Alfred North Whitehead Quotes
That knowledge which adds greatness to character is knowledge so handled as to transform every phase of immediate experience.
As hard as it is for us to imagine today, while her husband was President of the United States, the First Lady wrote a nationally syndicated newspaper column every single day with politics frequently the subject. While she usually agreed with the President, there were occasions where they seemed to not see things exactly the same. She tended to be more liberal than he. However, there were those who believed that when she criticized politicians, it was with FDR’s knowledge and blessing and she sometimes did his “dirty work.” Eleanor Roosevelt was one of the most influential people in the country—certainly more-so than any First Lady before and since.
He was referring to the fact that many great men had early views that people find shocking because they are so unexpected based on their mature writings or speeches. But most great men develop personally and intellectually over their career. As an example, see {616330} for an early racist, prejudiced view of Negro laborers.
Alfred North Whitehead OM FRS FBA was an English mathematician and philosopher. He is best known as the defining figure of the philosophical school known as process philosophy, which today has found application to a wide variety of disciplines, including ecology, theology, education, physics, biology, economics, and psychology, among other areas.
