Earth quotes

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Anaximenes

Flat Earth

“The earth is a flat surface borne up on the air in the same way as the sun and moon and the other stars. For all fiery things are carried through the air laterally. And that the stars are produced from the earth by reason of the mist which rises from it and which when rarefied becomes fire, and from this ascending fire the stars are constructed.”
  • Source: Anaximenes as recorded in “Refutation of All Heresies” by Hippolytus of Rome, originally recorded in Greek by Hippolytus circa 220 CE, published in English by Macmillan in 1921, translated by F. Legge, page 43. Available online at https://archive.org/details/philosophumenaor01hippuoft retrieved 2025.
    • Note: Only fragments of Anaximenes' writings have been preserved directly, and it is unknown how much these fragments have diverged from the original texts as they were recorded by subsequent authors.
Keywords: Earth_quotes Flat_quotes Borne_quotes Air_quotes Sun_quotes Moon_quotes Heavenly_quotes Body_quotes Fire_quotes Ride_quotes Surface_quotes Star_quotes Produce_quotes Mist_quotes Carry_quotes Rise_quotes Rarefy_quotes Ascend_quotes Construct_quotes

Bible_Verses

Tower Of Babel (Genesis 11:4-6)

(4) “And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.”
(5) “And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded.”
(6) “And the LORD said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do.”
Keywords: Lord_quotes Build_quotes City_quotes Tower_quotes Top_quotes Reach_quotes Heaven_quotes Make_quotes Name_quotes Pride_quotes Hubris_quotes Scatter_quotes Face_quotes Whole_quotes Earth_quotes Children_quotes Men_quotes People_quotes One_quotes Unity_quotes Cooperation_quotes Language_quotes Do_quotes Nothing_quotes Restraint_quotes Imagination_quotes Babel_quotes

Edward_Bulwer-Lytton

Almighty Dollar

"My father died shortly after I was twenty-one; and being left well off, and having a taste for travel and adventure, I resigned, for a time, all pursuit of the almighty dollar, and became a desultory wanderer over the face of the earth."
  • Source: Edward Bulwer-Lytton, The Coming Race (1870), Chapter 1.
  • Notes: This is the origin of the phrase "pursuit of the almighty dollar". Washington Irving coined the expression almighty dollar itself.
Keywords: Money_quotes Goal_quotes Earth_quotes Travel_quotes Pursuit_quotes Wandering_quotes Father_quotes Death_quotes Adventure_quotes Resign_quotes Time_quotes Almighty_quotes Dollar_quotes Face_quotes

Christopher_Columbus

World Spherical

"I have always read that the world, both land and water, was spherical, as the authority and researches of Ptolemy and all the others who have written on this subject demonstrate and prove, as do the eclipses of the moon and other experiments that are made from east to west, and the elevation of the North Star from north to south."
  • Source: Written by Christopher Columbus in a 'Letter to the Sovereigns', Third Voyage, 1498-10-18.
Keywords: Reading_quotes Authority_quotes Proof_quotes Earth_quotes Evidence_quotes Moon_quotes Experiment_quotes Star_quotes World_quotes Land_quotes Water_quotes Spherical_quotes Research_quotes Writing_quotes Demonstrate_quotes Eclipse_quotes East_quotes West_quotes Elevation_quotes North_quotes South_quotes

Nicolaus_Copernicus

Mobility of the Earth

“Therefore, having obtained the opportunity from these sources, I too began to consider the mobility of the earth.”
  • Source: De revolutionibus orbium coelestium (1543).
Keywords: Obtain_quotes Opportunity_quotes Source_quotes Begin_quotes Consider_quotes Mobility_quotes Earth_quotes Heliocentrism_quotes

