“We cannot define anything precisely. If we attempt to, we get into that paralysis of thought that comes to philosophers, who sit opposite each other, one saying to the other, "You don't know what you are talking about!". The second one says, "What do you mean by know? What do you mean by talking?”

—  Richard Feynman

What do you mean by you?"
volume I; lecture 8, "Motion"; section 8-1, "Description of motion"; p. 8-2
The Feynman Lectures on Physics (1964)

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update Sept. 14, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "We cannot define anything precisely. If we attempt to, we get into that paralysis of thought that comes to philosophers…" by Richard Feynman?
Richard Feynman photo
Richard Feynman181
American theoretical physicist 1918–1988

Related quotes

Dwight D. Eisenhower photo

“The essence of leadership is to get others to do something because they think you want it done and because they know it is worth while doing -- that is what we are talking about.”

Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890–1969) American general and politician, 34th president of the United States (in office from 1953 to 1961)

Remarks at the Republican Campaign Picnic at the President&#x27;s Gettysburg Farm (September 12, 1956). Source: Eisenhower Presidential Library. Archived https://web.archive.org/web/20210125121539/https://www.eisenhowerlibrary.gov/eisenhowers/quotes from the original https://www.eisenhowerlibrary.gov/eisenhowers/quotes on January 25, 2021. <br class="br">1950s

Noel Gallagher photo

“I dream of you / And all the things you say / I wonder where you are now
I need you now / You've knocked me off my feet
We talk of going old / But you say "Please don't
Let me be the one / Who shines with you / In the morning / We don't know what to do"”

Noel Gallagher (1967) British musician

Slide Away
Definitely Maybe (1994)

Nancy Pelosi photo

“As many of you know, I come from San Francisco. We don't have a lot of farms there. Well, we do have one—it's a mushroom farm, so you know what that means.”

Nancy Pelosi (1940) American politician, first female Speaker of the House of Representatives, born 1940

To The Agribusiness Club of Washington (July 24, 2006)
2000s

Robert Frost photo

“Poetry begins in trivial metaphors, pretty metaphors, "grace" metaphors, and goes on to the profoundest thinking that we have. Poetry provides the one permissible way of saying one thing and meaning another. People say, "Why don’t you say what you mean?" We never do that, do we, being all of us too much poets. We like to talk in parables and in hints and in indirections — whether from diffidence or some other instinct.”

Robert Frost (1874–1963) American poet

&quot; Education by Poetry http://www.en.utexas.edu/amlit/amlitprivate/scans/edbypo.html&quot;, speech delivered at Amherst College and subsequently revised for publication in the Amherst Graduates’ Quarterly (February 1931) <br class="br">1930s

Shunryu Suzuki photo

“Practice does not mean that whatever you do, even lying down, is zazen. When the restrictions you have do not limit you, this is what we mean by practice….
When you sit, you will sit. When you eat, you will eat…. If you say,”It doesn’t matter,” it means that you are making some excuse to do something in your own way with your small mind. It means that you are to some particular thing or way. That is not what we mean when we say, “Just to sit is enough,” or “Whatever you do is zazen.””

Shunryu Suzuki book Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind

Of course, everything you do is zazen, but if so, there is no need to say it.
Source: Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind (1973), p. 41

T.S. Eliot photo

“When the Stranger says: "What is the meaning of this city?
Do you huddle close together because you love each other?"
What will you answer? "We all dwell together
To make money from each other"? or "This is a community"?”

T.S. Eliot (1888–1965) 20th century English author

Choruses from The Rock (1934)

“We can't know or say what other people do. have to think whatwant to do to get the situation where you want it to be.”

E. Lockhart (1967) American writer of novels as E. Lockhart (mainly for teenage girls) and of picture books under real name Emily J…

Source: The Boy Book: A Study of Habits and Behaviors, Plus Techniques for Taming Them

Keshia Chante photo

“A business tip, you never know who's having "pillow talk" with one another. Watch what u say, who u say it to, & WHO u talk about.”

Keshia Chante (1988) Canadian actor and musician

Official Website (2009)

Alexander McCall Smith photo

“These tests are designed to exclude others from the discourse - just as the word discourse is itself designed to do. These words are intended to say to people: this is a group thing. If you don't understand what we're talking about, you're not a member of the group. So, if you call this place the Canny Man's it shows that you belong, that you know what's what in Edinburgh. And that, you know, is what everybody wants, underneath. We want to belong.”

Alexander McCall Smith book Espresso Tales

Espresso Tales, chapter 1.
The 44 Scotland Street series

Tupac Shakur photo

“If you thought about it I'm hardly the villain, I'm hardly the one you should be scared of. It's the guy who can't talk, it's the guy without a job, it's the one with scares in his face, not the one clean cut, you know what I mean you should worry about a lot of other things, but not me.”

Tupac Shakur (1971–1996) rapper and actor

1990s, Interview on the set Gridlock'd (1996)

Related topics