--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The Universe is vast. Nothing is more…" description: "\"The Universe is vast. Nothing is more curious than the self-satisfied dogmatism with which mankind at each period of its history cherishes the delusion..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0ec/alfred-north-whitehead-836_adventure_the-universe-is-vast-nothing-is-more-cur_1963001.png" --- # The Universe is vast. Nothing is more curious than the… ![“The Universe is vast. Nothing is more curious than the self-satisfied dogmatism with which mankind at each period of its history cherishes the delusion of the finality of existing modes of knowledge. Skeptics and believers are alike. At this moment scientists and skeptics are the leading…” quote by Alfred North Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0ec/alfred-north-whitehead-836_adventure_the-universe-is-vast-nothing-is-more-cur_1963001.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0ec/alfred-north-whitehead-836_adventure_the-universe-is-vast-nothing-is-more-cur_1963001.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0ec/alfred-north-whitehead-836_adventure_the-universe-is-vast-nothing-is-more-cur_1963001.png) > “The Universe is vast. Nothing is more curious than the self-satisfied dogmatism with which mankind at each period of its history cherishes the delusion of the finality of existing modes of knowledge. Skeptics and believers are alike. At this moment scientists and skeptics are the leading dogmatists. Advance in detail is admitted; fundamental novelty is barred. This dogmatic common sense is the death of philosophic adventure.” [Alfred North Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-north-whitehead/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote warns that claiming knowledge is complete stifles curiosity and progress, urging openness to new ideas. **In simple terms:** Dogma blocks discovery. Key Takeaway Embrace uncertainty and keep questioning. Themes knowledge dogmatism curiosity progress philosophy Mood thoughtful critical inquisitive Type philosophical reflective analytical When to use this quote - academic research - scientific debates - policy making - education reform Key Concepts epistemology scientific method philosophical adventure Questions to Reflect On - How can we balance confidence in current knowledge with openness to change? - What practices foster healthy skepticism? A Different Perspective Dogmatism can also provide stability and shared frameworks. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Adventure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/adventure/) [Believer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/believer/) [Common sense](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/common-sense/) [Delusion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/delusion/) [Dogmatism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dogmatism/) [Finality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/finality/) [History](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history/) [Knowledge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knowledge/) [Mankind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mankind/) [Moments](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moments/) [Nature of man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature-of-man/) [Novelty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/novelty/) [Philosophy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/philosophy/) [Science](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science/) [Scientist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/scientist/) [Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/self/) [Skeptic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/skeptic/) [Universe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/universe/) ## Related quotes > [...the self-satisfied dogmatism with which mankind at each period of its history cherishes the delusion of the finality of existing modes of knowledge.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-north-whitehead/the-self-satisfied-dogmatism-with-which-mankind-at-each-period-of-its/) [Alfred North Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-north-whitehead/) > [Dogmatism is the anti-Christ of learning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-north-whitehead/dogmatism-is-the-anti-christ-of-learning/) [Alfred North Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-north-whitehead/) > [Dogmatists have one advantage: they are poor listeners.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frans-de-waal/dogmatists-have-one-advantage-they-are-poor-listeners/) [Frans de Waal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frans-de-waal/) > [If it be true that men of strong imaginations are usually dogmatists--and I am inclined to think it is so--it ought to follow that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/if-it-be-true-that-men-of-strong-imaginations-are-usually-dogmatists/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [The aim of science is not things themselves, as the dogmatists in their simplicity imagine, but the relation between things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-poincare/the-aim-of-science-is-not-things-themselves-as-the-dogmatists-in/) [Henri Poincare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-poincare/) > [There is no absolute knowledge. And those who claim it, whether they are scientists or dogmatists, open the door to tragedy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacob-bronowski/there-is-no-absolute-knowledge-and-those-who-claim-it-whether-they/) [Jacob Bronowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacob-bronowski/) > [The skeptic, being a lover of his kind, desires to cure by speech, as best he can, the self-conceit and rashness of the dogmatists.