---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Science promised us truth, or at least a…"
description: "\"“Science promised us truth, or at least a knowledge of such relations as our intelligence can seize: it never promised us peace or happiness. Sovereign..."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/431/gustave-le-bon-10163_happiness_science-promised-us-truth-or-at-least-a_2187491.jpg"
---

#  Science promised us truth, or at least a knowledge of such…

![“Science promised us truth, or at least a knowledge of such relations as our intelligence can seize: it never promised us peace or happiness. Sovereignly indifferent to our feelings, it is deaf to our lamentations. It is for us to endeavour to live with science, since nothing can bring back the…” quote by Gustave Le Bon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/431/gustave-le-bon-10163_happiness_science-promised-us-truth-or-at-least-a_2187491.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/431/gustave-le-bon-10163_happiness_science-promised-us-truth-or-at-least-a_2187491.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/431/gustave-le-bon-10163_happiness_science-promised-us-truth-or-at-least-a_2187491.jpg)

> ““Science promised us truth, or at least a knowledge of such relations as our intelligence can seize: it never promised us peace or happiness. Sovereignly indifferent to our feelings, it is deaf to our lamentations. It is for us to endeavour to live with science, since nothing can bring back the illusions it has destroyed””

[Gustave Le Bon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-le-bon/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

Science provides knowledge but not comfort; it dismantles comforting myths without offering peace.

**In simple terms:** Science gives facts, not happiness.

Key Takeaway

Seek meaning beyond scientific facts.

Themes

science truth comfort myths

Mood

thoughtful skeptical

Type

philosophical inspirational

When to use this quote

- education
- policy making
- personal belief
- technology adoption

Key Concepts

epistemology existentialism

Questions to Reflect On

- Is peace a necessary goal of knowledge?
- How do we cope with loss of illusion?

A Different Perspective

Science can create existential uncertainty.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Happiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happiness/) [Peace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/peace/) [Promised](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/promised/) [Promised Peace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/promised-peace-685746/) [Promised Truth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/promised-truth-2538074/) [Science](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science/) [Science Promised](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science-promised-2538072/) [Truth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/truth/) [Truth Knowledge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/truth-knowledge-516926/)

## Related quotes

> [Science has promised us truth...It has never promised us either peace or happiness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-le-bon/science-has-promised-us-truth-it-has-never-promised-us-either-peace/)

[Gustave Le Bon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-le-bon/)

> [Did science promise happiness? I do not believe it. It promised truth, and the question is to know if we will ever make happiness…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mile-zola/did-science-promise-happiness-i-do-not-believe-it-it-promised-truth/)

[Emile Zola](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mile-zola/)

> [Our Father in Heaven has promised us peace in times of trial and has provided a way for us to come to Him in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rex-d-pinegar/our-father-in-heaven-has-promised-us-peace-in-times-of-trial-and-has/)

[Rex D. Pinegar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rex-d-pinegar/)

> [Science has always promised two things not necessarily related; an increase first in our powers, second in our happiness or wisdom, and we have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-wood-krutch/science-has-always-promised-two-things-not-necessarily-related-an/)

[Joseph Wood Krutch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-wood-krutch/)

> [What is the message of Christmas? It is the birth of the One who promised peace, joy and love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ravi-zacharias/what-is-the-message-of-christmas-it-is-the-birth-of-the-one-who/)

[Ravi Zacharias](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ravi-zacharias/)

> [but all the things Science had promised us hadn't come to pass. Disease was still a problem. Starvation was still a problem. Violence and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-butcher/but-all-the-things-science-had-promised-us-hadn-t-come-to-pass/)

[Jim Butcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-butcher/)

> [Science promised man power. But, as so often happens when people are seduced by promises of power, the price is servitude and impotence. Power…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-weizenbaum/science-promised-man-power-but-as-so-often-happens-when-people-are/)

[Joseph Weizenbaum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-weizenbaum/)

> [Oregon welcomed me like a beloved child, enfolded me in her cool arms, shushed my turbulent thoughts, and promised peace through her whispering pines.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colleen-houck/oregon-welcomed-me-like-a-beloved-child-enfolded-me-in-her-cool-arms/)

[Colleen Houck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colleen-houck/)

> [“There is truth and knowledge beyond understanding.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bryant-mcgill/there-is-truth-and-knowledge-beyond-understanding/)

[Bryant McGill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bryant-mcgill/)

> [All those formal systems, in mathematics and physics and the philosophy of science, which claim to give foundations for certain truth are surely mistaken.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacob-bronowski/all-those-formal-systems-in-mathematics-and-physics-and-the/)

[Jacob Bronowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacob-bronowski/)

> [“I spoke to you all of the Wheel,” he said quietly. “The Wheel turns and unless we are alert an opportunity is snatched or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/talbot-mundy/i-spoke-to-you-all-of-the-wheel-he-said-quietly-the-wheel-turns-and/)

