I am stealing the golden vessels of the Egyptians to build a tabernacle to my God from them, far far away from the boundaries of Egypt. If you forgive me, I shall rejoice; if you are enraged with me, I shall bear it. See, I cast the die, and I write the book. Whether it is to be read by the people of the present or of the future makes no difference: let it await its reader for a hundred years, if God himself has stood ready for six thousand years for one to study him.
Interpretation
This quote reflects the interplay between human effort and divine will in the pursuit of knowledge.
Johannes Kepler's quote conveys a deep philosophical insight into the nature of human endeavors, particularly in the context of scientific exploration and spiritual aspirations. Kepler illustrates his commitment to divine purpose by using the metaphor of stealing from the Egyptians to build a tabernacle, symbolizing humanity's quest to understand the cosmos through the study of God's creation. He acknowledges the uncertainties of how his work will be received in the present or future, yet emphasizes the importance of perseverance in seeking knowledge and truth, akin to God's patience in waiting for seekers throughout the ages.
In practice
During a science conference, one may use this quote to inspire researchers about the importance of their work in understanding the universe.
...Those laws are within the grasp of the human mind. God wanted us to recognize them by creating us after his own image so that we could share in his own thoughts... and if piety allow us to say so, our understanding is in this respect of the same kind as the divine, at least as far as we are able to grasp something of it in our mortal life.
A most unfailing experience... of the excitement of sublunary (that is, human) natures by the conjunctions and aspects of the planets has instructed and compelled my unwilling belief.
We find, therefore, under this orderly arrangement, a wonderful symmetry in the universe, and a definite relation of harmony in the motion and magnitude of the orbs, of a kind that is not possible to obtain in any other way.
Eyesight should learn from reason.
I measured the skies, now the shadows I measure, Sky-bound was the mind, earth-bound the body rests. [Kepler's epitaph]
It may be well to wait a century for a reader, as God has waited six thousand years for an observer.
Good-bye -- if you hear of my being stood up against a stone wall and shot to rags please know that I think that a pretty good way to depart this life. It beats old age, disease or falling down the cellar stairs.
In any given society the authority of man over man runs in inverse proportion to the intellectual development of that society.
...the only thing that makes the Church endurable is that it is somehow the body of Christ and that on this we are fed. It seems to be a fact that you have to suffer as much from the Church as for it but if you believe in the divinity of Christ, you have to cherish the world at the same time that you struggle to endure it.
There is nothing wrong with America that faith, love of freedom, intelligence, and energy of her citizens cannot cure.
In other words, what is supposedly found is an invention whose inventor is unaware of his act of invention, who considers it as something that exists independently of him; the invention then becomes the basis of his world view and actions.
Gayness is built into Batman. I'm not using gay in the pejorative sense, but Batman is very, very gay. There's just no denying it. Obviously as a fictional character he's intended to be heterosexual, but the basis of the whole concept is utterly gay.
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