It is the worst of all superstitions to assume that the epistemological characteristics of one branch of knowledge must necessarily read more

It is the worst of all superstitions to assume that the epistemological characteristics of one branch of knowledge must necessarily be applicable to any other branch.

Civilization is an enormous device for economizing knowledge,.

Civilization is an enormous device for economizing knowledge,.

You can discover what your enemy fears most by observing the means he uses to frighten you.

You can discover what your enemy fears most by observing the means he uses to frighten you.

There couldn't be a society of people who didn't dream. They'd be dead in two weeks.

There couldn't be a society of people who didn't dream. They'd be dead in two weeks.

Whatsoever is contrary to nature is contrary to reason, and whatsoever is contrary to reason is absurd.

Whatsoever is contrary to nature is contrary to reason, and whatsoever is contrary to reason is absurd.

A man is never more his single separate self than when he sets out on a journey.

A man is never more his single separate self than when he sets out on a journey.

Men have made an idol of luck as an excuse for their own thoughtlessness.

Men have made an idol of luck as an excuse for their own thoughtlessness.

The human understanding, from its peculiar nature, easily supposes a greater degree of order and regularity in things than it read more

The human understanding, from its peculiar nature, easily supposes a greater degree of order and regularity in things than it really finds.

To illustrate the difference between the innovator and the dull crowd of routinists who cannot even imagine that any improvement read more

To illustrate the difference between the innovator and the dull crowd of routinists who cannot even imagine that any improvement is possible, we need only refer to a passage in Engel's most famous book. Here, in 1878, Engels apodictically announced that military weapons are "now so perfected that no further progress of any revolutionizing influence is any longer possible." Henceforth "all further [technological] progress is by and large indifferent for land warfare. The age of evolution is in this regard essentially closed." This complacent conclusion shows in what the achievement of the innovator consists: he accomplishes what other people believe to be unthinkable and unfeasible.