.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote expresses the idea that understanding God comes through observing the natural world, while also acknowledging a greater influence beyond physical forces.
Lord Kelvin emphasizes that while our knowledge of God is limited to what we observe in His creations, science compels us to recognize the existence of a higher Directive Power that transcends mere physical phenomena. This suggests a harmonious relationship between science and belief, advocating for the acknowledgment of spiritual influences alongside empirical observations.
Themes
GodScienceDirective PowerNatureSpirituality
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be shared during a discussion on the relationship between faith and scientific exploration.
More from Lord Kelvin
All quotes →In science there is only physics; all the rest is stamp collecting.
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There is nothing new to be discovered in physics now. All that remains is more and more precise measurement.
Lord KelvinRead
Let nobody be afraid of true freedom of thought. Let us be free in thought and criticism; but, with freedom, we are bound to come to the conclusion that science is not antagonistic to religion, but a help to it.
Lord KelvinRead
I need scarcely say that the beginning and maintenance of life on earth is absolutely and infinitely beyond the range of all sound speculation in dynamical science. The only contribution of dynamics to theoretical biology is absolute negation of automatic commencement or automatic maintenance of life.
Lord KelvinRead
Science is bound, by the everlasting vow of honour, to face fearlessly every problem which can be fairly presented to it.
Lord KelvinRead
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