“ Order and reason, beauty and benevolence, are characteristics and conceptions which we find solely associated with the mind of man. ”
Henry Adams, The Education of Henry Adams (1906). copy citation
| Author | Henry Adams |
|---|---|
| Source | The Education of Henry Adams |
| Topic | beauty benevolence |
| Date | 1906 |
| Language | English |
| Reference | |
| Note | |
| Weblink | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/2044/2044-h/2044-h.htm |
Context
“He told his scholars that they must put up with a fraction of the universe, and a very small fraction at that--the circle reached by the senses, where sequence could be taken for granted--much as the deep-sea fish takes for granted the circle of light which he generates. Order and reason, beauty and benevolence, are characteristics and conceptions which we find solely associated with the mind of man. The assertion, as a broad truth, left one's mind in some doubt of its bearing, for order and beauty seemed to be associated also in the mind of a crystal, if one's senses were to be admitted as judge; but the historian had no interest in the universal truth of Pearson's or Kelvin's or Newton's laws; he sought only their relative drift or direction, and Pearson went on to say that these conceptions must stop: "Into the chaos beyond sense-impressions we cannot scientifically project them."”
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