Motion of the Earth

“Hence, I feel no shame in asserting that this whole region engirdled by the moon, and the center of the earth, traverse this grand circle amid the rest of the planets in an annual revolution around the sun. Near the sun is the center of the universe. Moreover, since the sun remains stationary, whatever appears as a motion of the sun is really due rather to the motion of the earth.”
  • Source: Book 1, Ch. 10 - De revolutionibus orbium coelestium (1543)
Keywords: Feel_quotes Shame_quotes Assert_quotes Whole_quotes Region_quotes Engird_quotes Center_quotes Moon_quotes Earth_quotes Traverse_quotes Grand_quotes Circle_quotes Amid_quotes Rest_quotes Planet_quotes Annual_quotes Revolution_quotes Around_quotes Sun_quotes Near_quotes Universe_quotes Stationary_quotes Appear_quotes Motion_quotes Due_quotes Rather_quotes

Stephen_Hawking

Turtles All the Way Down

“A well-known scientist (some say it was Bertrand Russell) once gave a public lecture on astronomy. He described how the earth orbits around the sun and how the sun, in turn, orbits around the centre of a vast collection of stars called our galaxy. At the end of the lecture, a little old lady at the back of the room got up and said: ‘What you have told us is rubbish. The world is really a flat plate supported on the back of a giant tortoise.' The scientist gave a superior smile before replying, ‘What is the tortoise standing on?' ‘You're very clever, young man, very clever,' said the old lady. ‘But it's turtles all the way down!”
Keywords: Scientist_quotes Bertand_Russell(topic)_quotes Say_quotes Public_quotes Lecture_quotes Astronomy_quotes Describe_quotes Earth_quotes Orbit_quotes Around_quotes Sun_quotes Center_quotes Vast_quotes Collection_quotes Star_quotes Galaxy_quotes End_quotes Little_quotes Old_quotes Lady_quotes Back_quotes Room_quotes Told_quotes Rubbish_quotes World_quotes Flat_quotes Plate_quotes Support_quotes Giant_quotes Tortoise_quotes Superior_quotes Reply_quotes Stand_quotes Clever_quotes Young_quotes Turtle_quotes Down_quotes All_quotes Infinite_quotes Regress_quotes Smile_quotes Man_quotes

Joseph_Heller

Lousy Earth

“What a lousy earth! He wondered how many people were destitute that same night even in his own prosperous country, how many homes were shanties, how many husbands were drunk and wives socked, and how many children were bullied, abused or abandoned. How many families hungered for food they could not afford to buy? How many hearts were broken? How many suicides would take place that same night, how many people would go insane? How many cockroaches and landlords would triumph? How many winners were losers, successes failures, rich men poor men? How many wise guys were stupid? How many happy endings were unhappy endings? How many honest men were liars, brave men cowards, loyal men traitors, how many sainted men were corrupt, how many people in positions of trust had sold their souls to blackguards for petty cash, how many had never had souls? How many straight-and-narrow paths were crooked paths? How many best families were worst families and how many good people were bad people? When you added them all up and then subtracted, you might be left with only the children, and perhaps with Albert Einstein and an old violinist or sculptor somewhere.”
  • Source: Heller, Joseph. 'Catch-22: 50th Anniversary Edition'. Chapter 39 'The Eternal City', page 483. Simon & Schuster. Kindle Edition.
Keywords: Lousy_quotes Earth_quotes Wonder_quotes People_quotes Destitute_quotes Night_quotes Country_quotes Home_quotes Shanty_quotes Husband_quotes Drunk_quotes Wife_quotes Socked_quotes Children_quotes Bully_quotes Abuse_quotes Abandoned_quotes Family_quotes Hungry_quotes Food_quotes Afford_quotes Buy_quotes Heart_quotes Broken_quotes Suicide_quotes Insanity_quotes Cockroach_quotes Landlord_quotes Triumph_quotes Win_quotes Lose_quotes Success_quotes Failure_quotes Rich_quotes Poor_quotes Men_quotes Wise_quotes Stupid_quotes Happy_quotes Ending_quotes Honest_quotes Liar_quotes Brave_quotes Coward_quotes Loyal_quotes Traitor_quotes Saint_quotes Corrupt_quotes Position_quotes Trust_quotes Sell_quotes Soul_quotes Blackguards_quotes Petty_quotes Cash_quotes Straight_quotes Narrow_quotes Crooked_quotes Path_quotes Good_quotes Bad_quotes Addition_quotes Subtraction_quotes Einstein(topic)_quotes Old_quotes Violin_quotes Sculptor_quotes

