QuoteProject
One man's 'magic' is another man's engineering. 'Supernatural' is a null word.
Robert A. Heinlein
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

What one person perceives as magic, another sees as the result of engineering or science.

This quote highlights the subjective nature of perception and understanding. It suggests that phenomena we might label as 'magic' can often be explained through scientific principles and engineering, emphasizing that the distinction between what is considered supernatural and what is understood through rational thought is often arbitrary and dependent on individual perspective.

Themes

MagicEngineeringSciencePerceptionSubjectivity

In practice

Example use cases

In a speech about innovation, one might use this quote to emphasize the groundbreaking nature of new technologies.

More from Robert A. Heinlein

The most important lesson in the writing trade is that any manuscript is improved if you cut away the fat.
Robert A. HeinleinRead
An armed society is a polite society.
Robert A. HeinleinRead
Democracy is a poor system of government at best; the only thing that can honestly be said in its favor is that it is eight times as good as any other method the human race has ever tried.
Robert A. HeinleinRead
Long human words (the longer the better) were easy, unmistakable, and rarely changed their meanings . . . but short words were slippery, unpredictable, changing their meanings without any pattern.
Robert A. HeinleinRead
Progress is made by lazy men looking for easier ways to do things.
Robert A. HeinleinRead
When a place gets crowded enough to require ID's, social collapse is not far away. It is time to go elsewhere. The best thing about space travel is that it made it possible to go elsewhere.
Robert A. HeinleinRead

Similar quotes

Contrariwise, if it was so, it might be; and if it were so, it would be; but as it isn't, it ain't. That's logic.
Lewis CarrollRead
It is more important to be free than to be happy.
Tom RobbinsRead
Philosophy attempts, not to discover new truths about the world, but to gain a clear view of what we already know and believe about it. That depends upon attaining a more explicit grasp of the structure of our thoughts; and that in turn on discovering how to give a systematic account of the working of language, the medium in which we express our thoughts.
Michael DummettRead
All restraints upon man's natural liberty, not necessary for the simple maintenance of justice, are of the nature of slavery, and differ from each other only in degree.
Lysander SpoonerRead
Everything passes. Nobody gets anything for keeps. And that's how we've got to live.
Haruki MurakamiRead
A hallucination is a fact, not an error; what is erroneous is a judgment based upon it.
Bertrand RussellRead

A little wisdom, now and then

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