But anyone who is practically acquainted with scientific work is aware that those who refuse to go beyond fact, rarely get as far as fact; and anyone who has studied the history of science knows that almost every great step therein has been made by the 'anticipation of Nature,' that is, by the invention of hypotheses, which, though verifiable, often had very little foundation to start with.
advance anticipation fact history hypothesis invention nature science verifiable
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About This Quote

About Thomas Henry Huxley

Thomas Henry Huxley.

Themes

  • History — Lessons from the past and the arc of human civilisation
  • Nature — Appreciation for the natural world and our place within it
  • Science — Discovery, inquiry, and the wonders of the natural world

More quotes by Thomas Henry Huxley

“Sit down before fact as a little child, be prepared to give up every preconceived notion, follow humbly wherever and to whatever abysses nature leads, or you shall learn nothing. I have only begun ...”
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abyss facts humble inspirational

“The scientific spirit is of more value than its products, and irrationally held truths may be more harmful than reasoned errors.”
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error hamr irrationality reason

“What we call rational grounds for our beliefs are often extremely irrational attempts to justify our instincts.”
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“With theology as a code of dogmas which are to be believed, or at any rate repeated, under penalty of present or future punishment, or as a storehouse of anaesthetics for those who find the pains o...”
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“Wherever sufficiently numerous series of the remains of any given group, which has endured for a long space of time, are carefully examined, their morphological relations are never in discordance w...”
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biology contingent convincing development

“I am too much of a skeptic to deny the possibility of anything.”
— Thomas Henry Huxley
knowledge possibility science skepticism
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