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The men in the laboratory [...] cannot be said to observe the actual objects of their curiosity at all.[...] The sense data on which the propositions of modern science rest are, for the most part, little photographic spots and blurs, or inky curved lines on paper.[...] What is directly observable is only a sign of the "physical fact"; it requires interpretation to yield scientific propositions.

— Susanne Langer Philosophy in a New Key (1942)

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Science

More quotes by Susanne Langer

If we would have new knowledge, we must get us a whole world of new questions.

Philosophy in a New Key (1942)

Art is the objectification of feeling, and the subjectification of nature.

Mind: An Essay on Human Feeling (1967)

Art is the creation of forms symbolic of human feeling.

Feeling and Form (1953)

The seeds of civilization are in every culture, but it is city life that brings them to fruition.

Philosophical Sketches (1962)

Common-sense knowledge is prompt, categorical, and inexact.

Philosophy in a New Key (1942)

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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.

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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)

Attribution

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