“The ancients, persuaded that there is no body without a moving force, regarded the substance of bodies as composed of two primitive attributes. It was held that, through one of these attributes, this substance has the capacity for moving and, through the other, the capacity for being moved.”

Source: The Natural History of the Soul (1745), Ch. V Concerning the Moving Force of Matter, p.156

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 ancients, persuaded that there is no body without a moving force, regarded the substance of bodies as composed of t…" by Julien Offray de La Mettrie?
Julien Offray de La Mettrie photo
Julien Offray de La Mettrie 42
French physician and philosopher 1709–1751

Related quotes

Julien Offray de La Mettrie photo

“The ancients, persuaded that there is no body without a moving force, regarded the substance of bodies as composed of two primitive attributes.”

Julien Offray de La Mettrie (1709–1751) French physician and philosopher

It was held that, through one of these attributes, this substance has the capacity for moving and, through the other, the capacity for being moved.
Source: The Natural History of the Soul (1745), Ch. V Concerning the Moving Force of Matter

Alexander Bain photo

“The arguments for the two substances - mind and body - have, we believe, entirely lost their validity; they are no longer compatible with ascertained science and clear thinking. One substance with two sets of attributes, two sides (a physical and a mental), a double-faced unity, would appear to comply with all the exigencies of the case.”

Alexander Bain (1818–1903) Scottish philosopher and educationalist

Alexander Bain. Mind and Body: The Theories of their Relation (1872), p. 196; as cited in: The Popular Science Monthly http://books.google.com/books?id=sysDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA162, Vol. 27, June 1885, p. 162.

Leonardo Da Vinci photo
Maimónides photo
Helena Petrovna Blavatsky photo
Martin Luther King, Jr. photo

“Through our scientific genius we made of the world a neighborhood, but we failed through moral commitment to make of it a brotherhood, and so we’ve ended up with guided missiles and misguided men. And the great challenge is to move out of the mountain of practical materialism and move on to another and higher mountain which recognizes somehow that we must live by and toward the basic ends of life. We must move on to that mountain which says in substance,”

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, activist, and leader in the American Civil Rights Movement

1960s, Keep Moving From This Mountain (1965)
Context: We have allowed our civilization to outrun our culture; we have allowed our technology to outdistance our theology and for this reason we find ourselves caught up with many problems. Through our scientific genius we made of the world a neighborhood, but we failed through moral commitment to make of it a brotherhood, and so we’ve ended up with guided missiles and misguided men. And the great challenge is to move out of the mountain of practical materialism and move on to another and higher mountain which recognizes somehow that we must live by and toward the basic ends of life. We must move on to that mountain which says in substance, "What doth it profit a man to gain the whole world of means — airplanes, televisions, electric lights — and lose the end: the soul?"

Jean Racine photo

“Behind a veil, unseen yet present,
I was the forceful soul that moved this mighty body.”

Derrière un voile, invisible et présente,
J'étais de ce grand corps l'âme toute-puissante.
Agrippine, Britannicus, (1669), act I, scene I.

Anne Conway photo

“I say, life and figure are distinct attributes of one substance, and as one and the same body may be transmuted into all kinds of figures; and as the perfecter figure comprehends that which is more imperfect; so one and the same body may be transmuted from one degree of life to another more perfect, which always comprehends in it the inferior.”

Anne Conway (1631–1679) British philosopher

The Principles of the Most Ancient and Modern Philosophy (1690)
Context: I say, life and figure are distinct attributes of one substance, and as one and the same body may be transmuted into all kinds of figures; and as the perfecter figure comprehends that which is more imperfect; so one and the same body may be transmuted from one degree of life to another more perfect, which always comprehends in it the inferior. We have an example of figure in a triangular prism, which is the first figure of all right lined solid triangular prism, which is the first figure of all right lined solid bodies, where into a body is convertible; and from this into a cube, which is a perfecter figure, and comprehends in it a prism; from a cube it may be turned into a more perfect figure, which comes nearer to a globe, and from this into another, which is yet nearer; and so it ascends from one figure, more imperfect to another more perfect, ad infinitum; for here are no bounds; nor can it be said, this body cannot be changed into a perfecter figure: But the meaning is that that body consists of plane right lines; and this is always chageablee into a perfecter figure, and yet can never reach to the perfection of a globe, although it always approaches nearer unto it; the case is the same in diverse degrees of life, which have indeed a beginning, but no end; so that the creature is always capable of a farther and perfecter degree of life, ad infinitum, and yet can never attain to be equal with God; for he is still infinitely more perfect than a creature, in its highest elevation or perfection, even as a globe is the most perfect of all other figures, unto which none can approach.

Emanuel Lasker photo

“Although the adage "If you find a good move, look for a better one" is often attributed to Lasker, it actually dates earlier.”

Emanuel Lasker (1868–1941) German World Chess Champion and grandmaster, contract bridge player, mathematician, and philosopher

Others
Source: The Chess Player's Chronicle (January 1878), vol. 2, no. 13, page 31 https://books.google.com/books?id=xjACAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA31#v=onepage&q&f=false: Annotation by William Wayte (1829-1898): "Still flying at high game, in accordance with the rule, "When you see a good move look out for a better." "
Source: "[I]t is necessary always to bear in mind these prudential rules, viz.: having a good move, to seek for a better." Dominico Ercole del Rio, <i>The Incomparable Game of Chess</i>, trans. J.S. Bingham (London 1820), 35-36. Note Bingham incorrectly credits Ercole del Rio with work that was authored by Domenico Lorenzo Ponziani

Related topics