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
Philosophy begins in wonder. And, at the end, when philosophic thought has done its best, the wonder remains.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Philosophy starts with curiosity and wonder, and even after deep exploration, that sense of wonder endures.
This quote by Alfred North Whitehead encapsulates the essence of philosophy as a journey that begins with inquisitive wonder about the world. The process of philosophical thought seeks to answer fundamental questions and explore complex ideas, yet no matter how much we learn or understand, the profound wonder about existence and the universe persists, highlighting the never-ending quest for knowledge and understanding that characterizes human thought.
Themes
PhilosophyWonderCuriosityKnowledgeExploration
In practice
Example use cases
In a lecture on the fundamentals of philosophy, this quote could inspire students to embrace their natural curiosity.
More from Alfred North Whitehead
All quotes βThe 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
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