Alfred North Whitehead
Alfred North Whitehead
Alfred North Whitehead OM FRSwas an English mathematician and philosopher. He is best known as the defining figure of the philosophical school known as process philosophy, which today has found application to a wide variety of disciplines, including ecology, theology, education, physics, biology, economics, and psychology, among other areas...
NationalityEnglish
ProfessionMathematician
Date of Birth15 February 1861
Alfred North Whitehead quotes about
men soul speech
The mentality of mankind and the language of mankind created each other. If we like to assume the rise of language as a given fact, then it is not going too far to say that the souls of men are the gift from language to mankind. The account of the sixth day should be written: He gave them speech, and they became souls
teacher details mastery
All practical teachers know that education is a patient process of mastery of details, minute by minute, hour by hour, day by day.
perception triumph negative
Thus the negative perception is the triumph of consciousness.
information printing century
So far as the mere imparting of information is concerned, no university has had any justification for existence since the popularization of printing in the fifteenth century.
substance matter cabinets
Disputing the commonsense notion that all events require the prior existence of some underlying matter or substance. There is no antecedent static cabinet.
emotional accessories purpose
Knowledge is always accompanied with accessories of emotion and purpose.
determination opinion preservation
An unflinching determination to take the whole evidence into account is the only method of preservation against the fluctuating extremes of fashionable opinion.
mirrors location world
In a certain sense, everything is everywhere at all times. For every location involves an aspect of itself in every other location. Thus every spatio-temporal standpoint mirrors the world
nature anticipation surprise
Nature, even in the act of satisfying anticipation, often provides a surprise.
emotion life-is ninety
Ninety percent of our lives is governed by emotion.
half theoretical consequence
The consequences of a plethora of half-digested theoretical knowledge are deplorable.
preference mathematician indifferent
Nature is probably quite indifferent to the aesthetic preferences of mathematicians.
knowledge passion men
No man of science wants merely to know. He acquires knowledge to appease his passion for discovery. He does not discover in order to know, he knows in order to discover.
speech language human-nature
Speech is human nature itself, with none of the artificiality of written language.