“Science… may be viewed as man's supreme effort to find himself in that perplexing pattern which he calls Nature. …Has he succeeded in achieving some measure of harmony with Nature? Or has he merely managed to transfer to Nature the irreconcilable duality within himself?”

Henri Poincaré, Critic of Crisis: Reflections on His Universe of Discourse (1954), Ch. 2. The Age of Innocence

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 "Science… may be viewed as man's supreme effort to find himself in that perplexing pattern which he calls Nature. …Has h…" by Tobias Dantzig?
Tobias Dantzig photo
Tobias Dantzig 25
American mathematician 1884–1956

Related quotes

Joseph Priestley photo
C. V. Raman photo
Max Ernst photo

“A painter may know what he does not want.
But woe betide him if he wants to know
what he does want! A painter is lost if he finds himself.
The fact that he has succeeded in not finding
himself is regarded by Max Ernst as his only
'achievement.”

Max Ernst (1891–1976) German painter, sculptor and graphic artist

Quote from 'Max Ernst', exhibition catalogue, Galerie Stangl, Munich, 1967, U.S., pp.6-7, as cited in Edward Quinn, Max Ernst. 1984, Poligrafa, Barcelona. p. 12
1951 - 1976

Erich Fromm photo

“Man is born as a freak of nature, being within nature and yet transcending it. He has to find principles of action and decision-making which replace the principles of instincts.”

Erich Fromm (1900–1980) German social psychologist and psychoanalyst

The Revolution of Hope: Toward a Humanized Technology (1968),<!-- Harper & Row, New York --> p. 61
Context: Man is born as a freak of nature, being within nature and yet transcending it. He has to find principles of action and decision-making which replace the principles of instincts. He has to have a frame of orientation which permits him to organize a consistent picture of the world as a condition for consistent actions. He has to fight not only against the dangers of dying, starving, and being hurt, but also against another danger which is specifically human: that of becoming insane. In other words, he has to protect himself not only against the danger of losing his life but also against the danger of losing his mind.

Immanuel Kant photo
Frank Lloyd Wright photo
Napoleon I of France photo

“Man achieves in life only by commanding the capabilities nature has given him, or by creating them within himself by education and by knowing how to profit by the difficulties encountered.”

Napoleon I of France (1769–1821) French general, First Consul and later Emperor of the French

Napoleon : In His Own Words (1916)

Friedrich Nietzsche photo
James Frazer photo

“Man has created gods in his own likeness and being himself mortal he has naturally supposed his creatures to be in the same sad predicament.”

Source: The Golden Bough (1890), Chapter 24, The Killing of the Divine King.

Erich Fromm photo

“The existential split in man would be unbearable could he not establish a sense of unity within himself and with the natural and human world outside.”

Erich Fromm (1900–1980) German social psychologist and psychoanalyst

Source: The Anatomy of Human Destructiveness (1973), p. 262

Related topics