It is unity that doth enchant me. By her power I am free though thrall, happy in sorrow, rich in poverty, and quick even in death.
In space there are countless constellations, suns and planets; we see only the suns because they give light; the planets remain invisible, for they are small and dark. There are also numberless earths circling around their suns.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote emphasizes how much is hidden from our view, suggesting that there are many significant things in the universe that we cannot see.
Giordano Bruno's quote reflects on the vastness of the universe, highlighting that while we can observe the bright suns, symbolizing noteworthy achievements or knowledge, many other important elements, like planets and potential life, remain unseen due to their obscurity or insignificance in light. This invites us to consider the hidden complexities in our world and encourages curiosity beyond what is immediately visible.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about the importance of scientific exploration, one might say, 'As Giordano Bruno reminds us, in space there are countless constellations.'
More from Giordano Bruno
All quotes →I who am in the night will move into the day.
There is in the universe neither center nor circumference.
Desire urges me on, while fear bridals me.
Since I have spread my wings to purpose high,_x000D_ The more beneath my feet the clouds I see,_x000D_ The more I give the winds my pinions free,_x000D_ Spurning the earth and soaring to the sky.
The universe is then one, infinite, immobile. ... It is not capable of comprehension and therefore is endless and limitless, and to that extent infinite and indeterminable, and consequently immobile.
Similar quotes
I can now state that I have succeeded in operating a motive device by means of [cosmic rays]. I will tell you in the most general way, the cosmic ray ionizes the air, setting free many charges - ions and electrons. These charges are captured in a condenser which is made to discharge through the circuit of the motor.
Development of Western science is based on two great achievements: the invention of the formal logical system (in Euclidean geometry) by the Greek philosophers, and the discovery of the possibility to find out causal relationships by systematic experiment (during the Renaissance). In my opinion, one has not to be astonished that the Chinese sages have not made these steps. The astonishing thing is that these discoveries were made at all.
A careful analysis of the process of observation in atomic physics has shown that the subatomic particles have no meaning as isolated entities, but can only be understood as interconnections between the preparation of an experiment and the subsequent measurement.
For many parts of Nature can neither be invented with sufficient subtlety, nor demonstrated with sufficient perspicuity, nor accommodated unto use with sufficient dexterity, without the aid and intervening of the mathematics, of which sort are perspective, music, astronomy, cosmography, architecture, engineery, and divers others.
Science does not limit itself merely to what is currently verifiable. But it is interested in questions that are potentially verifiable (or, rather, falsifiable).
Through every rift of discovery some seeming anomaly drops out of the darkness, and falls, as a golden link into the great chain of order.