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
While I do not suggest that humanity will ever be able to dispense with its martyrs, I cannot avoid the suspicion that with a little more thought and a little less belief their number may be substantially reduced.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Humanity can reduce the number of martyrs through critical thinking rather than blind belief.
This quote by John B. S. Haldane suggests that the existence of martyrs is a persistent aspect of human history. However, he posits that if people engaged in more rational thought and questioned their beliefs instead of accepting them uncritically, the circumstances that lead to martyrdom could be diminished. Haldane emphasizes the importance of critical thinking as a means to potentially avoid unnecessary suffering and sacrifice.
Themes
MartyrsBeliefCritical ThinkingHumanityPhilosophy
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about the impact of blind faith in society, this quote can be used to highlight the need for critical examination of beliefs.
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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