Alfred North Whitehead
Alfred North Whitehead
Alfred North Whitehead OM FRSwas an English mathematician and philosopher. He is best known as the defining figure of the philosophical school known as process philosophy, which today has found application to a wide variety of disciplines, including ecology, theology, education, physics, biology, economics, and psychology, among other areas...
NationalityEnglish
ProfessionMathematician
Date of Birth15 February 1861
Alfred North Whitehead quotes about
instant
There is no nature in an instant.
brutal courage firm force rather resolve true virtue vulgar
True courage is not the brutal force of vulgar heroes. Rather the firm resolve of virtue and reason.
ignorance stupidity political
Not ignorance, but ignorance of ignorance, is the death of knowledge.
zero math needs
The point about zero is that we do not need to use it in the operation of daily life. No one goes out to buy zero fish.
independent literature way
The misconception which has haunted philosophic literature throughout the centuries is the notion of 'independent existence.' There is no such mode of existence; every entity is to be understood in terms of the way it is interwoven with the rest of the universe.
music education children
From the very beginning of his education, the child should experience the joy of discovery.
wisdom grows shrinks
Knowledge shrinks as wisdom grows.
philosophy done wonder
Philosophy begins in wonder. And, at the end, when philosophic thought has done its best, the wonder remains.
truth half whole
There are no whole truths: All truths are half-truths.
math spirit madness
The pursuit of mathematics is a divine madness of the human spirit.
exercise genius intellectual-curiosity
Inventive genius requires pleasurable mental activity as a condition for its vigorous exercise
teaching causes
In all education the main cause of failure is staleness.
important details finals
In a sense, knowledge shrinks as wisdom grows, for details are swallowed up in principles. The details for knowledge which are important, will be picked up ad hoc in each avocation of life, but the habit of the active utilization of well-understood principles is the final possession of WISDOM.
truth interesting important
It is more important that a proposition be interesting than that it be true.