Quotes, thoughts, and philosophy — a treasury of extraordinary ideas.

A collection for those who don’t just read words, but seek to truly understand them.

yoice.net is a growing treasury of quotes, ideas, and reflections — for people who want to explore, question, and be inspired.

Inspirational time management quote by Horace Jackson Brown Jr.Copyright © yoice.net – Quote Artwork
/
"Don't say you don't have enough time. You have exactly the same number of hours per day that were given to Helen Keller, Pasteur, Michelangelo, Mother Teresa, Leonardo da Vinci, Thomas Jefferson, and Albert Einstein." Horace Jackson Brown Jr.
Inspirational quotes by Leonardo da Vinci on art, science, and lifeCopyright © yoice.net – Quote Artwork
/
"Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication. When once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been, and there you will always long to return. Learning never exhausts the mind. Art is never finished, only abandoned. Painting is poetry that is seen rather than felt, and poetry is painting that is felt rather than seen. The human foot is a masterpiece of engineering and a work of art. It had long since come to my attention that people of accomplishment rarely sat back and let things happen to them. They went out and happened to things. I have been impressed with the urgency of doing. Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Being willing is not enough; we must do. As a well-spent day brings happy sleep, so a life well spent brings happy death. Water is the driving force of all nature.”" Leonardo da Vinci
Inspirational quote by Mark Twain about exploring, dreaming, and discoveringCopyright © yoice.net – Quote Artwork
/
"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." Mark Twain
Quote about the arrogance and smugness caused by college degrees by ZUBYCopyright © yoice.net – Quote Artwork
/
"One of the biggest problems with college degrees is they've made a lot of people think they are much smarter than they truly are. This arrogance and smugness makes them dumber because they think they're too smart to receive new information from anybody with fewer 'credentials'." ZUBY
Dr Mike Yeadon discusses the existence of viruses focusing on SARS-CoV-2Copyright © yoice.net – Quote Artwork
/
"I’m aware this two page backgrounder & experimental proposal aims to show whether or not viruses exist, focussing on SARS-CoV-2. I’m a signatory because, having given a lot of thought to the entire proposition, I now believe it’s yet another of the lies to which we’ve been subject. In the case of scientists, even those in commercial drug discovery, have taken as fact that viruses exist without ever reviewing the original papers." Dr Mike Yeadon
Quote about self-discovery and insight by Hermann HesseCopyright © yoice.net – Quote Artwork
/
"I do not consider myself less ignorant than most people. I have been and still am a seeker, but I have ceased to question stars and books. I have begun to listen to the teachings my blood whispers to me. My story is not a pleasant one; it is neither sweet nor harmonious, as invented stories are; it has the taste of nonsense and chaos, of madness and dreams -- like the lives of all men who stop deceiving themselves." Hermann Hesse
Quote by Mario Savio about the university's role in societyCopyright © yoice.net – Quote Artwork
/
"The university is a vast public utility which turns out future workers in today's vineyard, the military-industrial complex. They've got to be processed in the most efficient way to see to it that they have the fewest dissenting opinions, that they have just those characteristics which are wholly incompatible with being an intellectual. This is a real internal psychological contradiction. People have to suppress the very questions which reading books raises." Mario Savio
Quote by Frank Zappa on schools stifling creativity and critical thoughtCopyright © yoice.net – Quote Artwork
/
"Schools train people to be ignorant, with style. They give you the equipment that you need to be a functional ignoramus. American schools* do not equip you to deal with things like logic; they don’t give you the criteria by which to judge between good and bad in any medium or format; and they prepare you to be a usable victim for military-industrial complex that needs manpower. As long as you’re just smart enough to do a job and just dumb enough to swallow what they feed you, you’re gonna be alright. But if you go beyond that then you’re gonna have these grave doubts that give you stomach problems, headaches…make you want to go out and do something else. So, I believe that schools mechanically and very specifically try and breed out any hint of creative thought in the kids that are coming out." Frank Zappa
Quote by Bertrand Russell about educational systems designed to control peopleCopyright © yoice.net – Quote Artwork
/
"Educational systems have been developed not to impart genuine knowledge but to make the people docile to the will of the rulers. Without a sophisticated system of deception in schools, it would be impossible to maintain the appearance of democracy. It is not desired that ordinary citizens think for themselves. Because it is believed that people who think for themselves are difficult to handle. Only the elites are supposed to think. The rest are supposed to obey and follow their leaders, like a herd of mutton. This doctrine has corrupted all state education systems from the ground up, even in democracies." Bertrand Russell
Inspirational quote by Johannes Kepler about passion for truth and scienceCopyright © yoice.net – Quote Artwork
/
"Now, eighteen months after the first light, three months after the true day, but a very few days after the pure Sun of that most wonderful study began to shine, nothing restrains me; it is my pleasure to yield to the inspired frenzy, it is my pleasure to taunt mortal men with the candid acknowledgement that I am stealing the golden vessels of the Egyptians to build a tabernacle to my God from them, far, far away from the boundaries of Egypt. If you forgive me, I shall rejoice; if you are enraged with me, I shall bear it. See, I cast the die, and I write the book. Whether it is to be read by the people of the present or of the future makes no difference: let it await its reader for a hundred years, if God Himself has stood ready for six thousand years for one to study Him." Johannes Kepler
