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Social science is itself part of the social experience it seeks to interpret and explain.

— William H. McNeill Discrepancies among the Social Sciences (1981)

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More quotes by William H. McNeill

The principle obstacle to human dominion over the rain forests is still the rich variety of parasites lying in wait for intruders.

Plagues and Peoples (1976)

The rise of Islam offers perhaps the most impressive example in world history of the power of words to alter human behavior in sudden, surprising ways.

Keeping Together in Time (1995)

Categories of understanding along with everything else alter as societies change.

Discrepancies among the Social Sciences (1981)

I do not insist that I am right: I merely think so.

Discrepancies among the Social Sciences (1981)

Predictive social science does not exist. Indeed, it seems to me that it cannot ever exist, since the behaviour to be predicted reacts to and is partly shaped by the words used by the predictors.

Discrepancies among the Social Sciences (1981)

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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)

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