Quotes About Exploration

William James used to preach the 'will to believe.' For my part, I should wish to preach the 'will to doubt' ... what is wanted is not the will to believe, but the wish to find out, which is the exact opposite.

Galileo and Kepler had dangerous thoughts (as they are called in Japan), and so have the most intelligent men of our own day.

But although the world was happy, some savour had gone out of life, since safety had been preferred to adventure.

Nature and books and (later) mathematics saved me from complete despondency.

The affection of parents makes infants feel safe in this dangerous world, and gives them boldness in experimentation and in exploration of their environments.

A todos los jóvenes con talento que van por ahí convencidos de que no tienen nada que hacer en el mundo, yo les diría: «Deja de intentar escribir y en cambio intenta no escribir. Sal al mundo, hazte pirata, rey en Borneo u obrero en la Rusia soviética; búscate una existencia en que la satisfacción de necesidades físicas elementales ocupe todas tus energías».

To all the talented young men who wander about feeling that there is nothing in the world for them to do, I should say: "Give up trying to write, and, instead, try not to write. Go out into the world; become a pirate, a king in Borneo, a laborer in Soviet Russia; give yourself an existence in which the satisfaction of elementary physical needs will occupy almost all your energies.

Il mondo non ha bisogno di dogmi, ha bisogno di libera ricerca.

What is wanted is not the will to believe, but the wish to find out, which is its exact opposite.

This seems plainly absurd; but whoever wishes to become a philosopher must learn not to be frightened by absurdities. One

To such a man [without philosophy] the world tends to become definite, finite, and obvious; common objects rouse no questions, and unfamiliar possibilities are contemptuously rejected.

It is amazing what a lot of insect life goes on under your nose when you have got it an inch from the earth. I suppose it goes on in any case, but if you are proceeding on your stomach, dragging your body along by your fingernails, entomology presents itself very forcibly as a thoroughly justified science.

It seemed that the printers of the African maps had a slightly malicious habit of including, in large letters, the names of towns, junctions, and villages which, while most of them did exist in fact, as a group of thatched huts may exist or a water hole, they were usually so inconsequential as completely to escape discovery from the cockpit.

It was ... disconcerting to examine your charts before a proposed flight only to find that in many cases the bulk of the terrain over which you had to fly was bluntly marked: 'UNSURVEYED.' It was as if the mapmakers had said, 'We are aware that between this spot and that one, there are several hundred thousands of acres, but until you make a forced landing there, we won't know whether it is mud, desert, or jungle -- and the chances are we won't know then!

Tail winds and happy landings.

I always concluded that lonely or not it was still free from the curse of boredom.

It is amazing what a lot of insect life goes on under your nose when you have got it an inch from the earth. I suppose it goes on in any case, but if you are proceeding on your stomach, dragging your body along by your fingernails, entomology presents itself very forcibly as a thoroughly justified science. The problem of classification alone must continue to be very discouraging.

Betty, who had found an old battered doll, was sitting quietly in the corner and industriously endeavoring to pick its one eye out

discover insights into these and other questions. Until then, let's allow God to use our curiosity to keep us committed to our excursion

God waits, watches, and hopes that the sun will not set on our length of days without our standing on tiptoes at the extremity of life, yelling, "Is there not more than this?

Don't go near it, so that you can see the way to go, for you haven't traveled this way before. Joshua 3:4

These were the names of the men Moses sent to scout out the land, and Moses renamed Hoshea son of Nun, Joshua. Numbers 13:16

I usually start with a repulsive character and go on from there.

I have joy. Canadians have the reputation of making dark movies because we are in this society where we have the space to explore darkness. That's the way I see it.