Byron_K_Jennings

Science is the Art

“Science is the art of the appropriate approximation. While the flat earth model is usually spoken of with derision it is still widely used. Flat maps, either in atlases or road maps, use the flat earth model as an approximation to the more complicated shape.”
  • Source: Byron K. Jennings, In 'On the Nature of Science', Physics in Canada (Jan/Feb 2007), 63, No. 1, 13.
Keywords: Science_quotes Art_quotes Appropriate_quotes Approximation_quotes Flat_quotes Earth_quotes Criticism_quotes Map_quotes Complexity_quotes Shape_quotes Model_quotes Derision_quotes Use_quotes Road_quotes

John_Maynard_Keynes

Slow Progress

“From the earliest times of which we have record — back, say, to two thousand years before Christ [BCE 2000] down to the beginning of the eighteenth century [CE 1700] — there was no very great change in the standard of life of the average man living in the civilised centres of the earth... This slow rate of progress, or lack of progress, was due to two reasons — to the remarkable absence of important technical improvements and to the failure of capital to accumulate.”
  • Source: From the Essay “Economic Possibilities for our Grandchildren” written by John Maynard Keynes in 1930. Included in the book “Essays in Persuasion” edited by John Maynard Keynes and published by W. W. Norton & Company in 1963.
Keywords: Early_quotes Time_quotes Record_quotes Ancient_quotes Century_quotes Pre-industrial_quotes Industrial_quotes Change_quotes Standard_quotes Life_quotes Living_quotes Civilization_quotes Center_quotes Earth_quotes Slow_quotes Rate_quotes Progress_quotes Lack_quotes Due_quotes Causality_quotes Reason_quotes Remarkable_quotes Absence_quotes Important_quotes Technology_quotes Improvement_quotes Failure_quotes Capital_quotes Accumulate_quotes

Lawrence_M_Krauss

Visible Matter

“There is already overwhelming evidence that the visible matter within galaxies may account for less than 10 percent of the galaxies’ actual mass: the rest, not yet directly detectable by observers on the earth, is probably distributed within and around each galaxy.”
  • Source: Lawrence M. Krauss, (1986). As quoted in Isaac Asimov's Book of Science and Nature Quotations.
Keywords: Overwhelm_quotes Evidence_quotes Visibility_quotes Matter_quotes Galaxy_quotes Mass_quotes Detect_quotes Observation_quotes Earth_quotes Distributed_quotes Direct_quotes Probably_quotes