[Talbot Mundy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/talbot-mundy/)

> [Knowledge, or more expressively truth,--for knowledge is truth received into our intelligence,--truth is an ideal whole.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-sterling/knowledge-or-more-expressively-truth-for-knowledge-is-truth-received/)

[John Sterling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-sterling/)

> [Do not try to know the truth, for knowledge by the mind is not true knowledge. But you can know what is not true-which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sri-nisargadatta-maharaj/do-not-try-to-know-the-truth-for-knowledge-by-the-mind-is-not-true/)

[Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sri-nisargadatta-maharaj/)

> [Truth is not found by knowledge, it is found by silence. And knowledge is noisy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/truth-is-not-found-by-knowledge-it-is-found-by-silence-and-knowledge/)

[Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/)

> [The Absolute Truth of Knowledge is precisely non-Knowledge. If this Mirror called Knowledge remains in the phase where nothing is reflected in it, then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sorin-cerin/the-absolute-truth-of-knowledge-is-precisely-non-knowledge-if-this/)

[Sorin Cerin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sorin-cerin/)

## More by Gustave Le Bon

> [“A civilization, when the moment has come for crowds to acquire a high hand over it, is at the mercy of too many chances…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-le-bon/a-civilization-when-the-moment-has-come-for-crowds-to-acquire-a-high/)

[Gustave Le Bon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-le-bon/)

> [“The masses have never thirsted after truth. They turn aside from evidence that is not to their taste, preferring to deify error, if error…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-le-bon/the-masses-have-never-thirsted-after-truth-they-turn-aside-from/)

[Gustave Le Bon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-le-bon/)

> [All the civilizations we know have been created and directed by small intellectual aristocracies, never by people in the mass. The power of crowds…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-le-bon/all-the-civilizations-we-know-have-been-created-and-directed-by-small/)

[Gustave Le Bon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-le-bon/)

> [ “To the Jacobins of this epoch \[the French Revolution\], as well as to those of our times, this popular entity constitutes a superior personality… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-le-bon/to-the-jacobins-of-this-epoch-the-french-revolution-as-well-as-to/)

[Gustave Le Bon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-le-bon/)

> [The images evoked by words being independent of their sense, they vary from age to age and from people to people, the formulas remaining…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-le-bon/the-images-evoked-by-words-being-independent-of-their-sense-they-vary/)

[Gustave Le Bon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-le-bon/)

> [“To lose time in the manufacture of cut-and-dried constitutions is, in consequence, a puerile task, the useless labour of an ignorant rhetorician. Necessity and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-le-bon/to-lose-time-in-the-manufacture-of-cut-and-dried-constitutions-is-in/)

[Gustave Le Bon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-le-bon/)

> [Are the worst enemies of society those who attack it or those who do not even give themselves the trouble of defending it?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-le-bon/are-the-worst-enemies-of-society-those-who-attack-it-or-those-who-do/)

[Gustave Le Bon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-le-bon/)

> [“If one destroyed in museums and libraries, if one hurled down on the flagstones before the churches all the works and all the monuments…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-le-bon/if-one-destroyed-in-museums-and-libraries-if-one-hurled-down-on-the/)

[Gustave Le Bon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-le-bon/)

> [“From the primary school till he leaves the university a young man does nothing but acquire books by heart without his judgment or personal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-le-bon/from-the-primary-school-till-he-leaves-the-university-a-young-man/)

[Gustave Le Bon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-le-bon/)

> [The precise moment at which a great belief is doomed is easily recognizable; it is the moment when its value begins to be called…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-le-bon/the-precise-moment-at-which-a-great-belief-is-doomed-is-easily/)

[Gustave Le Bon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-le-bon/)

> [“The work of a crowd is always inferior, whatever its nature, to that of an isolated individual.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-le-bon/the-work-of-a-crowd-is-always-inferior-whatever-its-nature-to-that-of/)

[Gustave Le Bon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-le-bon/)

> [“Expressions such as infamous capital, vile exploiters, the admirable working man, the socialisation of wealth, &amp;c., always produce the same effect, although already somewhat…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-le-bon/expressions-such-as-infamous-capital-vile-exploiters-the-admirable/)

[Gustave Le Bon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-le-bon/)

> [“Instead of preparing men for life French schools solely prepare them to occupy public functions, in which success can be attained without any necessity…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-le-bon/instead-of-preparing-men-for-life-french-schools-solely-prepare-them/)

[Gustave Le Bon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-le-bon/)

> [“When, however, it is proposed to imbue the mind of a crowd with ideas and beliefs—with modern social theories, for instance—the leaders have recourse…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-le-bon/when-however-it-is-proposed-to-imbue-the-mind-of-a-crowd-with-ideas/)

[Gustave Le Bon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-le-bon/)

> [“Victims of the delusion that equality and liberty are the better assured by the multiplication of laws, nations daily consent to put up with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-le-bon/victims-of-the-delusion-that-equality-and-liberty-are-the-better/)

