Henri Poincare Quotes

Quotes about:

• 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.

  Henri Poincare

  Math, Intuition, Logic

  Henri Poincare (2012). “The Value of Science: Essential Writings of Henri Poincare”, p.746, Modern Library

  75 Copy quote

• Science is built up with facts, as a house is with stones. But a collection of facts is no more a science than a heap of stones is a house.

  Henri Poincare

  Science, House, Stones

  "Science and Hypothesis". Book by Henri Poincaré, translated by George Bruce Halsted. Chapter IX: "Hypotheses in Physics", 1913.

  9 Copy quote

• The scientist does not study nature because it is useful; he studies it because he delights in it, and he delights in it because it is beautiful.

  Henri Poincare

  Beautiful, Math, Science

  Henri Poincare (2012). “The Value of Science: Essential Writings of Henri Poincare”, p.318, Modern Library

  56 Copy quote

• Doubt everything or believe everything: these are two equally convenient strategies. With either we dispense with the need for reflection.

  Henri Poincare

  Believe, Science, Reflection

  53 Copy quote

• It is with logic that one proves; it is with intuition that one invents.

  Henri Poincare

  Intuition, Logic, Prove It

  9 Copy quote

• Geometry is the art of correct reasoning from incorrectly drawn figures.

  Henri Poincare

  Art, Math, Figures

  30 Copy quote

• There are no solved problems; there are only problems that are more or less solved.

  Henri Poincare

  Knowledge, Math, Ontology

  57 Copy quote

• It is far better to foresee even without certainty than not to foresee at all.

  Henri Poincare

  Absolute Certainty, Certainty, Foreseeing

  The Foundations of Science Science and Hypothesis (p. 129)

  29 Copy quote

• Mathematicians do not study objects, but relations among objects; they are indifferent to the replacement of objects by others as long the relations don't change. Matter is not important, only form interests them.

  Henri Poincare

  Teaching, Long, Important

  36 Copy quote

• Experiment is the sole source of truth. It alone can teach us something new; it alone can give us certainty.

  Henri Poincare

  Truth, Teaching, Science

  The Foundations of Science Science and Hypothesis (p. 127)

  20 Copy quote

• It is not order only, but unexpected order, that has value.

  Henri Poincare

  Order, Unexpected, Values

  Henri Poincare (2012). “The Value of Science: Essential Writings of Henri Poincare”, p.620, Modern Library

  8 Copy quote

• To invent is to discern, to choose.

  Henri Poincare

  8 Copy quote

• Thought must never submit, neither to a dogma, nor to a party, nor to a passion, nor to an interest, nor to a preconceived idea, nor to whatever it may be, save to the facts themselves, because, for thought, submission would mean ceasing to be.

  Henri Poincare

  Party, Passion, Mean

  Speech at the University of Brussels during the festival for the 75th anniversary of the university's foundation, November 19, 1909.

  19 Copy quote

• Mathematicians are born, not made.

  Henri Poincare

  Math, Born, Made

  19 Copy quote

• It is the harmony of the diverse parts, their symmetry, their happy balance; in a word it is all that introduces order, all that gives unity, that permits us to see clearly and to comprehend at once both the ensemble and the details.

  Henri Poincare

  Order, Giving, Unity

  "Ultra Low Power Bioelectronics". Book by Rahul Sarpeshkar (p. 3), 2010.

  37 Copy quote

• Intuition is more important to discovery than logic.

  Henri Poincare

  Discovery, Intuition, Important

  23 Copy quote

• Chance ... must be something more than the name we give to our ignorance.

  Henri Poincare

  Ignorance, Science, Names

  Henri Poincare (2012). “The Value of Science: Essential Writings of Henri Poincare”, p.666, Modern Library

  6 Copy quote

• A reality completely independent of the spirit that conceives it, sees it, or feels it, is an impossibility. A world so external as that, even if it existed, would be forever inaccessible to us.

  Henri Poincare

  Independent, Science, Reality

  15 Copy quote

• Most striking at first is the appearance of sudden illumination, a manifest sign of long unconscious prior work.

  Henri Poincare

  Illumination, Long, Firsts

  14 Copy quote

• It is through science that we prove, but through intuition that we discover.

  Henri Poincare

  Creativity, Science, Intuition

  "Atlas of the Poetic Continent: Pathways in Ecological Citizenship". Book by Shelley Sacks, Wolfgang Zumdick, p. 60, 2013.

  32 Copy quote

• Guessing before proving! Need I remind you that it is so that all important discoveries have been made?

  Henri Poincare

  Science, Discovery, Important

  10 Copy quote

• If nature were not beautiful, it would not be worth knowing, and if nature were not worth knowing, life would not be worth living

  Henri Poincare

  Beautiful, Nature, Knowing

  Henri Poincare (2012). “The Value of Science: Essential Writings of Henri Poincare”, p.318, Modern Library

  35 Copy quote

• Every good mathematician should also be a good chess player and vice versa.

  Henri Poincare

  Science, Player, Vices

  Henri Poincare (2012). “The Value of Science: Essential Writings of Henri Poincare”, p.642, Modern Library

  27 Copy quote

• It may happen that small differences in the initial conditions produce very great ones in the final phenomena.

  Henri Poincare

  Science, Differences, Finals

  7 Copy quote

• Often when works at a hard question, nothing good is accomplished at the first attack. Then one takes a rest, long or short, and sits down anew to the work. During the first half-hour, as before, nothing is found, and then all of a sudden the decisive idea presents itself to the mind.

  Henri Poincare

  Ideas, Long, Mind

  12 Copy quote

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