Quote #5

We must never forget that it is principles not phenomena,-laws, not insulated, independent facts, which are the object and the inquiry of the natural philosopher.

More from John Herschel

  1. Accustomed to trace the operation of general causes, and the exemplification of general laws, in circumstances where the uninformed and une…
  2. All human discoveries seem to be made only for the purpose of confirming more and more strongly the truths that come on high and are contai…
  3. To the natural philosopher there is no natural object unimportant or trifling.
  4. Music and dancing (the more the pity) have become so closely associated with ideas of riot and debauchery among the less cultivated classes…
  5. Man is constituted as a speculative being; he contemplates the world, and the objects around him, not with a passive indifferent eye, but a…
  6. Self-respect is the cornerstone of all virtue.
  7. Time! Time! Time! - we must not impugn the Scripture Chronology, but we must interpret it in accordance with whatever shall appear on fair …
  8. What is there in Paradise Lost to elevate and astonish like Herschel or Somerville?

All John Herschel quotes