Quote by Pete Holmes about the concept of God and nothingnessCopyright © yoice.net – Quote Artwork
/
"Some people think God created the universe. Some people think nothing created the universe, which is the funniest guess and the nothing people make fun of the God people. They say, God doesn't exist. I'm like, okay, maybe. But you know what? Definitely doesn't exist. Nothing. That's the defining characteristic of nothing is that it doesn't exist. So what are we talking about? Either you think it's God, something you can't see, touch, taste, photograph, and science can't prove, or you think it's nothing, something you can't see. Touch, taste, photograph, and science can't prove. But I think we can all agree if nothing, if you are nothing, sometimes spontaneously erupts into everything. That's a pretty goddamn magical fucking nothing you guys and ask. Ask the nothing people, what happens when you die? They'll tell you nothing. You go into nothing. I'm like, you mean you merge back with your creator? That's heaven, bitch." Pete Holmes
Quote by Vince Ebert about science versus theology and the importance of checking assumptionsCopyright © yoice.net – Quote Artwork
/
"For example, if I suspect that there might still be beer in the fridge and I check, then in principle I'm already doing a preliminary form of science. Big difference to theology. In theology, assumptions are not usually tested. So if I just say “there's beer in the fridge”, I'm a theologian. If I look, I'm a scientist. If I look, find nothing and still claim there's beer in it - then I'm an esoteric!" Vince Ebert
Quote by Spyridon Kakos about Galileo Galilei and the Copernican principle as a modern dogma challenging mainstream astronomyCopyright © yoice.net – Quote Artwork
/
"For centuries the case of Galileo Galilei has been the cornerstone of every major argument against the church and its supposedly unscientific dogmatism. The church seems to have condemned Galileo for his heresies, just because it couldn’t and wouldn’t handle the truth. Galileo was a hero of science wrongfully accused and now – at last – everyone knows that. But is that true? This paper tries to examine the case from the point of modern physics and the conclusions drawn are startling. It seems that contemporary church was too haste into condemning itself. The evidence provided by Galileo to support the heliocentric system do not even pass simple scrutiny, while modern physics has ruled for a long time now against both heliocentric and geocentric models as depictions of the “truth”. As Einstein eloquently said, the debate about which system is chosen is void of any meaning from a physics’ point of view. At the end, the selection of the center is more a matter of choice rather than a matter of ‘truth’ of any kind. And this choice is driven by specific philosophical axioms penetrating astronomy for hundreds of years now. From Galileo to Hubble, the Copernican principle has been slowly transformed to a dogma followed by all mainstream astronomers. It is time to challenge our dogmatic adherence to the anti-humanism idea that we are insignificant in the cosmos and start making true honest science again, as Copernicus once postulated." Spyridon Kakos
Quote about time travel and space-time by Stephen HawkingCopyright © yoice.net – Quote Artwork
/
"Since we can’t change the way the universe began, the question of whether time travel is possible is one of whether we can subsequently make space–time so warped that one can go back to the past. I think this is an important subject for research, but one has to be careful not to be labelled a crank. If one made a research grant application to work on time travel it would be dismissed immediately. No government agency could afford to be seen to be spending public money on anything as way out as time travel. Instead one has to use technical terms like closed time-like curves, which are code for time travel. Yet it is a very serious question." Stephen Hawking
Quote on particle physics by Alexander Unzicker about the misuse of language and money in fundamental physics researchCopyright © yoice.net – Quote Artwork
/
The sensational news that a fundamental particle has been discovered is somewhere between a misuse of language and a lie. What was found did not solve a single problem in physics, and yet was immediately celebrated as the discovery of the century. Whether this was deliberate misdirection, shameless puffery or foolish parroting remains to be seen. [...] The idea of tens of thousands of physicists conducting an unmanageable experiment on a nonsensical theoretical model, seems to prohibit itself. It is too painful to even consider. But this is soberly true. Particle physics is money thrown away.” Alexander Unzicker
Quote by Martin Luther expressing skepticism about Copernicus's heliocentric theoryCopyright © yoice.net – Quote Artwork
/
"People give ear to an upstart astrologer [Copernicus] who strove to show that the earth revolves, not the heavens or the firma-ment, the sun and the moon. Whoever wishes to appear clever must devise some new system, which of all systems is of course the very best. This fool wishes to reverse the entire science of astronomy; but the sacred scripture tells us that Joshua commanded the sun to stand still, not the earth." Martin Luther
Quote about mental freedom in education by Bertrand RussellCopyright © yoice.net – Quote Artwork
/
