“It is the duty to carry on, under stress, the search for understanding.”

— Vannevar Bush

Source: Science is Not Enough (1967), Ch. X : The Search for Understanding, p. 192
Context: That the threat is now intense is not a reason to abandon our quest for knowledge. It is a reason to hold it more tightly, in spite of the need for action to preserve our freedom, in spite of the distractions of living in turmoil, that it may not be lost or brushed aside by the demands of the hour. We would not neglect our duty to our country and our fellows to strive mightily to preserve our ways and our lives. There is an added duty, not inconsistent, not less. It is the duty to so live that there may be a reason for living, beyond the mere mechanisms of life. It is the duty to carry on, under stress, the search for understanding.

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Vannevar Bush 57

American electrical engineer and science administrator 1890–1974

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“It is the duty to carry on, under stress, the search for understanding.”

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