Thomas_Robert_Malthus

Population and Subsistence

“I think I may fairly make two postulata. First, That food is necessary to the existence of man. Secondly, That the passion between the sexes is necessary, and will remain nearly in its present state... Assuming then my postulata as granted, I say, that the power of population is indefinitely greater than the power in the earth to produce subsistence for man. Population, when unchecked, increases in a geometrical ratio. Subsistence increases only in an arithmetical ratio... This implies a strong and constantly operating check on population from the difficulty of subsistence. This difficulty must fall somewhere; and must necessarily be severely felt by a large portion of mankind... The germs of existence contained in this spot of earth, with ample food, and ample room to expand in, would fill millions of worlds in the course of a few thousand years... Consequently, if the premises are just, the argument is conclusive against the perfectibility of the mass of mankind.”
  • Source: Thomas Robert Malthus. The essay: “An Essay on the Principle of Population as It Affects the Future Improvement of Society, with Remarks on the Speculations of Mr. Goodwin, M. Condorcet and Other Writers”. Originally published: 1798. Edition: First. Publisher: J. Johnson. Location: London, England. Chapter: 1. Retrieved From: <https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/An_Essay_on_the_Principle_of_Population>. Retrieval Date: 2024-04-03.
  • Notes: The dire predictions of Malthus have not yet been fulfilled. This is primarily due to errors in his initial assumptions (which are properly identified), not in errors in his logic. The first assumption (or postulatum) is that food production increases arithmetically (linearly). But historically, food production has increased geometrically (exponentially) due to advances in mechanical technologies and biotechnologies. The second assumption assumes passion and birth rates are directly correlated. However, technological advances in birth control, cultural advances in women's rights, and rising prosperity (which lowers birth rates) have falsified this assumption. Additional questionable assumptions are also made which are not initially specified.
Keywords: Think_quotes Fair_quotes Assumption_quotes Postulate_quotes Food_quotes Existence_quotes Passion_quotes Sex_quotes Man_quotes Woman_quotes Remain_quotes Grant_quotes Power_quotes Population_quotes Indefinite_quotes Greater_quotes Earth_quotes World_quotes Production_quotes Subsistence_quotes Uncheck_quotes Increase_quotes Geometric_quotes Exponential_quotes Ratio_quotes Arithmetic_quotes Linear_quotes Imply_quotes Strong_quotes Constant_quotes Operate_quotes Check_quotes Difficult_quotes Fall_quotes Necessary_quotes Severe_quotes Feel_quotes Large_quotes Portion_quotes Mankind_quotes Humanity_quotes Germ_quotes Contain_quotes Spot_quotes Ample_quotes Room_quotes Expand_quotes Fill_quotes Course_quotes Few_quotes Thousand_quotes Year_quotes Premises_quotes Argument_quotes Consequence_quotes Conclusive_quotes Against_quotes Perfectibility_quotes Mass_quotes Hunger_quotes Starvation_quotes Malthusian_quotes

Ptolemy

Trace the Windings

“I know that I am mortal by nature and ephemeral, but when I trace at my pleasure the windings to and fro of the heavenly bodies, I no longer touch earth with my feet. I stand in the presence of Zeus himself and take my fill of ambrosia.”
  • Source: Ptolemy. Almagest. Quoted in Owen Gingerich, The Eye of Heaven: Ptolemy, Copernicus, Kepler, American Institute of Physics, 1993, p. 55).
Keywords: Astonomy_quotes Mortality_quotes Pleasure_quotes Earth_quotes Deity_quotes Ambrosia_quotes Mortal_quotes Nature_quotes Ephemeral_quotes Trace_quotes Winding_quotes Heaven_quotes Body_quotes Touch_quotes Feet_quotes Stand_quotes Presence_quotes Zeus(topic)_quotes

William_Shakespeare

Heaven and Earth

“There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.”
  • Source: From the play “Hamlet” written by William Shakespeare, premiered circa 1599. Act 1, scene 5. The words of the character Hamlet to the character Horatio.
Keywords: More_quotes Thing_quotes Heaven_quotes Earth_quotes Dream_quotes Philosophy_quotes

Gerald_Weinberg

Correct Models

“Such models need not be correct; in fact, one does not so much ask whether or not the model is correct as whether it adequately or inadequately fulfills its purpose. When we travel to work, we unconsciously use a flat-Earth model of the terrain, as we think most people do on their ordinary journeys.”
  • Source: Weinberg, Gerald (2011-06-03). Passive Regulation: General Systems Design Principles (General Systems Thinking) (Kindle Locations 2186-2188). Weinberg & Weinberg. Kindle Edition.
Keywords: Model_quotes Correctness_quotes Adequate_quotes Inadequate_quotes Purpose_quotes Travel_quotes Earth_quotes Consciousness_quotes Work_quotes Unconscious_quotes Flat_quotes Terrain_quotes Think_quotes People_quotes Ordinary_quotes Journey_quotes

