...to many it is not knowledge but the quest for knowledge that gives greater interest to thought-to travel hopefully is better than to arrive.
Interpretation
The pursuit of knowledge is often more rewarding than the knowledge itself, as the journey can bring more fulfillment than the destination.
James Jeans emphasizes the profound nature of the quest for knowledge, suggesting that the exploration and curiosity that drive us are what truly enrich our thoughts and experiences. The idea that 'to travel hopefully is better than to arrive' captures the essence of finding joy and meaning in the pursuit rather than merely focusing on the endpoint.
In practice
During a graduation speech, one could inspire students by highlighting the importance of embracing their educational journey.
The stream of knowledge is heading towards a non-mechanical reality; the universe begins to look more like a great thought than like a machine. Mind no longer appears to be an accidental intruder into the realm of matter...we ought rather hail it as the creator and governor of the realm of matter.
Put three grains of sand inside a vast cathedral, and the cathedral will be more closely packed with sand than space is with stars.
...nature seems very conversant with the rules of pure mathematics, as our own mathematicians have formulated them in their studies, out of their own inner consciousness and without drawing to any appreciable extent on their experience of the outer world.
The universe begins to look more like a great thought than a great machine.
The appetite grows with eating.
Not being untutored in suffering, I learn to pity those in affliction
Be willing to have it so. Acceptance of what has happened is the first step to overcoming the consequences of any misfortune.
I think one's feelings waste themselves in words; they ought all to be distilled into actions which bring results.
I made one great mistake in my life-when I signed the letter to President Roosevelt recommending that atom bombs be made but there was some justification-the danger that the Germans would make them.
To create worry humans elongate fear with anticipation and memory, expand it in imagination and fuel it with emotion. The uniquely human mental process called worrying depends upon having a brain that can reason, remember, reflect, feel, and imagine. Only humans have a brain big enough to do this simultaneously and do it well.
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