It takes a wonderful brain and exquisite senses to produce a few stupid ideas.
George SantayanaRead
Whoever it was who searched the heavens with a telescope and found no God would not have found the human mind if he had searched the brain with a microscope.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote suggests that the pursuit of understanding both the universe and the human mind requires more than just physical tools; it involves deeper insight and perspective.
George Santayana implies that simply relying on scientific tools like telescopes and microscopes to understand existence is inadequate. The search for God among the stars or the depths of human thought cannot be fully attained through mere empirical observation, as both realms require philosophical and introspective contemplation that transcends the limitations of scientific inquiry.
Themes
GodHuman MindSearchUnderstandingPhilosophyScience
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about the limits of science in understanding existence.
More from George Santayana
All quotes βThe working of great institutions is mainly the result of a vast mass of routine, petty malice, self interest, carelessness and sheer mistake. Only a residual fraction is thought.
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There is no cure for birth and death save to enjoy the interval. The dark background which death supplies brings out the tender colours of life in all their purity.
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Not to believe in love is a great sign of dullness. There are some people so indirect and lumbering that they think all real affection rests on circumstantial evidence.
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To feel beauty is a better thing than to understand how we come to feel it. To have imagination and taste, to love the best, to be carried by the contemplation of nature to a vivid faith in the ideal, all this is more, a great deal more, than any science can hope to be.
George SantayanaRead
The vital straining towards an ideal, definite but latent, when it dominates a whole life, may express that ideal more fully than could the best chosen words.
George SantayanaRead
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