QuoteProject
Scientists are peeping toms at the keyhole of eternity.
Arthur Koestler
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

Scientists seek to understand the mysteries of existence and time, yet they often glimpse only fragments of a much larger reality.

This quote by Arthur Koestler highlights the intrinsic curiosity of scientists as they attempt to uncover the truths of the universe. By describing them as 'peeping toms at the keyhole of eternity', he suggests that while their inquiries into the nature of time and existence provide limited insights, they are also participating in a profound exploration of existence, hinting at deeper mysteries that remain just out of reach.

Themes

ScienceCuriosityEternityExistenceMystery

In practice

Example use cases

This quote is perfect for a presentation on the limits of scientific inquiry.

More from Arthur Koestler

Courage is never to let your actions be influenced by your fears.
Arthur KoestlerRead
History knows no scruples and no hesitation. Inert and unnering flows towards her goal. History knows herway. She makes no mistakes.
Arthur KoestlerRead
If one looks with a cold eye at the mess man has made of his history, it is difficult to avoid the conclusion that he has been afflicted by some built-in mental disorder which drives him towards self-destruction. Murder within the species on an individual or collective scale is a phenomenon unknown in the whole animal kingdom, except for man, and a few varieties of ants and rats.
Arthur KoestlerRead
Space-ships and time machines are no escape from the human condition. Let Othello subject Desdemona to a lie-detector test; his jealousy will still blind him to the evidence. Let Oedipus triumph over gravity; he won't triumph over his fate.
Arthur KoestlerRead
The real achievement in discoveries... is seeing an analogy where no one saw one before... The essence of discovery is that unlikely marriage of cabbages and kings β€” of previously unrelated frames of reference or universes of discourse β€” whose union will solve the previously insoluble problem.
Arthur KoestlerRead
In my youth I regarded the universe as an open book, printed in the language of equations, whereas now it appears to me as a text written in invisible ink, of which in our rare moments of grace we are able to decipher a small segment.
Arthur KoestlerRead

Similar quotes

I have come to the conclusion that Darwinism is not a testable scientific theory, but a metaphysical research programme.
Karl PopperRead
I was the most emotional of the flight directors. Space really got me all honked up.
Gene KranzRead
Imagination is the Discovering Faculty, pre-eminently. It is that which penetrates into the unseen worlds around us, the worlds of Science.
Ada LovelaceRead
My roots, in college, were in behavior in the context of evolution.
Robert SapolskyRead
The scientific evidence is now overwhelming: climate change presents very serious global risks, and it demands an urgent global response.
Nicholas SternRead
We live in the hope and faith that, by the advance of molecular physics, we shall by-and-by be able to see our way as clearly from the constituents of water to the properties of water, as we are now able to deduce the operations of a watch from the form of its parts and the manner in which they are put together.
Thomas HuxleyRead

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.