An unflinching determination to take the whole evidence into account is the only method of preservation against the fluctuating extremes of fashionable opinion.
Alfred North WhiteheadWith the sense of sight, the idea communicates the emotion, whereas, with sound, the emotion communicates the idea, which is more direct and therefore more powerful.
Alfred North WhiteheadWhat we perceive as the present is the vivid fringe of memory tinged with anticipation.
Alfred North WhiteheadIn a sense, knowledge shrinks as wisdom grows: for details are swallowed up in principles.
Alfred North WhiteheadIn the study of ideas, it is necessary to remember that insistence on hard-headed clarity issues from sentimental feeling, as it were a mist, cloaking the perplexities of fact. Insistence on clarity at all costs is based on sheer superstition as to the mode in which human intelligence functions. Our reasonings grasp at straws for premises and float on gossamers for deductions.
Alfred North Whitehead