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theory quotes

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“Any physical theory is always provisional, in the sense that it is only a hypothesis: you can never prove it. No matter how many times the results of experiments agree with some theory, you can never be sure that the next time the result will not...” Stephen Hawking, A Brief History of Time
“The eventual goal of science is to provide a single theory that describes the whole universe.” Stephen Hawking, A Brief History of Time
“Everything must be taken into account. If the fact will not fit the theory—let the theory go.” Agatha Christie, The Mysterious Affair at Styles
“Philosophy is not a theory but an activity.” Ludwig Wittgenstein, Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus
“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...” Stephen Hawking, A Brief History of Time
“Evolution is a fact, not a theory.” Carl Sagan, Cosmos
“Even if there is only one possible unified theory, it is just a set of rules and equations. What is it that breathes fire into the equations and makes a universe for them to describe?” Stephen Hawking, A Brief History of Time
“Yet if there really is a complete unified theory, it would also presumably determine our actions. And so the theory itself would determine the outcome of our search for it! And why should it determine that we come to the right conclusions from...” Stephen Hawking, A Brief History of Time
“The employment of the word Logic to denote the theory of Argumentation, is derived from the Aristotelian, or, as they are commonly termed, the scholastic, logicians.” John Stuart Mill, A System Of Logic, Ratiocinative And Inductive
“Theory and practice sometimes clash. And when that happens, theory loses. Every single time.” Linus Torvalds
“I pass with relief from the tossing sea of Cause and Theory to the firm ground of Result and Fact.” Winston Churchill, The Story of the Malakand Field Force
“If there really is a complete unified theory that governs everything, it presumably also determines your actions. But it does so in a way that is impossible to calculate for an organism that is as complicated as a human being.” Stephen Hawking, A Brief History of Time
“The philosophy of reasoning, to be complete, ought to comprise the theory of bad as well as of good reasoning.” John Stuart Mill, A System Of Logic, Ratiocinative And Inductive
“However, if we do discover a complete theory, it should in time be understandable in broad principle by everyone, not just a few scientists. Then we shall all, philosophers, scientists, and just ordinary people, be able to take part in the...” Stephen Hawking, A Brief History of Time
“If it could be demonstrated that any complex organ existed, which could not possibly have been formed by numerous, successive, slight modifications, my theory would absolutely break down. But I can find out no such case.” Charles Darwin, On The Origin of Species
“Very simple was my explanation, and plausible enough—as most wrong theories are!” H. G. Wells, The Time Machine
“It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts.” Arthur Conan Doyle, A Scandal in Bohemia
“Isn't a gram of observation worth a ton of theory? ” Carl Sagan, Contact
“That a particular molecular motion does give rise to a state of consciousness is experimentally certain; but the how and why of the process are just as inexplicable as in the case of the communication of kinetic energy by impact.” Thomas Henry Huxley, The Advance of Science in the Last Half-Century
“It is a capital mistake to theorize before you have all the evidence. It biases the judgment.” Arthur Conan Doyle, A Study in Scarlet

Related topics

hypothesis philosophy universe facts logic evolution observation experiment God reality understanding action humanity science simplicity contradiction mistake evidence wrong explanation

Related authors

Stephen Hawking (7)
Carl Sagan (2)
John Stuart Mill (2)
Arthur Conan Doyle (2)
Winston Churchill (1)
Ludwig Wittgenstein (1)
Agatha Christie (1)
Charles Darwin (1)
H. G. Wells (1)
Linus Torvalds (1)
Thomas Henry Huxley (1)

Related sources

A Brief History of Time (7)
A System Of Logic, Ratiocinative And Inductive (2)
Cosmos (1)
Contact (1)
A Study in Scarlet (1)
Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus (1)
On The Origin of Species (1)
The Time Machine (1)
The Mysterious Affair at Styles (1)
The Story of the Malakand Field Force (1)
The Advance of Science in the Last Half-Century (1)
A Scandal in Bohemia (1)