--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The speculation about it is interesting…" description: "\"The speculation about it is interesting but the impossibility of ever doing it is so certain that it is not practically useful. You have written well a..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/464/dr-robert-h-goddard-55059_impossibility_the-speculation-about-it-is-interesting_2633356.jpg" --- # The speculation about it is interesting but the… ![“The speculation about it is interesting but the impossibility of ever doing it is so certain that it is not practically useful. You have written well and clearly, but not helpfully to science as I see it.” quote by Dr Robert H Goddard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/464/dr-robert-h-goddard-55059_impossibility_the-speculation-about-it-is-interesting_2633356.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/464/dr-robert-h-goddard-55059_impossibility_the-speculation-about-it-is-interesting_2633356.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/464/dr-robert-h-goddard-55059_impossibility_the-speculation-about-it-is-interesting_2633356.jpg) > “The speculation about it is interesting but the impossibility of ever doing it is so certain that it is not practically useful. You have written well and clearly, but not helpfully to science as I see it.” [Dr Robert H Goddard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dr-robert-h-goddard/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Speculating without feasible paths offers little scientific value; ideas need practical applicability to advance knowledge. **In simple terms:** Speculation without practicality is unhelpful. Key Takeaway Focus on research that can be realistically pursued. Themes science pragmatism innovation Mood analytical skeptical Type critical philosophical When to use this quote - grant proposals - experimental design - technology development Key Concepts feasibility theory vs practice Questions to Reflect On - What criteria determine a speculation’s usefulness? - When should speculative work be pursued despite low feasibility? A Different Perspective Some speculative ideas later become breakthroughs. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Impossibility](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/impossibility/) [Speculation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/speculation/) ## Related quotes > [“No pain in love is so hard to bear as that which comes from the impossibility of doing any service from the well-beloved, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-somerset-maugham/no-pain-in-love-is-so-hard-to-bear-as-that-which-comes-from-the/) [W. 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Schumacher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-f-schumacher/) > [Speculation is an effort, probably unsuccessful, to turn a little money into a lot. Investment is an effort, which should be successful, to prevent…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fred-schwed-jr/speculation-is-an-effort-probably-unsuccessful-to-turn-a-little-money/) Fred Schwed Jr > [To my mind, the main reason for the Depression in the United States as a whole, is the bondage of debt and the spirit…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heber-j-grant/to-my-mind-the-main-reason-for-the-depression-in-the-united-states-as/) [Heber J. Grant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heber-j-grant/) > [They have seized upon the government by bribery and corruption. They have made speculation and public robbery a science. They have loaded the nation,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denis-kearney/they-have-seized-upon-the-government-by-bribery-and-corruption-they/) [Denis Kearney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denis-kearney/) > [The biggest journalistic game-changer of our time has been the rise of social media and the overgrowth of faux news sources - league- and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-lipsyte/the-biggest-journalistic-game-changer-of-our-time-has-been-the-rise/) [Robert Lipsyte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-lipsyte/) > [Currency speculation-over a trillion dollars a day-is a tax-free activity. The notion of a tax on "day trades" or other speculative swaps was revived…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-kierans/currency-speculation-over-a-trillion-dollars-a-day-is-a-tax-free/) [Eric Kierans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-kierans/) > [The fear of speculation, the ostensible rush from the theoretical to the practical, brings about the same shallowness in action that it does in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-wilhelm-joseph-schelling/the-fear-of-speculation-the-ostensible-rush-from-the-theoretical-to/) [Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-wilhelm-joseph-schelling/) > [I am quite conscious that my speculations run beyond the bounds of true science…It is a mere rag of an hypothesis with as many…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-darwin/i-am-quite-conscious-that-my-speculations-run-beyond-the-bounds-of/) [Charles Darwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-darwin/) > [I think that only daring speculation can lead us further and not accumulation of facts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/i-think-that-only-daring-speculation-can-lead-us-further-and-not/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) > [In his anti-Darwinian book... (and eponymously named The Neck of the Giraffe ), Francis Hitching tells the story... "The need to survive by reaching…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-jay-gould/in-his-anti-darwinian-book-and-eponymously-named-the-neck-of-the/) [Stephen Jay Gould](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-jay-gould/) > [Where is the subject that does not branch out into infinity? For every grain of sand is a mystery; so is every daisy in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-mountford/where-is-the-subject-that-does-not-branch-out-into-infinity-for-every/) [William Mountford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-mountford/) > [All the questions, all the speculation, No. 2 driver and so on, it doesn't get to me. It doesn't matter.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/valtteri-bottas/all-the-questions-all-the-speculation-no-2-driver-and-so-on-it-doesn/) [Valtteri Bottas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/valtteri-bottas/) ## More by Dr Robert H Goddard > [Resolve to be tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving, and tolerant with the weak and the wrong. Sometime…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dr-robert-h-goddard/resolve-to-be-tender-with-the-young-compassionate-with-the-aged/) [Dr Robert H Goddard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dr-robert-h-goddard/) > [I feel we are going to enter an era comparable in its progress to that in which the airplane advanced... Its just a matter…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dr-robert-h-goddard/i-feel-we-are-going-to-enter-an-era-comparable-in-its-progress-to/) [Dr Robert H Goddard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dr-robert-h-goddard/) > [On the afternoon of October 19, 1899, I climbed a tall cherry tree and, armed with a saw which I still have, and a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dr-robert-h-goddard/on-the-afternoon-of-october-19-1899-i-climbed-a-tall-cherry-tree-and/) [Dr Robert H Goddard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dr-robert-h-goddard/) > [The dream would not down...for even though I reasoned with myself that the thing was impossible, there was something inside which simply would not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dr-robert-h-goddard/the-dream-would-not-down-for-even-though-i-reasoned-with-myself-that/) [Dr Robert H Goddard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dr-robert-h-goddard/) > [There can be no thought of finishing, for aiming at the stars, both literally and figuratively, is the work of generations, but no matter…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dr-robert-h-goddard/there-can-be-no-thought-of-finishing-for-aiming-at-the-stars-both/) [Dr Robert H Goddard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dr-robert-h-goddard/) [Explore all 6 Dr Robert H Goddard quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dr-robert-h-goddard/) ## More Impossibility quotes > [I could not limit my values and pursuits to what makes others comfortable. 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Flynn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-t-flynn/) > [It is physically impossible to lick your own elbow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tee-shepard/it-is-physically-impossible-to-lick-your-own-elbow/) [Tee Shepard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tee-shepard/) > [A mature mind is one who understands the impossibility of knowing the ultimate, and with this understanding there is a new dimension: the dimension…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/a-mature-mind-is-one-who-understands-the-impossibility-of-knowing-the/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) > [If you've never had a God-sized dream that scared you half to death, then you haven't really come to life. If you've never been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-batterson/if-you-ve-never-had-a-god-sized-dream-that-scared-you-half-to-death/) [Mark Batterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-batterson/) > [The impossibility of separating the nomenclature of a science from the science itself, is owing to this, that every branch of physical science must…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antoine-lavoisier/the-impossibility-of-separating-the-nomenclature-of-a-science-from/) [Antoine Lavoisier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antoine-lavoisier/) > [Impossible situations do breed invention and creativity, but they are also where God provides miracles.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jordan-blake-michiels/impossible-situations-do-breed-invention-and-creativity-but-they-are/) [Jordan Blake Michiels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jordan-blake-michiels/) > [When you look fear in the face, you are able to say to yourself, 'I lived through this horror. 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