QuoteProject
Science and technology have freed humanity from many burdens and given us this new perspective and great power. This power can be used for the good of all. If wisdom governs our actions; but if the world is mad or foolish, it can destroy itself just when great advances and triumphs are almost without its grasp.
Jawaharlal Nehru
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

Advancements in science and technology provide great benefits, but they require wisdom to be used responsibly.

This quote by Jawaharlal Nehru highlights the duality of science and technology as powerful tools that can transform human life. While they have the potential to alleviate burdens and empower humanity, they also carry the risk of destruction if mismanaged or wielded without wisdom. Therefore, it emphasizes the importance of aligning our technological advancements with ethical guidance and wisdom to ensure they contribute positively to society rather than leading to chaos or disaster.

Themes

ScienceTechnologyWisdomPowerResponsibility

In practice

Example use cases

In a speech on technological advancements, one could quote Nehru to emphasize the need for ethical innovation.

More from Jawaharlal Nehru

Our chief defect is that we are more given to talking about things than to doing them.
Jawaharlal NehruRead
India has known the innocence and insouciance of childhood, the passion and abandon of youth, and the ripe wisdom of maturity that comes from long experience of pain and pleasure; and over and over a gain she has renewed her childhood and youth and age
Jawaharlal NehruRead
Life is like a game of cards. The hand you are dealt is determinism; the way you play it is free will.
Jawaharlal NehruRead
Crises and deadlocks when they occur have at least this advantage, that they force us to think.
Jawaharlal NehruRead
What we really are matters more than what other people think of us.
Jawaharlal NehruRead
Loyal and efficient work in a great cause, even though it may not be immediately recognized, ultimately bears fruit.
Jawaharlal NehruRead

Similar quotes

There are an awful lot of scientists today who believe that before very long we shall have unraveled all the secrets of the universe. There will be no puzzles anymore. To me, it'd be really, really tragic because I think one of the most exciting things is this feeling of mystery, feeling of awe, the feeling of looking at a little live thing and being amazed by it and how it has emerged through these hundreds of years of evolution and there it is and it is perfect and why.
Jane GoodallRead
Human beings would split the atom and invent television, nylon, and instant coffee before they could figure out the age of their own planet.
Bill BrysonRead
The sensitive plate, the gas which is ionised, the fluorescent screen, are in reality receivers, into another kind of energy, chemical energy, ionic energy... luminous energy.
Marie CurieRead
There may have been many big bangs, one of which created our universe. The other bangs created other universes.
Brian GreeneRead
Time... is an essential requirement for effective research. An investigator may be given a palace to live in, a perfect laboratory to work in, he may be surrounded by all the conveniences money can provide; but if his time is taken from him he will remain sterile.
Walter Bradford CannonRead
The same things that lead to disparities in health in this country on a day-to-day basis led to disparities in the impact of Hurricane Katrina.
David SatcherRead

A little wisdom, now and then

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