To his dog, every man is Napoleon; hence the constant popularity of dogs.
All our science is just a cookery book, with an orthodox theory of cooking that nobody's allowed to question, and a list of recipes that mustn't be added to except by special permission from the head cook.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Huxley criticizes the limitations placed on scientific inquiry, suggesting that it resembles a rigid cookbook with unchangeable rules.
In this quote, Aldous Huxley draws a parallel between science and a cookery book, criticizing the rigid and dogmatic nature often associated with scientific theories. He suggests that just as a cookery book prescribes fixed recipes and discourages deviation, the scientific community may impose strict guidelines that inhibit creativity and innovation, ultimately questioning the very essence and evolution of scientific knowledge.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
In a lecture on the philosophy of science, this quote can be used to illustrate the importance of questioning established theories.
More from Aldous Huxley
All quotes →Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored.
In the course of history many more people have died for their drink and their dope than have died for their religion or their country.
On no account brood over your wrongdoing. Rolling in the muck is not the best way of getting clean.
No man ever dared to manifest his boredom so insolently as does a Siamese tomcat when he yawns in the face of his amorously importunate wife.
The leech's kiss, the squid's embrace, The prurient ape's defiling touch: And do you like the human race? No, not much.
Similar quotes
As we look out into the Universe and identify the many accidents of physics and astronomy that have worked together to our benefit, it almost seems as if the Universe must in some sense have known that we were coming.
Many investigators feel uneasy stating in public that the origin of life is a mystery, even though behind closed doors they admit they are baffled.
Darwin gives courage to the rest of science that we shall end up understanding literally everything, springing from almost nothing - a thought extremely hard to comprehend and believe.
I lose sleep at night wondering whether we are intelligent enough to figure out the universe. I don't know.
Development of the space station is as inevitable as the rising of the sun; man has already poked his nose into space and he is not likely to pull it back . . . . There can be no thought of finishing, for aiming at the stars-both literally and figuratively-is the work of generations, and no matter how much progress one makes, there is always the thrill of just beginning.
Let us not fool ourselves into thinking we went to the Moon because we are pioneers, or discoverers, or adventurers. We went to the Moon because it was the militaristically expedient thing to do.