“What parts of the interior or the atmosphere give rise to the various phenomena, or indeed, if these regions have any parts at all, are questions which we ask of the stars in vain.”
Source: Modern Astrophysics, London, 1924, Chapter XIV, page 182
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Herbert Dingle 9
British astronomer 1890–1978Related quotes
The Human Comedy (1943)
Source: The New History (1912), Ch. 1 : The New History, p. 20
Context: It gives one something of a shock, indeed, to consider what a very small part of our guiding convictions are in any way connected with our personal experience. The date of our own birth is quite as strictly historical a fact as that of Artaphernes or of Innocent III; we are forced to a helpless reliance upon the evidence of others for both events.
So it comes about that our personal recollections insensibly merge into history in the ordinary sense of the word. History, from this point of view, may be regarded as an artificial extension and broadening of our memories and may be used to overcome the natural bewilderment of all unfamiliar situations. Could we suddenly be endowed with a Godlike and exhaustive knowledge of the whole history of mankind, far more complete than the combined knowledge of all the histories ever written, we should gain forthwith a Godlike appreciation of the world in which we live, and a Godlike insight into the evils which mankind now suffers, as well as into the most promising methods for alleviating them, not because the past would furnish precedents of conduct, but because our conduct would be based upon a perfect comprehension of existing conditions founded upon a perfect knowledge of the past.
Source: Better-World Philosophy: A Sociological Synthesis (1899), The Social Problem, p. 87
“The most important questions of life… are indeed for the most part only problems of probability.”
Philosophical Essay on Probabilities (1902)
Context: The most important questions of life... are indeed for the most part only problems of probability. Strictly speaking it may even be said that nearly all our knowledge is problematical; and in the small number of things which we are able to know with certainty, even in the mathematical sciences themselves, the principal means for ascertaining truth—induction and analogy—are based on probabilities.<!--p.1
“In all parts cruel Grief, in all parts Fear,
And Death in various Shapes seen every where.”
The Works of Publius Virgilius Maro (2nd ed. 1654), Virgil's Æneis
Nick Griffin, The BNP: Anti-asylum protest, racist sect or power-winning movement? http://web.archive.org/web/20030605150634/http://www.bnp.org.uk/articles/race_reality.htm
Pt. II, The Knowable; Ch. XIV, Summary and Conclusion
First Principles (1862)
“Ethical ideas and sentiments have to be considered as parts of the phenomena of life at large.”
Source: The Principles of Ethics (1897), Part III: The Ethics of Individual Life, Ch. 1, Introductory
Context: Ethical ideas and sentiments have to be considered as parts of the phenomena of life at large. We have to deal with man as a product of evolution, with society as a product of evolution, and with moral phenomena as products of evolution.