#abstract

The propensity to excessive simplification is indeed natural to the mind of man, since it is only by abstraction and generalisation, which necessarily imply the neglect of a multitude of particulars, that he can stretch his puny faculties so as to embrace a minute portion of the illimitable vastness of the universe. But if the propensity is natural and even inevitable, it is nevertheless fraught with peril, since it is apt to narrow and falsify our conception of any subject under investigation. To correct it partially - for to correct it wholly would require an infinite intelligence - we must endeavour to broaden our views by taking account of a wide range of facts and possibilities; and when we have done so to the utmost of our power, we must still remember that from the very nature of things our ideas fall immeasurably short of the reality. ↗

— James George Frazer

#generalisation #knowledge #science #art

But nobody is visually naive any longer. We are cluttered with images, and only abstract art can bring us to the threshold of the divine. ↗

— Dominique De Menil

#art #divine #menil #rothko #art

All religions are good 'in principle' - but unfortunately this abstract Good has only rarely prevented their practitioners from behaving like bastards. ↗

— Paul Karl Feyerabend

#goodness #religion #religion

To those who have exhausted politics, nothing remains but abstract thought. ↗

— Honore de Balzac

#abstract thought #exhausted #nothing #politics #remains

Height, width, and depth are the three phenomena which I must transfer into one plane to form the abstract surface of the picture, and thus to protect myself from the infinity of space. ↗

— Max Beckmann

#depth #form #height #i #infinity

The atmosphere is different in Congress after September 11. Terrorism is no longer an abstract issue, but a real, tangible threat. ↗

— Howard Berman

#after #atmosphere #congress #different #issue

Let me first say that I don't think the millennium target of cutting global poverty in half is an impossible or abstract target. I think it is a real and achievable goal. ↗

— Gro Harlem Brundtland

#cutting #first #global #goal #half

I am searching for abstract ways of expressing reality, abstract forms that will enlighten my own mystery. ↗

— Eric Cantona

#am #enlighten #expressing #forms #i

Mathematics expresses values that reflect the cosmos, including orderliness, balance, harmony, logic, and abstract beauty. ↗

— Deepak Chopra

#balance #beauty #cosmos #deepak-chopra #energy

This paper was one of my digressions into abstract economics. ↗

— William Vickrey

#economics #into #paper