Knowledge Came Slowly

“In ages past, the knowledge came very slowly, and one man in his life was not likely to see much change other than that wrought by nature. The controlled incorporation of arsenic into copper to make bronze took several thousand years to develop; the substitution of tin for the more dangerous arsenic took another thousand or two. In our modern age, laboratories turn out an alloy a day, or more, with properties made to order. The alloying of metals led to the rise and fall of civilizations, but the changes were too slow to be appreciated. A truer blade meant victory over the invaders, but changes were local and slow enough to be absorbed by a million tiny adjustments without destroying the species. With an alloy a day, we can no longer be sure. Science and engineering have been the catalysts for the unprecedented speed and magnitude of change. The physicist shows us how to harness the power of the nucleus; the chemist shows us how to increase the quantity of our food; the geneticist shows us how to improve the quality of our children. But science and engineering have been unable to keep pace with the second-order effects produced by their first-order victories. The excess heat from the nuclear generator alters the spawning pattern of fish, and, before adjustments can be made, other species have produced irreversible changes in the ecology of the river and its borders. The pesticide eliminates one insect only to the advantage of others that may be worse, or the herbicide clears the rain forest for farming, but the resulting soil changes make the land less productive than it was before. And of what we are doing to our progeny, we still have only ghastly hints. Some have said the general systems movement was born out of the failures of science, but it would be more accurate to say the general systems approach is needed because science has been such a success. Science and technology have colonized the planet, and nothing in our lives is untouched. In this changing, they have revealed a complexity with which they are not prepared to deal. The general systems movement has taken up the task of helping scientists unravel complexity, technologists to master it, and others to learn to live with it.”
  • Source: Weinberg, Gerald (2011-04-07). An Introduction to General Systems Thinking (Kindle Locations 264-267). Weinberg & Weinberg. Kindle Edition.
Keywords: History_quotes Knowledge_quotes Slow_quotes Humanity_quotes Life_quotes Change_quotes Nature_quotes Arsenic_quotes Copper_quotes Bronze_quotes Technology_quotes Tin_quotes Metal_quotes Laboratory_quotes Property_quotes On_Demand_quotes Rise_quotes Fall_quotes Civilization_quotes Appreciation_quotes Victory_quotes Blade_quotes Invader_quotes Adjustment_quotes Species_quotes Science_quotes Engineering_quotes Catalyst_quotes Speed_quotes Physics_quotes Chemistry_quotes Food_quotes Genetics_quotes Quality_quotes Children_quotes Effect_quotes Heat_quotes Fish_quotes Irreversible_quotes Ecology_quotes River_quotes Pesticide_quotes Insect_quotes Herbicide_quotes Forest_quotes Farming_quotes Soil_quotes Productivity_quotes Progeny_quotes System_quotes Failure_quotes Accuracy_quotes Colonize_quotes Planet_quotes Earth_quotes Complexity_quotes Preparation_quotes Man_quotes Nucleus_quotes Quantity_quotes Second-order_quotes First-order_quotes Nuclear_quotes Generator_quotes Alter_quotes Spawn_quotes Pattern_quotes Border_quotes Eliminate_quotes Advantage_quotes Worse_quotes Rain_quotes Land_quotes Ghastly_quotes Hint_quotes General_quotes Approach_quotes Success_quotes Accurate_quotes Say_quotes Untouch_quotes Reveal_quotes Master_quotes Learn_quotes

Thornton_Wilder

Something Eternal

“Now there are some things we all know, but we don't take'm out and look at'm very often. We all know that something is eternal. And it ain't houses and it ain't names, and it ain't earth, and it ain't even the stars... everybody knows in their bones that something is eternal, and that something has to do with human beings. All the greatest people ever lived have been telling us that for five thousand years and yet you'd be surprised how people are always losing hold of it. There's something way down deep that's eternal about every human being.”
  • Source: Thornton Wilder writing for the Stage Manager character in act three of the play 'Our Town', first published in 1938 by Coward McCann, Inc., New York.
Keywords: Now_quotes Thing_quotes Know_quotes Take_quotes Look_quotes Often_quotes Something_quotes Eternal_quotes House_quotes Name_quotes Earth_quotes Star_quotes Bone_quotes Human_quotes Being_quotes Great_quotes People_quotes Live_quotes Tell_quotes Year_quotes Surprise_quotes Lose_quotes Hold_quotes Deep_quotes Down_quotes Every_quotes
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