Philosophy Quotes

Questions about meaning, existence, and truth from thinkers who spent their lives searching for answers.

43879 quotes

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"We are both observers of the universe and participants in its creation."
John Wheeler
F
"My picture of the world is drawn in lines of interest, not lines of belief."
Fred Hoyle
F
"The fabric of reality is woven from mysteries."
Fred Hoyle
F
"Understanding the universe requires abandoning certainty."
Fred Hoyle
F
"The mind is the universe aware of itself."
Fred Hoyle
M
"In the vast cosmos, we are both infinitely small and infinitely significant."
Maarten Schmidt
M
"Philosophy is the art of asking better questions than we inherited."
Maarten Schmidt
M
"Philosophy is the art of thinking clearly about life."
Maarten Schmidt
"To know the cosmos is to know oneself."
Antony Hewish
"In the cosmos, we find patterns that reveal the mind of creation."
Antony Hewish
"The observer and the observed are not separate but interconnected."
Antony Hewish
"In scientific pursuit, there is no final arrival, only continuous becoming."
Antony Hewish
F
"Philosophy begins with wonder and ends with understanding."
Freeman Dyson
F
"We are all citizens of the cosmos, not merely citizens of nations."
Freeman Dyson
R
"Consciousness is a phenomenon we do not yet understand. We know it exists, but we do not know how it arises from the physical world."
Roger Penrose
R
"The universe appears to be structured in such a way that we are able to understand it, which is itself a profound mystery."
Roger Penrose
R
"The relationship between mind and matter remains one of science's deepest enigmas."
Roger Penrose
R
"Consciousness may be the universe's way of understanding itself."
Roger Penrose
R
"Understanding the nature of space and time is essential to understanding ourselves."
Roger Penrose
R
"Mathematical structures possess a kind of reality that transcends the physical world."
Roger Penrose
R
"The universe's mathematical structure suggests that mind and matter are ultimately expressions of something more fundamental."
Roger Penrose
R
"To understand consciousness, we must first understand what consciousness is trying to understand about itself."
Roger Penrose
R
"The universe's apparent fine-tuning suggests that our existence is either miraculous or explicable through principles we have not yet grasped."
Roger Penrose
R
"Consciousness remains the deepest mystery in science, precisely because we are consciousness attempting to understand itself."
Roger Penrose
A
"The universe is a pretty big place. If it's just us, seems like an awful waste of space."
Arno Penzias
A
"I find that the most profound truths are often the simplest."
Arno Penzias
A
"Science requires both rigorous thinking and open imagination."
Arno Penzias
A
"The universe is more cooperative than competitive."
Arno Penzias
A
"The universe doesn't require our understanding to exist."
Arno Penzias
A
"In science, certainty is an illusion and doubt is our friend."
Arno Penzias