“Names and attributes must be accommodated to the essence of things, and not the essence to the names, since things come first and names afterwards.”

— Galileo Galilei

Variant translation: Names and attributes must be accommodated to the essence of things, and not the essence to the names, because things came first, and their names subsequently.
Other quotes
Source: As quoted in Discoveries and Opinions of Galileo (1957) by Stillman Drake, p. 92

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Galileo Galilei 70

Italian mathematician, physicist, philosopher and astronomer 1564–1642

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