Paul Davies Quotes

The apple which tempts my characters is the one that will remove the knowledge of good and evil. I suppose it's something of a reversal of the conventional Eden story: Freedom of thought is perhaps the greatest good, and needs to be fought for and sacrificed for.

There's no question that as science, knowledge and technology advance, that we will attempt to do more significant things. And there's no question that we will always have to temper those things with ethics.

There is an ever-widening gap between what science allows and what we should actually do. There are many doors science can open that should be kept closed, on prudential or ethical grounds.

There is no sin but ignorance.

Scientists have become the bearers of the torch of discovery in our quest for knowledge.

That knowledge is power – that education is the citadel of liberty – that national glory and prosperity consist in the cultivation of the sciences, in the elevation of the liberal arts, in the extension of the powers of productive industry, are now considered as admitted truths and acknowledged axioms

You are challenged to avoid mediocrity, acquire knowledge from the sages of antiquity, the achievements of the scientific present, and the prophets of the living God.

To be proud of learning is the greatest ignorance.

Science is organized knowledge.

The tree of knowledge is not the tree of life! And yet can we cast out of our spirits all the good or evil poured into them by so many learned generations? Ignorance cannot be learned.

Science is not inherently good.

Knowledge is power only if man knows what facts not to bother with.

Our public schools arbitrarily define science as explaining the world by natural processes alone. In essence, a religion of naturalism is being imposed on millions of students. They need to be taught the real nature of science, including its limitations.

My personal conviction is that science is concerned wholly with truth, not with ethics.

Vanity of science. Knowledge of physical science will not console me for ignorance of morality in time of affliction, but knowledge of morality will always console me for ignorance of physical science.

Wisdom we know is the knowledge of good and evil, not the strength to choose between the two.

But the imposition of morality onto science, - where it does not belong - has become rampant in recent years.

If you're an adult and you choose not to believe in science, fine, but please don't prevent your children from learning about it and letting them draw their own conclusions.

Science is a way of thinking much more than it is a body of knowledge.

Understanding truth is the primary objective of science, not doing good for the world.

Though many have tried, no one has ever yet explained away the decisive fact that science, which can do so much, cannot decide what it ought to do.

Is it right to probe so deeply into Nature's secrets? The question must here be raised whether it will benefit mankind, or whether the knowledge will be harmful.

Every great advance in natural knowledge has involved the absolute rejection of authority.

In the history of science, we often find that the study of some natural phenomenon has been the starting point in the development of a new branch of knowledge.

We will acquire knowledge and science wherever they are to be found and we will stuff them into the head of every individual in the country. No limits, no conditions can be attached to knowledge and science.