J.B.S. Haldane > Quotes

“Now, my own suspicion is that the universe is not only queerer than we suppose, but queerer than we can suppose. I have read and heard many attempts at a systematic account of it, from materialism and theosophy to the Christian system or that of Kant, and I have always felt that they were much too simple. I suspect that there are more things in heaven and earth that are dreamed of, or can be dreamed of, in any philosophy. That is the reason why I have no philosophy myself, and must be my excuse for dreaming.”
― J. B. S. Haldane, Possible Worlds

“The Universe is not only queerer than we suppose, but queerer than we can suppose.”
― J.B.S. Haldane, Possible Worlds

“The four stages of acceptance:
1. This is worthless nonsense.
2. This is an interesting, but perverse, point of view.
3. This is true, but quite unimportant.
4. I always said so."

(Review of The Truth About Death, in: Journal of Genetics 1963, Vol. 58, p.464)”
― J.B.S. Haldane

“If one could conclude as to the nature of the Creator from a study of creation it would appear that God has an inordinate fondness for stars and beetles.”
― J.B.S. Haldane

“The world shall perish not for lack of wonders, but for lack of wonder”
― J.B.S. Haldane

“There is no great invention, from fire to flying, which has not been hailed as an insult to some god.”
― J.B.S. Haldane, Daedalus

“It seems to me immensely unlikely that mind is a mere by-product of matter. For if my mental processes are determined wholly by the motions of atoms in my brain I have no reason to suppose that my beliefs are true. They may be sound chemically, but that does not make them sound logically. And hence I have no reason for supposing my brain to be composed of atoms.”
― J.B.S. Haldane, Possible Worlds

“I have no doubt that in reality the future will be vastly more surprising than anything I can imagine. Now my own suspicion is that the Universe is not only queerer than we suppose, but queerer than we can suppose.”
― J.B.S. Haldane , Possible Worlds

“My practice as a scientist is atheistic. That is to say, when I set up an experiment I assume that no god, angel or devil is going to interfere with its course; and this assumption has been justified by such success as I have achieved in my professional career. I should therefore be intellectually dishonest if I were not also atheistic in the affairs of the world.”
― J.B.S. Haldane, Faith And Fact

“I am quite sure that our views on evolution would be very different had biologists studied genetics and natural selection before and not after most of them were convinced that evolution had occurred.”
― John B. Haldane

“Man’s habits change more rapidly than his instincts.”
― J.B.S. Haldane

“Man armed with science is like a baby with a box of matches.”
― J.B.S. Haldane, Daedalus

“Science affects the average man and woman in two ways already. He or she benefits by its application driving a motor-car or omnibus instead of a horse-drawn vehicle, and being treated for disease by a doctor or surgeon rather than a witch.”
― J.B.S. Haldane

“It took man 250,000 years to transcend the hunting pack. It will not take him so long to transcend the nation.”
― J.B.S. Haldane

“An attempt to study the evolution of living organisms without reference to cytology would be as futile as an account of stellar evolution which ignored spectroscopy.”
― John Burdon Sanderson Haldane

“The conservative has but little to fear from the man whose reason is the servant of his passions, but let him beware of him in whom reason has become the greatest and most terrible of the passions. These are the wreckers of outworn empires and civilisations, doubters, disintegrators, deicides.”
― J.B.S. Haldane

“We can fortell little of the future save that the thing that has not been is the thing that shall be.”
― J.B.S. Haldane, Daedalus

“I suppose the process of acceptance will pass through the usual four stages: i) this is worthless nonsense; ii) this is an interesting, but perverse, point of view; iii) this is true, but quite unimportant; iv) I always said so.”
― J.B.S. Haldane

“I would lay down my life for two brothers or eight cousins.”
― J.B.S. Haldane

“To light a lamp as a source of light is about as wasteful of energy as to burn down ones house to roast one's pork.”
― J.B.S. Haldane

“Teleology is like a mistress to a biologist: he cannot live without her but he’s unwilling to be seen with her in public.”
― J.B.S. Haldane

“The universe is not only stranger than we imagine; but stranger than we CAN imagine.”
― J. B. S. Haldane

“We do not find obvious evidence of life or mind in so-called inert matter…; but if the scientific point of view is correct, we shall ultimately find them, at least in rudimentary form, all through the universe

It seems to me immensely unlikely that mind is a mere by-product of matter. For if my mental processes are determined wholly by the motions of atoms in my brain I have no reason to suppose that my beliefs are true. They may be sound chemically, but that does not make them sound logically.

And hence I have no reason for supposing my brain to be composed of atoms.”
― J.B.S. Haldane

“My suspicion is that the universe is not only queerer than we suppose, but queerer than we can suppose. ... I suspect that there are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamed of, in any philosophy. That is the reason why I have no philosophy for myself, and must be my excuse for dreaming.”
― J.B.S. Haldane

“If He exists the creator has an inordinate fondness for beetles.”
― J.B.S Haldane

“பிரபஞ்சம் நாம் அனுமானித்திருந்ததைவிட அதிக விசித்திரமானது மட்டுமல்ல; நம்மால் அனுமானிக்க முடிவதைவிட அதிக விசித்திரமானதும்கூட”
― J.B.S. Haldane

“El universo no sólo es más raro de lo que suponemos. Es más raro de lo que podemos suponer”
― J.B.S Haldane

“...The other picture is of three Europeans in India looking at a great new star in the milky way. These were apparently all of the guests at a large dance who were interested in such matters. Amongst those who were at all competent to form views as to the origin of this cosmoclastic explosion, the most popular theory attributed it to a collision between two stars, or a star and a nebula. There seem, however, to be at least two possible alternatives to this hypothesis. Perhaps it was the last judgement of some inhabited world, perhaps a too successful experiment in induced radioactivity the part of some of the dwellers there. And perhaps also these two hypotheses are identical, and what we were watching that evening was the detonation of a world on which too many men came out to look at the stars when they should have been dancing.”
― Haldane J B S