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Paradox is thus a much deeper and universal concept than the ancients would have dreamed. Rather than an oddity, it is a mainstay of the philosophy of science.

— William Poundstone Labyrinths of Reason (1988)

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More quotes by William Poundstone

Use "entropy" and you can never lose a debate, von Neumann told Shannon - because no one really knows what "entropy" is.

Fortune's Formula (2005)

The ultimate compound return rate is acutely sensitive to fat tails.

Fortune's Formula (2005)

The assumption that anything true is knowable is the grandfather of paradoxes.

Labyrinths of Reason (1988)

The best paradoxes raise questions about what kinds of contradictions can occur—what species of impossibilities are possible.

Labyrinths of Reason (1988)

Your second ducat, like your second million, is never quite as sweet.

Fortune's Formula (2005)

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The most merciful thing in the world, I think, is the inability of the human mind to correlate all its contents.

H. P. Lovecraft The Call of Cthulhu (1926)

All religions, arts and sciences are branches of the same tree. All these aspirations are directed toward ennobling man's life, lifting it from the sphere of mere physical existence and leading the individual towards freedom.

Albert Einstein Moral Decay (1937)

Science and religion are two human enterprises sharing many features.

Freeman Dyson Infinite in All Directions (1988)

To doubt everything or to believe everything are two equally convenient solutions; both dispense with the necessity of reflection.

Henri Poincaré Science and Hypothesis (1901)

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Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: William Poundstone (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.