#thesis

This, it may be said, is no more than a hypothesis... only of that force of precedent which in all times has been so strong to keep alive religious forms of which the original meaning is lost. ↗

— William Robertson Smith

#been #force #forms #hypothesis #keep

Faith is the choice of the nobler hypothesis.' Not the noblest, one never knows what that is. But the nobler, the best one can see when the choice is made. ↗

— Robert K. Greenleaf

#faith #hypothesis #faith

I think that there's something extremely beautiful about the Olympic ideal and its motto - 'Swifter, higher, stronger' - it's such a beautiful motto, and it celebrates everything which is the antithesis of death and dissolution and entropy. ↗

— Chris Cleave

#antithesis #beautiful #celebrates #death #dissolution

The result of this union would be, not the fortuitous result of a series of approximations and concessions, but the harmonious synthesis of two aspects of a single thought. ↗

— Jacques Ibert

#aspects #concessions #fortuitous #harmonious #result

It is because of this sea between us. The earth has never, up to now, separated us. But, ever since yesterday, there has been something in this nonetheless real, perfectly Atlantic, salty, slightly rough sea that has cast a spell on me. And every time I think about Promethea, I see her crossing this great expanse by boat and soon, alas, a storm comes up, my memory clouds over, in a flash there are shipwrecks, I cannot even cry out, my mouth is full of saltwater sobs. I am flooded with vague, deceptive recollections, I am drowning in my imagination in tears borrowed from the most familiar tragedies, I wish I had never read certain books whose poison is working in me. Has this Friday, perhaps, thrown a spell on me? But spells only work if you catch them. I have caught the Tragic illness. If only Promethea would make me some tea I know I would find some relief. But that is exactly what is impossible. And so, today, I am sinning. I am sinking beneath reality. I am weighted down with literature. That is my fate. Yet I had the presence of mind to start this parenthesis, the only healthy moment in these damp, feverish hours. All this to try to come back to the surface of our book... Phone me quickly, Promethea, get me out of this parenthesis fast!) ↗

— Hélène Cixous

#despair #drowning #imagination #parenthesis #sea

It is a good morning exercise for a research scientist to discard a pet hypothesis every day before breakfast. It keeps him young. ↗

— Konrad Lorenz

#before #breakfast #day #discard #every

What is required of a working hypothesis is a fine capacity for discrimination. ↗

— Jean-Francois Lyotard

#discrimination #fine #hypothesis #required #working

I cannot give any scientist of any age better advice than this: the intensity of a conviction that a hypothesis is true has no bearing over whether it is true or not. ↗

— Peter Medawar

#age #any #bearing #better #cannot

Well, the first thing is that truth and power for me form an antithesis, an antagonism, which will hardly ever be resolved. I can define in fact, can simplify the history of human society, the evolution of human society, as a contest between power and freedom. ↗

— Wole Soyinka

#antithesis #between #contest #define #ever

What better model of a synthesis than a nocturnal dream? Dreams simplify, don't they? ↗

— Manuel Puig

#dream #dreams #model #nocturnal #simplify