"The conviction that it is important to believe this or that, even if a free inquiry would not support the belief, is one which is common to almost all religions and which inspires all systems of state education...A habit of basing convictions upon evidence, and of giving to them only that degree of certainty which the evidence warrants, would, if it became general, cure most of the ills from which the world is suffering. But at present, in most countries, education aims at preventing the growth of such a habit, and men who refuse to profess belief in some system of unfounded dogmas are not considered suitable as teachers of the young… The world that I should wish to see would be one freed from the virulence of group hostilities and capable of realizing that happiness for all is to be derived rather from cooperation than from strife. I should wish to see a world in which education aimed at mental freedom rather than at imprisoning the minds of the young in a rigid armor of dogma calculated to protect them through life against the shafts of impartial evidence. The world needs open hearts and open minds, and it is not through rigid systems, whether old or new, that these can be derived." Bertrand Russell
Quote by Dr Ernst Chain about the complexity of the origin of lifeCopyright © yoice.net – Quote Artwork
/
"I have said for years that speculations about the origin of life lead to no useful purpose as even the simplest living system is far too complex to be understood in terms of the extremely primitive chemistry scientists have used in their attempts to explain the unexplainable that happened billions of years ago." Dr. Ernst Chain
Quote by Dr. George Wald about the origin of life and evolutionCopyright © yoice.net – Quote Artwork
/
"When it comes to the origin of life, we have only two possibilities as to how life arose. One is spontaneous generation arising to evolution; the other is a supernatural creative act of God. There is no third possibility...Spontaneous generation was scientifically disproved one hundred years ago by Louis Pasteur, Lazzaro Spallanzani, Francesco Redi and others. That leads us scientifically to only one possible conclusion -- that life arose as a supernatural creative act of God...I will not accept that philosophically because I do not want to believe in God. Therefore, I choose to believe in that which I know is scientifically impossible, spontaneous generation arising to evolution." Dr. George Wald
Quote by Harold D. Lasswell about propaganda being a cheap means of mass mobilizationCopyright © yoice.net – Quote Artwork
/
"As proposals for action along new lines arise to compete for the moral and physical support of masses, propaganda attains eminence as the one means of mass mobilization which is cheaper than violence, bribery or other possible control techniques." Harold D. Lasswell
Quote by David Hume on the ease of governing many by few and submission to rulersCopyright © yoice.net – Quote Artwork
/
"Nothing appears more surprizing to those, who consider human affairs with a philosophical eye, than the easiness with which the many are governed by the few; and the implicit submission, with which men resign their own sentiments and passions to those of their rulers." David Hume
Quote on invisible power structures and democracy by Prof. Rainer MausfeldCopyright © yoice.net – Quote Artwork
/
"The power structures that have emerged are not democratically legitimized, and they can no longer be voted out of office through any electoral process. The most important power structures in our society are no longer accessible to the voter at all… and one does not want the ordinary citizen to even know that they exist. They are meant to remain invisible within the framework of public debate." Prof. Rainer Mausfeld
Quote by Prof. Dr. Hans Herbert von Arnim about the reality of democracy and political deceptionCopyright © yoice.net – Quote Artwork
/
"The fundamental problem with our democracy is that it is not one. The people—the nominal ruler and sovereign—have, in reality, nothing to say. … Behind the democratic façade, a system has been installed in which completely different rules apply than those of the Basic Law. The system is undemocratic and corrupt; it abuses power and unscrupulously deceives citizens. … Every German is free to obey laws to which he has never consented; he may admire the majesty of the Basic Law, whose validity he has never legitimized; he is free to pay homage to politicians whom no citizen has ever elected, and to provide for them lavishly—with his tax money, about the use of which he has never been consulted. Overall, the state and politics are in a condition of which only professional optimists or hypocrites can claim it has arisen from the will of the citizens." Prof. Dr. Hans Herbert von Arnim
Quote by Henry Louis Mencken about democracy and the presidencyCopyright © yoice.net – Quote Artwork
/
"As democracy is perfected, the office of president represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart's desire at last and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron." Henry Louis Mencken
Quote on freedom and power by Claude Frédéric BastiatCopyright © yoice.net – Quote Artwork
/
"If the natural tendencies of mankind are so bad that it is not safe to permit people to be free, how is it that the tendencies of these organizers are always good? Do not the legislators and their appointed agents also belong to the human race? Or do they believe that they themselves are made of a finer clay than the rest of mankind?" Claude Frédéric Bastiat
Quote by Claudia Roth about nuclear energy and heating houses in winterCopyright © yoice.net – Quote Artwork
/
"With all due respect, you can’t heat houses in winter with nuclear energy. And as if that blatant nonsense weren’t enough, she added: They shouldn’t assume we’re any more foolish than the average person." Claudia Roth
Quote by Bärbel Bas about no two-tier society and no mandatory vaccinationCopyright © yoice.net – Quote Artwork
/
"Even once we have a vaccine and know more about possible immunity, one thing remains clear for us: there must not be a two-tier society of infected and non-infected people. There can be no mandatory vaccination — and there will be none." Bärbel Bas