Thinking quotes

Our University publishes a research magazine about every quarter. Generally it's not very interesting, at least to me. However, on the last page they tend to have a series of quotes. These quotes are related to one another in some way. The current issue has a series of quotes regarding thinking. I thought some were worth sharing:

"The important thing in science is not so much to obtain new facts as to discover new ways of thinking about them."
- Sir William Bragg

This is more true than many non-scientists might think. My postdoctoral advisor was very fond of saying "If you want to find a really good research project, just open a textbook and find a passage that starts with 'It is well known that...' There's your research project." My own work involves expanding upon observations first made over forty-five years ago!

"A great many people think they are thinking when they are really rearranging their prejudices."
- William James

"A conclusion is the place where you got tired of thinking."
- Harold Fricklestein

"Today, if you are not confused, you are not thinking clearly."
- Irene Peter

Talk about a great excuse for my constant state of confusion...



Finally, here's one for the current occupant of the White House and his cronies:

"All war is a symptom of man's failure as a thinking animal."
- John Steinbeck


Word of the post:

ob·strep·er·ous [uhb-strep-er-uhs]
–adjective

1. resisting control or restraint in a difficult manner; unruly.
2. noisy, clamorous, or boisterous: obstreperous children.

No example. I just like the way obstreperous sounds.