“It is only by intuition that the infinite can be apprehended. But why is this? Why cannot the infinite be apprehended by concepts? To see this we must understand that the word "infinite," in the religious sense, has nothing at all to do with that sense of the word in which it is applied to space, time, and the number series. We may call this latter the mathematical infinite to distinguish it from the religious infinite. And it is the confusion between these two which misled us into the false trail of supposing that the infinity of God's mind refers to the amount of His knowledge and that the finitude of man's mind refers to his ignorance. The religious infinite, or in other words the infinity of God, means that than 'which there is no other. In this sense neither space nor time could be infinite, since space is an "other" to time, and time is an "other" to space.”

p. 46-47.

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 "It is only by intuition that the infinite can be apprehended. But why is this? Why cannot the infinite be apprehended b…" by Walter Terence Stace?
Walter Terence Stace photo
Walter Terence Stace 36
British civil servant, educator and philosopher. 1886–1967

Related quotes

Georg Cantor photo

“There is no doubt that we cannot do without variable quantities in the sense of the potential infinite. But from this very fact the necessity of the actual infinite can be demonstrated.”

Georg Cantor (1845–1918) mathematician, inventor of set theory

"Über die verschiedenen Ansichten in Bezug auf die actualunendlichen Zahlen" ["Over the different views with regard to the actual infinite numbers"] - Bihand Till Koniglen Svenska Vetenskaps Akademiens Handigar (1886)

Aristotle photo
Victor Hugo photo
Joseph Silk photo

“The Infinite has to be a relative concept. Go any distance: an infinite space means that there is more to be explored.”

Joseph Silk (1942) British-American astronomer

The Infinite Cosmos, Page 1

Kuvempu photo

“The infinite Yoga knows no end,
Endless the quest you apprehend.
You'll grow infinite and ascend,
When you are unhoused, O my soul!”

Kuvempu (1904–1994) Kannada novelist, poet, playwright, critic, and thinker

Aniketana (1964)

Max Müller photo
Max Beckmann photo

“Space and space again, is the infinite deity which surrounds us and in which we are ourselves contained.”

Max Beckmann (1884–1950) German painter, draftsman, printmaker, sculptor and writer

Source: 1930s, On my Painting (1938), p. 12

Paul Tillich photo
Paul Simon photo

“If the answer is infinite light,
Why do we sleep in the dark?”

Paul Simon (1941) American musician, songwriter and producer

How Can You Live In The Northeast?
Song lyrics, Surprise (2006)

Leo Tolstoy photo

Related topics