Nature gets credit which should in truth be reserved for ourselves: the rose for its scent, the nightingale for its song; and the sun for its radiance. The poets are entirely mistaken. They should address their lyrics to themselves and should turn them into odes of self congratulation on the excellence of the human mind.
Alfred North WhiteheadThere are no whole truths: all truths are half-truths. It is trying to treat them as whole truths that plays to the devil.
Alfred North WhiteheadThe science of pure mathematics, in its modern developments, may claim to be the most original creation of the human spirit.
Alfred North WhiteheadIn England if something goes wrong--say, if one finds a skunk in the garden--he writes to the family solicitor, who proceeds to take the proper measures; whereas in America, you telephone the fire department. Each satisfies a characteristic need; in the English, love of order and legalistic procedure; and here in America, what you like is something vivid, and red, and swift.
Alfred North Whitehead