“The mere fact that a thought or idea can be expressed articulately in words involves that it is still open to question; and the mere fact that a difficulty can be definitely conceived involves that it is open to solution.”

Thought and Word, iv
The Note-Books of Samuel Butler (1912), Part VII - On the Making of Music, Pictures, and Books

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "The mere fact that a thought or idea can be expressed articulately in words involves that it is still open to question;…" by Samuel Butler?
Samuel Butler photo
Samuel Butler 232
novelist 1835–1902

Related quotes

Margaret Mead photo

“It is an open question whether any behavior based on fear of eternal punishment can be regarded as ethical or should be regarded as merely cowardly.”

Margaret Mead (1901–1978) American anthropologist

Attributed in American Quotations (1992) by Gorton Carruth and Eugene H. Ehrlich, p. 149
1990s

Robert Benchley photo

“I am more the inspirational type of speller. I work on hunches rather than mere facts, and the result is sometimes open to criticism by purists.”

Robert Benchley (1889–1945) American comedian

My Ten Years in a Quandary and How They Grew (1936)

Paulo Freire photo

“The road to revolution involves openness to the people, not imperviousness to them; it involves communion with the people, not mistrust.”

Paulo Freire (1921–1997) educator and philosopher

Source: Pedagogia do oprimido (Pedagogy of the Oppressed) (1968, English trans. 1970), Chapter 4, on revolution

“The universe is so well balanced that the mere fact that you have a problem also serves as a sign that there is a solution.”

Source: Life, the Truth, and Being Free (2010), p. 127

Vitruvius photo

“In fact, all kinds of men, and not merely architects, can recognize a good piece of work…”

Source: De architectura (The Ten Books On Architecture) (~ 15BC), Book VI, Chapter VIII, Sec. 10

Terry Pratchett photo

“The concern of OR with finding an optimum decision, policy, or design is one of its essential characteristics. It does not seek merely to define a better solution to a problem than the one in use; it seeks the best solution… [It] can be characterized as the application of scientific methods, techniques, and tools to problems involving the operations of systems so as to provide those in control of the operations with optimum solutions to the problems.”

C. West Churchman (1913–2004) American philosopher and systems scientist

Source: 1940s - 1950s, Introduction to Operations Research (1957), p. 8, cited in: R.L. McCown (2001) "Learning to bridge the gap between science-based decision support and the practice of farming". In: Aust. J. Agric. Res., Vol 52, p. 560-561

Neil deGrasse Tyson photo
Derek Parfit photo

Related topics