Famous Quotes | And what avails it that science...

And what avails it that science has come to treat space and time as simply forms of thought, and the material world as hypothetical, and withal our pretension of property and even of self-hood are fading with the rest, if, at last, even our thoughts are not finalities, but the incessant flowing and ascension reach these also, and each thought which yesterday was a finality, to-day is yielding to a larger generalization? - Ralph Waldo Emerson
Attribution: Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882), U.S. essayist, poet, philosopher. “Illusions,” The Conduct of Life (1860). Emerson here links epistemic concerns with worldy success. See his thoughts under “Success.” In this quotation in particular, he is addressing Kant.

Categories: Essayist, Knowledge, Philosopher, Thinking And Thought

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