The Greeks possessed a knowledge of human nature we seem hardly able to attain to without passing through the strengthening hibernation of a new barbarism.
Georg C. LichtenbergRead
Astronomy is perhaps the science whose discoveries owe least to chance, in which human understanding appears in its whole magnitude, and through which man can best learn how small he is.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Astronomy reveals the vastness of the universe, emphasizing human insignificance and the structured nature of scientific discovery.
This quote by Georg C. Lichtenberg reflects on the nature of astronomy as a science that fundamentally relies on human understanding and methodical inquiry rather than randomness. It emphasizes that through the study of the cosmos, individuals come to appreciate not only the intricacies of scientific achievements but also their own relative smallness in the grand scheme of the universe.
Themes
AstronomyScienceUnderstandingHumanityCosmos
In practice
Example use cases
In a presentation about the universe's mysteries, you might say, 'As Georg C. Lichtenberg stated, astronomy shows us how small we are in the grand scale of existence.'
More from Georg C. Lichtenberg
All quotes →Many things about our bodies would not seem to us so filthy and obscene if we did not have the idea of nobility in our heads.
Georg C. LichtenbergRead
The thoughts written on the walls of madhouses by their inmates might be worth publicizing.
Georg C. LichtenbergRead
The noble simplicity in the works of nature only too often originates in the noble shortsightedness of him who observes it.
Georg C. LichtenbergRead
Food probably has a very great influence on the condition of men. Wine exercises a more visible influence, food does it more slowly but perhaps just as surely. Who knows if a well-prepared soup was not responsible for the pneumatic pump or a poor one for a war?
Georg C. LichtenbergRead
He who says he hates every kind of flattery, and says it in earnest, certainly does not yet know every kind of flattery.
Georg C. LichtenbergRead
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