Theory Quotes - Page 38

• If slaves will make good soldiers, then our whole theory of slavery is wrong.

  Howell Cobb

  War, Soldier, Slavery

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• I now want to tell three stories about advances in twentieth-century physics. A curious fact emerges in these tales: time and again physicists have been guided by their sense of beauty not only in developing new theories but even in judging the validity of physical theories once they are developed. Simplicity is part of what I mean by beauty, but it is a simplicity of ideas, not simplicity of a mechanical sort that can be measured by counting equations or symbols.

  Steven Weinberg

  Beauty, Art, Mean

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• No theory is too false, no fable too absurd, no superstition too degrading for acceptance when it has become embedded in common belief. Men will submit themselves to torture and to death, mothers will immolate [burn] their children at the bidding of beliefs they thus accept.

  Henry George

  Faith, Mother, Children

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• Belief Systems contradict both science and ordinary "common sense." B.S. contradicts science, because it claims certitude and science can never achieve certitude: it can only say, "This model"- or theory, or interpretation of the data- "fits more of the facts known at this date than any rival model." We can never know if the model will fit the facts that might come to light in the next millennium or even in the next week.

  Robert Anton Wilson

  Faith, Light, Next Week

  Robert Anton Wilson (2002). “Tsog: The Thing That Ate the Constitution”

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• ANARCHISM:The philosophy of a new social order based on liberty unrestricted by man-made law; the theory that all forms of government rest on violence, and are therefore wrong and harmful, as well as unnecessary.

  Emma Goldman

  Philosophy, Men, Order

  Emma Goldman (2015). “Anarchism and Other Essays”, p.37, Library of Alexandria

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• Perhaps it is this theory of all work and no play that has made the Marxist such a very dull boy.

  Herbert Read

  Boys, Play, Dull

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• Even theories must have foundations.

  Edgar Rice Burroughs

  Foundation, Statistics

  Edgar Rice Burroughs (2015). “THE VENUS SERIES - The Amtor of Venus Collection: Complete Edition (Pirates of Venus, Lost on Venus, Carson of Venus & Escape on Venus): From the Author of Tarzan of the Apes, Princess of Mars, Llana of Gathol, Jungle Tales of Tarzan, The Mucker, Pellucidar, The Moon Maid, Tarzan at the Earth's Core and many more”, p.36, e-artnow

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• Theories are just fantasies. And they change.

  Michael Crichton

  Statistics, Fantasy

  Michael Crichton (1997). “The Lost World”, Knopf

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• Theory-free science makes about as much sense as value-free politics.

  Stephen Jay Gould

  Statistics, Values

  "Dinosaur in a Haystack: Reflections in Natural History". Book by Stephen Jay Gould, "The First Unmasking of Nature", 1995.

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• A theory is a good theory if it satisfies two requirements: it must accurately describe a large class of observations on the basis of a model that contains only a few arbitrary elements, and it must make definite predictions about the results of future observations.

  Stephen Hawking

  Class, Two, Arbitrary

  "A Brief History Of Time: From Big Bang To Black Holes". Book by Stephen Hawking, 1988.

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• It was our use of probability theory as logic that has enabled us to do so easily what was impossible for those who thought of probability as a physical phenomenon associated with "randomness". Quite the opposite; we have thought of probability distributions as carriers of information.

  Edwin Thompson Jaynes

  Opposites, Probability Theory, Use

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• The theory of interest was wrapped in utter obscurity, until Hume and Smith dispelled the vapor.

  Jean-Baptiste Say

  Obscurity, Vapor, Hume

  Jean Baptiste Say (1821). “A treatise on political economy; or, The production, distribution, and consumption of wealth. Tr. by C.R. Prinsep, with notes”, p.152

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• Nothing can be more idle than the opposition of theory to practice!

  Jean-Baptiste Say

  Practice, Idle, Opposition

  Jean Baptiste Say (1827). “A treatise on political economy: or, The production, distribution and consumption of wealth”, p.24

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• Economic theory has nothing to say as to what commodity will acquire the status of money. Historically, it happened to be gold. But if the physical makeup of our world would have been different or is to become different from what it is now, some other commodity would have become or might become money. The market will decide.

  Hans-Hermann Hoppe

  Makeup, Our World, Gold

  "Dr. Hans-Hermann Hoppe on the Impracticality of One-World Government and the Failure of Western-style Democracy". Interview with Anthony Wile, www.thedailybell.com. March 27, 2011.

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• The charge is often made against the intelligentsia and other members of the anointed that their theories and the policies based on them lack common sense. But the very commonness of common sense makes it unlikely to have any appeal to the anointed. How can they be wiser and nobler than everyone else while agreeing with everyone else?

  Thomas Sowell

  Common Sense, Unlikely, Made

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• I believe myself to be writing a book on economic theory which will largely revolutionize - not, I suppose, at once but in the course of the next ten years - the way the world thinks about economic problems.

  John Maynard Keynes

  Believe, Book, Writing

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• I think that the fact that a theory so vague, so insufficiently verifiable, and so far from the criteria otherwise applied in "hard" science, could become a dogma, can be explained only on sociological grounds.

  Ludwig von Bertalanffy

  Facts, Dogma, Criteria

  "Perspectives on general system theory: scientific-philosophical studies".

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• Lacanian theory must be understood as a kind of “slave morality.

  Judith Butler

  Morality, Kind, Slave

  Judith Butler, Maxine Elliot Professor of Comparative Literature and Critical Theory Judith Butler (2002). “Gender Trouble: Tenth Anniversary Edition”, p.72, Routledge

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• Socialism is not about big concepts and heavy theory. Socialism is about decent shelter for those who are homeless. It is about water for those who have no safe drinking water. It is about health care, it is about a life of dignity for the old. It is about overcoming the huge divide between urban and rural areas. It is about a decent education for all our people. Socialism is about rolling back the tyranny of the market. As long as the economy is dominated by an unelected, privileged few, the case for socialism will exist.

  Chris Hani

  Drinking, Water, Long

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• The theory of rights enables us to rise and overthrow obstacles, but not to found a strong and lasting accord between all the elements which compose the nation.

  Giuseppe Mazzini

  Strong, Rights, Elements

  Giuseppe Mazzini (2005). “The Duties of Man and Other Essays”, p.15, Cosimo, Inc.

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• Don't indulge your theories, think of your children and listen to the experts.

  Stephen Harper

  Children, Thinking, Experts

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• The thing I want to do is put as many new ideas into the law as I can, to show how particular solutions involve general theory, and to do it with style. I should like to be admitted to be the greatest jurist in the world.

  Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.

  Law, Ideas, Style

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• My mom would give me a piece to play, but I wouldn't do any theory because when it came time to do it I would sneak back upstairs and watch TV. So, I had these kind of nonchalant lessons for years, then it just started soaking in.

  Vanessa Carlton

  Mom, Years, Play

  Biography/Personal Quotes, www.imdb.com.

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• Everyone agrees in theory that we can't judge a new idea or point of view unless we enter into it and try it out, but the practice itself is rare.

  Peter Elbow

  Views, Practice, Ideas

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• Theories are like patches on a coat, one day they just wear off.

  Sogyal Rinpoche

  One Day, Coats, Patches

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