And if we must educate our poets and artists in science, we must educate our masters, labour and capital, in art.
John B. S. HaldaneRead
Haldane was engaged in discussion with an eminent theologian. "What inference," asked the latter, "might one draw about the nature of God from a study of his works?" Haldane replied: "An inordinate fondness for beetles."
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote humorously implies that studying nature can lead to peculiar conclusions about its creator.
John B. S. Haldane's quote highlights an irony in the study of nature: rather than affirming a grand divine design, the overwhelming diversity of beetles suggests a whimsical or trivial aspect to the intentions of their creator. It implies that deep study into nature may reveal unexpected and even humorous insights about existence that challenge traditional theological views.
Themes
NatureGodBeetlesPhilosophyHumor
In practice
Example use cases
In a lecture on the intersection of science and religion, one could use this quote to illustrate the unpredictability of nature.
More from John B. S. Haldane
All quotes →An attempt to study the evolution of living organisms without reference to cytology would be as futile as an account of stellar evolution which ignored spectroscopy.
John B. S. HaldaneRead
Until politics are a branch of science, we shall do well to regard political and social reforms as experiments rather than short-cuts to the millennium.
John B. S. HaldaneRead
A time will however come (as I believe) when physiology will invade and destroy mathematical physics, as the latter has destroyed geometry.
John B. S. HaldaneRead
My final word, before I'm done, Is "Cancer can be rather fun"- Provided one confronts the tumour with a sufficient sense of humour. I know that cancer often kills, But so do cars and sleeping pills; And it can hurt till one sweats, So can bad teeth and unpaid debts. A spot of laughter, I am sure, Often accelerates one's cure; So let us patients do our bit To help the surgeons make us fit.
John B. S. HaldaneRead
My practise as a scientist is atheistic. That is to say, when I set up an experiment I assume that no god, angel, or devil is going to interfere with its course; and this assumption has been justified by such success as I have achieved in my professional career. I should therefore be intellectually dishonest if I were not also atheistic in the affairs of the world. And I should be a coward if I did not state my theoretical views in public.
John B. S. HaldaneRead
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The world of reality has its limits; the world of imagination is boundless.
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Social justice cannot be attained by violence. Violence kills what it intends to create.
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