“Traditional scientific method has always been at the very best 20-20 hindsight. It's good for seeing where you've been. It's good for testing the truth of what you think you know, but it can't tell you where you ought to go.”
Source: Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (1974), Ch. 24
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Robert M. Pirsig 164
American writer and philosopher 1928–2017Related quotes

In an interview in Film Comment, May/June 1990
Interviews

“You can only know where you're going if you know where you've been.”
Connections (1979), 9 - Countdown

Lullabye (Goodnight, My Angel).
Song lyrics, River of Dreams (1993)
“You can't understand where someone's going unless you understand where they've been.”

2000s, 2008, First Speech As London Mayor (May 3, 2008)
“I can't go down there. They think I'm dead!
Oh, you've remembered that. Good for you.”

Oluşmak (To Become) Aphorisms (Pan Publishing House, Istanbul, 2011)