

“Study hard what interests you the most in the most undisciplined, irreverent and original manner possible.”
―
―

“I have a friend who's an artist and has sometimes taken a view which I don't agree with very well. He'll hold up a flower and say "look how beautiful it is," and I'll agree. Then he says "I as an artist can see how beautiful this is but you as a scientist take this all apart and it becomes a dull thing," and I think that he's kind of nutty. First of all, the beauty that he sees is available to other people and to me too, I believe. Although I may not be quite as refined aesthetically as he is ... I can appreciate the beauty of a flower. At the same time, I see much more about the flower than he sees. I could imagine the cells in there, the complicated actions inside, which also have a beauty. I mean it's not just beauty at this dimension, at one centimeter; there's also beauty at smaller dimensions, the inner structure, also the processes. The fact that the colors in the flower evolved in order to attract insects to pollinate it is interesting; it means that insects can see the color. It adds a question: does this aesthetic sense also exist in the lower forms? Why is it aesthetic? All kinds of interesting questions which the science knowledge only adds to the excitement, the mystery and the awe of a flower. It only adds. I don't understand how it subtracts.”
― The Pleasure of Finding Things Out: The Best Short Works of Richard P. Feynman
― The Pleasure of Finding Things Out: The Best Short Works of Richard P. Feynman

“The objective level is not words, and cannot be reached by words alone. We must point our finger and be silent, or we will never reach this level.”
― Science and Sanity: An Introduction to Non-Aristotelian Systems and General Semantics
― Science and Sanity: An Introduction to Non-Aristotelian Systems and General Semantics

“You have no responsibility to live up to what other people think you ought to accomplish. I have no responsibility to be like they expect me to be. It's their mistake, not my failing.”
― Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!: Adventures of a Curious Character
― Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!: Adventures of a Curious Character
Pranav’s 2024 Year in Books
Take a look at Pranav’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.
More friends…
Favorite Genres
Polls voted on by Pranav
Lists liked by Pranav