QuoteProject
There are two sorts of truth: trivialities, where opposites are clearly absurd, and profound truths, recognised by the fact that the opposite is also a profound truth
Niels Bohr
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

Truth can be categorized into simple, obvious truths and deeper, more complex truths where opposing views can coexist.

Niels Bohr's quote suggests that while some truths are straightforward and easily identifiable, profound truths often carry layers of complexity and nuance. This complexity is highlighted by the idea that legitimate opposing perspectives can both hold validity, reflecting the depth and richness of human understanding and the nature of truth itself.

Themes

TruthPhilosophyNuanceComplexityPerspective

In practice

Example use cases

In a philosophy class discussing different viewpoints on moral truths.

More from Niels Bohr

When asked ... [about] an underlying quantum world, Bohr would answer, 'There is no quantum world. There is only an abstract quantum physical description. It is wrong to think that the task of physics is to find out how nature is. Physics concerns what we can say about Nature.'
Niels BohrRead
An independant reality in the ordinary physical sense can neither be ascribed to the phenomenon nor to the agencies of observation.
Niels BohrRead
An expert is a man who has made all the mistakes which can be made, in a narrow field.
Niels BohrRead
Those who are not shocked when they first come across quantum theory cannot possibly have understood it.
Niels BohrRead
When searching for harmony in life one must never forget that in the drama of existence we are ourselves both actors and spectators.
Niels BohrRead
And anyone who thinks they can talk about quantum theory without feeling dizzy hasn't yet understood the first thing about it.
Niels BohrRead

Similar quotes

Fear is a relative thing; its effects are relative to power.
Sarah HallRead
The problem of the twentieth century is the problem of the color line: the relation of the darker to the lighter races of men in Asia and Africa, in America and the islands of the sea.
W. E. B. Du BoisRead
Evil is a violation of purpose, the purpose of your creator and mine.
Ravi ZachariasRead
Humankind can't stand too much reality.
T. S. EliotRead
The difference between an admirer and a follower still remains, no matter where you are. The admirer never makes any true sacrifices. He always plays it safe. Though in words, phrases, songs, he is inexhaustible about how highly he prizes Christ, he renounces nothing, gives up nothing, will not reconstruct his life, will not be what he admires, and will not let his life express what it is he supposedly admires.
Soren KierkegaardRead
An admiral without ships, a hand without fingers, in service of a king without a throne. Is this a knight who comes before us, or the answer to a child's riddle?
George R. R. MartinRead

A little wisdom, now and then

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