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For a definition to be of any use, it must teach us to measure force; moreover that suffices; it is not at all necessary that it teach us what force is in itself, nor whether it is the cause or the effect of motion.

— Henri Poincaré Science and Hypothesis (1901)

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More quotes by Henri Poincaré

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

Science and Hypothesis (1901)

The very possibility of the science of mathematics seems an insoluble contradiction.

Science and Hypothesis (1901)

The essential characteristic of reasoning by recurrence is that it contains, condensed, so to speak, in a single formula, an infinity of syllogisms.

Science and Hypothesis (1901)

There is no science apart from the general. It may even be said that the very object of the exact sciences is to spare us these direct verifications.

Science and Hypothesis (1901)

It is by logic that we prove, but by intuition that we discover. To know how to criticize is good, to know how to create is better.

Science and Method (1908)

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