QuoteProject
There is no nature at an instant.
Alfred North Whitehead
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

This quote suggests that nature is not static or unchanging but is instead a continuous process in flux.

Alfred North Whitehead's quote emphasizes that nature cannot be defined or understood by any singular moment or instant. Instead, it is a dynamic, ongoing process characterized by change and evolution. This perspective invites us to see the complexity and interconnectedness of natural phenomena, encouraging a deeper appreciation for the ever-changing state of the world around us.

Themes

NatureChangeProcessPhilosophyFlux

In practice

Example use cases

In a discussion about environmental changes and climate issues, this quote can be used to highlight the dynamic quality of ecosystems.

More from Alfred North Whitehead

All practical teachers know that education is a patient process of mastery of details, minute by minute, hour by hour, day by day.
Alfred North WhiteheadRead
The vitality of thought is in adventure. Idea's won't keep. Something must be done about them. When the idea is new, its custodians have fervour, live for it, and, if need be, die for it. Their inheritors receive the idea, perhaps now strong and successful, but without inheriting the fervour; so the idea settles down to a comfortable middle age, turns senile, and dies.
Alfred North WhiteheadRead
The guiding motto in the life of every natural philosopher should be, seek simplicity and distrust it.
Alfred North WhiteheadRead
As society is now constituted, a literal adherence to the moral precepts scattered throughout the Gospels would mean sudden death.
Alfred North WhiteheadRead
I consider Christianity to be one of the great disasters of the human race... It would be impossible to imagine anything more un - Christianlike than theology.
Alfred North WhiteheadRead
Inventive genius requires pleasurable mental activity as a condition for its vigorous exercise. "Necessity is the mother of invention" is a silly proverb. "Necessity is the mother of futile dodges" is much closer to the truth. The basis of growth of modern invention is science, and science is almost wholly the outgrowth of pleasurable intellectual curiosity.
Alfred North WhiteheadRead

Similar quotes

A wide and vague impression exists that so-called Eastern religion is more contemplative, innocuous, and humane than the proselytizing monotheisms of the West. Don't believe a word of this: try asking the children of Indochina who were dumped by their parents for inherited deformities that were attributed to sins in a previous 'life.
Christopher HitchensRead
To be with God is really to be involved in some enormous, overwhelming desire, and joy, and power which you cannot control, which controls you.
James A. BaldwinRead
I cannot too often repeat that Democracy is a word the real gist of which still sleeps, quite unawakened, notwithstanding the resonance and the many angry tempests out of which its syllables have come, from pen or tongue. It is a great word, whose history, I suppose, remains unwritten because that history has yet to be enacted.
Walt WhitmanRead
Who is also aware of the tremendous risk involved in faith - when he nevertheless makes the leap of faith - this [is] subjectivity ... at its height.
Soren KierkegaardRead
Masonic ideas are the precious jewels of Speculative Masons; the should be kept bright and sparkling for all the brethren to see and to admire. As such, they should be the special care of Masonic leaders particularly those who teach and interpret the philosophy of Freemasonry.
Benjamin FranklinRead
Prohibition is an attempted cure that makes matters worse - for both the addict and the rest of us.
Milton FriedmanRead

A little wisdom, now and then

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