[Gustave Le Bon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-le-bon/)

[Explore all 51 Gustave Le Bon quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-le-bon/)

## More Happiness quotes

> [Life is full of change. That's how we learn and grow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/life-is-full-of-change-that-s-how-we-learn-and-grow/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [Remember that your natural state is joy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wayne-dyer/remember-that-your-natural-state-is-joy/)

[Wayne Dyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wayne-dyer/)

> [Balance suggests a perfect equilibrium. There is no such thing. That is a false expectation… There are going to be priorities and dimensions of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denise-morrison/balance-suggests-a-perfect-equilibrium-there-is-no-such-thing-that-is/)

[Denise Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denise-morrison/)

> [“WE CAN'T ALWAYS CONTROL OUR CIRCUMSTANCES BUT WE CAN CONTROL OUR ATTITUDE. WE MUST BE MORE CONCERNED WITH WHAT WE DO WITH WHAT HAPPENS…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marvin-j-ashton/we-can-t-always-control-our-circumstances-but-we-can-control-our/)

[MARVIN J. ASHTON](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marvin-j-ashton/)

> [I can skate beautifully. While performing on ice I always try to please the audience and to win as well. Being artistic is very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evgeni-plushenko/i-can-skate-beautifully-while-performing-on-ice-i-always-try-to/)

[Evgeni Plushenko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evgeni-plushenko/)

> [Sometimes we wish for the feel but we never understand that we have to give a lot to get the feel !](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-reynolds/sometimes-we-wish-for-the-feel-but-we-never-understand-that-we-have/)

[Robert Reynolds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-reynolds/)

> [Sing like no one's listening, love like you've never been hurt, dance like nobody's watching, and live like its heaven on earth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/sing-like-no-one-s-listening-love-like-you-ve-never-been-hurt-dance/)

[Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/)

> [“It was beautiful. He thought he had never seen anything so beautiful in all his life; that, having seen it, he could die content,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mira-grant/it-was-beautiful-he-thought-he-had-never-seen-anything-so-beautiful/)

[Mira Grant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mira-grant/)

> [The happy have whole days,](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colley-cibber/the-happy-have-whole-days/)

[Colley Cibber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colley-cibber/)

> [I have observed this in my experience of slavery, - that whenever my condition was improved, instead of its increasing my contentment, it only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-douglass/i-have-observed-this-in-my-experience-of-slavery-that-whenever-my/)

[Frederick Douglass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-douglass/)

> [I've got nothing to do today but smile.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-ve-got-nothing-to-do-today-but-smile/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [Her dignity consists in being unknown to the world; her glory is in the esteem of her husband; her pleasures in the happiness of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-jacques-rousseau/her-dignity-consists-in-being-unknown-to-the-world-her-glory-is-in/)

[Jean-Jacques Rousseau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-jacques-rousseau/)

> [The size of a man's understanding might always be justly measured by his mirth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/the-size-of-a-man-s-understanding-might-always-be-justly-measured-by/)

[Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/)

> [Positive thinking evokes more energy, more initiative, more happiness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/positive-thinking-evokes-more-energy-more-initiative-more-happiness/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [When you have a choice, choose happy!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pancho-barnes/when-you-have-a-choice-choose-happy/)

[Pancho Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pancho-barnes/)

[Browse all 40,288 Happiness quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happiness/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "“Science promised us truth, or at least a knowledge of such relations as our intelligence can seize: it never promised us peace or happiness. Sovereignly indifferent to our feelings, it is deaf to our lamentations. It is for us to endeavour to live with science, since nothing can bring back the illusions it has destroyed”",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Gustave Le Bon"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-le-bon/science-promised-us-truth-or-at-least-a-knowledge-of-such-relations/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Happiness"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-le-bon/science-promised-us-truth-or-at-least-a-knowledge-of-such-relations/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/431/gustave-le-bon-10163_happiness_science-promised-us-truth-or-at-least-a_2187491.jpg",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/431/gustave-le-bon-10163_happiness_science-promised-us-truth-or-at-least-a_2187491.jpg",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/431/gustave-le-bon-10163_happiness_science-promised-us-truth-or-at-least-a_2187491.jpg",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“Science promised us truth, or at least a knowledge of such relations as our intelligence can seize: it never…” — Gustave Le Bon",
                "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                "creator": {
                    "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                }
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "BreadcrumbList",
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "name": "Home",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 2,
                    "name": "Quotes",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 3,
                    "name": "Gustave Le Bon",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-le-bon/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "“Science promised us truth, or at...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-le-bon/science-promised-us-truth-or-at-least-a-knowledge-of-such-relations/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-le-bon/science-promised-us-truth-or-at-least-a-knowledge-of-such-relations/#breadcrumb"
        },
        {
            "@type": "WebSite",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "publisher": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "Organization",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "logo": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png",
                "width": 512,
                "height": 512
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