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sextus-empiricus/the-skeptic-being-a-lover-of-his-kind-desires-to-cure-by-speech-as/) [Sextus Empiricus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sextus-empiricus/) > [“Faith drives a wedge between ethics and suffering. Where certain actions cause no suffering at all, religious dogmatists still maintain that they are evil…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-harris/faith-drives-a-wedge-between-ethics-and-suffering-where-certain/) [Sam Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-harris/) > [There are two kinds of people in the world, the conscious dogmatists and the unconscious dogmatists. I have always found myself that the unconscious…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/there-are-two-kinds-of-people-in-the-world-the-conscious-dogmatists/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Supposing that Truth is a woman ---well, now, is there not some foundation for suspecting that all philosophers, insofar as they were dogmatists, have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/supposing-that-truth-is-a-woman-well-now-is-there-not-some-foundation/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [“We all know dogmatists who are more concerned about holding their opinions than about investigating their truth. ... if they are mistaken, they will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-l-wolfe/we-all-know-dogmatists-who-are-more-concerned-about-holding-their/) David L. Wolfe > [Faith drives a wedge between ethics and suffering. Where certain actions cause no suffering at all, religious dogmatists still maintain that they are evil…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-harris/faith-drives-a-wedge-between-ethics-and-suffering-where-certain-2/) [Sam Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-harris/) > [Textbooks, it seems to me, are enemies of education, instruments for promoting dogmatism and trivial learning. They may save the teacher some trouble, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-postman/textbooks-it-seems-to-me-are-enemies-of-education-instruments-for/) [Neil Postman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-postman/) > [The idea of freedom can never be disassociated from real Prussia. The real Prussian spirit means a synthesis between restraint and freedom, between voluntary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henning-von-tresckow/the-idea-of-freedom-can-never-be-disassociated-from-real-prussia-the/) [Henning von Tresckow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henning-von-tresckow/) > [“Dogmatism compensates for evidence.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dana-wallace/dogmatism-compensates-for-evidence/) Dana Wallace ## More by Alfred North Whitehead > [For successful education there must always be a certain freshness in the knowledge dealt with. It must be either new in itself or invested…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-north-whitehead/for-successful-education-there-must-always-be-a-certain-freshness-in/) [Alfred North Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-north-whitehead/) > [Philosophy begins in wonder. And, at the end, when philosophic thought has done its best, the wonder remains.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-north-whitehead/philosophy-begins-in-wonder-and-at-the-end-when-philosophic-thought/) [Alfred North Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-north-whitehead/) > [The pursuit of mathematics is a divine madness of the human spirit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-north-whitehead/the-pursuit-of-mathematics-is-a-divine-madness-of-the-human-spirit/) [Alfred North Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-north-whitehead/) > [Without adventure all civilization is full of decay. Adventure rarely reaches its predetermined end. Columbus never reached China.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-north-whitehead/without-adventure-all-civilization-is-full-of-decay-adventure-rarely/) [Alfred North Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-north-whitehead/) > [Aristotle discovered all the half-truths which were necessary to the creation of science.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-north-whitehead/aristotle-discovered-all-the-half-truths-which-were-necessary-to-the/) [Alfred North Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-north-whitehead/) > [On the ostensible exactitude of certain branches of human knowledge, including mathematics. The exactness is a fake.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-north-whitehead/on-the-ostensible-exactitude-of-certain-branches-of-human-knowledge/) [Alfred North Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-north-whitehead/) > [It is this union of passionate interest in the detailed facts with equal devotion to abstract generalisation which forms the novelty in our present…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-north-whitehead/it-is-this-union-of-passionate-interest-in-the-detailed-facts-with/) [Alfred North Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-north-whitehead/) > [Our minds are finite, and yet even in these circumstances of infinitude we are surrounded by possibilities that are infinite, and the purpose of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-north-whitehead/our-minds-are-finite-and-yet-even-in-these-circumstances-of/) [Alfred North Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-north-whitehead/) > [The many become one and are increased by one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-north-whitehead/the-many-become-one-and-are-increased-by-one/) [Alfred North Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-north-whitehead/) > [Art is the imposing of a pattern on experience, and our aesthetic enjoyment is recognition of the pattern.