“Science may set limits to knowledge, but should not set limits to imagination.”

—  Bertrand Russell

The quote "Science may set limits to knowledge, but should not set limits to imagination." is famous quote attributed to Bertrand Russell (1872–1970), logician, one of the first analytic philosophers and political activist.

1940s, A History of Western Philosophy (1945)

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update Sept. 29, 2023. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Bertrand Russell photo
Bertrand Russell562
logician, one of the first analytic philosophers and politi… 1872–1970

Related quotes

Ludwig Wittgenstein photo

“The aim of the book is to set a limit to thought, or rather — not to thought, but to the expression of thoughts: for in order to be able to set a limit to thought, we should have to find both sides of the limit thinkable (i. e. we should have to be able to think what cannot be thought).
It will therefore only be in language that the limit can be set, and what lies on the other side of the limit will simply be nonsense.”

Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889–1951) Austrian-British philosopher

Preface
1920s, Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus (1922)

Bertolt Brecht photo

“The aim of science is not to open the door to infinite wisdom, but to set some limit on infinite error.”

Bertolt Brecht book Life of Galileo

Source: Life of Galileo (1939)

Maximilien Robespierre photo

“Citizens, imagination usually sets the limits of the possible and the impossible; but when you have the will to do good, you must have the courage to cross these limits.”

Maximilien Robespierre (1758–1794) French revolutionary lawyer and politician

13 August 1793, Presenting his education plan to the National Convention
Misc Quotes

Karl Pearson photo

“Who can give us the assurance that the fields already occupied by science are alone those in which knowledge is possible? Who, in the words of Galilei, is willing to set limits to the human intellect?”

Karl Pearson book The Grammar of Science

Introductory
The Grammar of Science (1900)

Albert Einstein photo

“Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world.”

Albert Einstein (1879–1955) German-born physicist and founder of the theory of relativity

Henry Ford photo

“Givers have to set limits because takers rarely do.”

Henry Ford (1863–1947) American industrialist

Edith Hamilton photo

“All things are to be examined and called into question. There are no limits set to thought.”

Edith Hamilton (1867–1963) American teacher and writer

Source: The Greek Way (1930), Ch. 1

Mwanandeke Kindembo photo

“After knowing that the sun neither sets nor rises except for our imaginations and the limitations of our planet Earth, there can be no more mood swings in the heart and mind.”

Mwanandeke Kindembo (1996) Congolese author

David Wood photo

“Philosophy is an everlasting fire, sometimes damped down by setting itself limits, then flaring into new life as it consumes them. Every field of inquiry is limited, but philosophy has an essential relation to the question of limits, to its own limits.”

David Wood (1946) British philosopher, born 1946

Introduction, p. xiii
Philosophy At The Limit (1990)

Related topics