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-north-whitehead/art-is-the-imposing-of-a-pattern-on-experience-and-our-aesthetic/) [Alfred North Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-north-whitehead/) > [The future belongs to those who can rise above the confines of the earth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-north-whitehead/the-future-belongs-to-those-who-can-rise-above-the-confines-of-the/) [Alfred North Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-north-whitehead/) > [Common sense is genius in homespun.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-north-whitehead/common-sense-is-genius-in-homespun/) [Alfred North Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-north-whitehead/) > [Everyone is a philosopher. Not everyone is good at it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-north-whitehead/everyone-is-a-philosopher-not-everyone-is-good-at-it/) [Alfred North Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-north-whitehead/) > [Do not teach too many subjects and what you teach, teach thoroughly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-north-whitehead/do-not-teach-too-many-subjects-and-what-you-teach-teach-thoroughly/) [Alfred North Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-north-whitehead/) > [Civilization advances by extending the number of important operations which we can perform without thinking about them. Operations of thought are cavalry charges in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-north-whitehead/civilization-advances-by-extending-the-number-of-important-operations/) [Alfred North Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-north-whitehead/) [Explore all 356 Alfred North Whitehead quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-north-whitehead/) ## More Adventure quotes > [I'm trying to write a film with my friend. I'd love to get the thrill of speaking actors making my work even funnier.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-howard/i-m-trying-to-write-a-film-with-my-friend-i-d-love-to-get-the-thrill/) [Russell Howard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-howard/) > [I painted the words "GREAT ADVENTURE" in Beijing, Dallas, San Francisco, Copenhagen, and Japan. What it means to me is completely different to everybody…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-eine/i-painted-the-words-great-adventure-in-beijing-dallas-san-francisco/) [Ben Eine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-eine/) > [I've used the Phoenix Centrifuge to replicate what the body's going to go through on the flight up. I've also done some gravity tests…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-branson/i-ve-used-the-phoenix-centrifuge-to-replicate-what-the-body-s-going/) [Richard Branson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-branson/) > [I have lifted my plane . . . for perhaps a thousand flights and I have never felt her wheels glide from the Earth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beryl-markham/i-have-lifted-my-plane-for-perhaps-a-thousand-flights-and-i-have/) [Beryl Markham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beryl-markham/) > [I am attracted to looking at the different things language can mean even in one sometimes quite ordinary utterance. Writing is partly about listening…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rae-armantrout/i-am-attracted-to-looking-at-the-different-things-language-can-mean/) [Rae Armantrout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rae-armantrout/) > [What a thrill. You know you've entered new territory when you realise that your outfit cost more than your film.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessica-yu/what-a-thrill-you-know-you-ve-entered-new-territory-when-you-realise/) Jessica Yu > [“So many people live within unhappy circumstances and yet will not take the initiative to change their situation because they are conditioned by a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-supertramp-chris-mccandless/so-many-people-live-within-unhappy-circumstances-and-yet-will-not/) Alexander Supertramp Chris McCandless > [A common fallacy in much of the adverse criticism to which science is subjected today is that it claims certainty, infallibility and complete emotional…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyril-norman-hinshelwood/a-common-fallacy-in-much-of-the-adverse-criticism-to-which-science-is/) [Cyril Norman Hinshelwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-norman-hinshelwood/) > [“Exactly. I think the original tantric Buddhists took notice of was some very wise old people who never studied in their youth, but took…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-niemczura/exactly-i-think-the-original-tantric-buddhists-took-notice-of-was/) [Joe Niemczura](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-niemczura/) > [As an adventurer...I try to protect against the downside. I make sure I have covered as many eventualities as I can. In the end,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-branson/as-an-adventurer-i-try-to-protect-against-the-downside-i-make-sure-i/) [Richard Branson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-branson/) > [“Love can give you such happiness, then can break the very heart it filled, leaving a hole that can never be fixed or protected…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-mcleod/love-can-give-you-such-happiness-then-can-break-the-very-heart-it/) Kevin McLeod > [“It always gave Wolf a peculiar thrill thus to tighten his grip upon his stick, thus to wrap himself more closely in his faded…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cowper-powys/it-always-gave-wolf-a-peculiar-thrill-thus-to-tighten-his-grip-upon/) [John Cowper Powys](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cowper-powys/) > [“It all had to be squeezed and squeezed again, to provide a thrill, to provide enjoyment. 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