Defined Quote by Henri Poincare

A definition may be very exact, and yet go but a very little way towards informing us of the nature of the thing defined.

— Edmund Burke

What should we gain by a definition, as it can only lead us to other undefined terms?

— Ludwig Wittgenstein

The word 'definition' has come to have a dangerously reassuring sound, owing no doubt to its frequent occurrence in logical and mathematical writings.

— Willard Van Orman Quine

We want to do something and a definition is a means of doing it. If we want certain results then we must use certain…

— I. A. Richards

Definitions are temporary verbalizations of concepts, and concepts- particularly difficult concepts- are usually revised repeatedly as our knowledge and understanding grows.

— Ernst Mayr

To define a thing is to substitute the definition for the thing itself.

— Georges Braque

Finally there are simple ideas of which no definition can be given; there are also axioms or postulates, or in a word primary principles,…

— Gottfried Leibniz

A definition is the enclosing a wilderness of idea within a wall of words.

— Samuel Butler

“Since all terms that are defined are defined by means of other terms, it is clear that human knowledge must always be content to…

— Bertrand Russell

The goal of a definition is to introduce a mathematical object. The goal of a theorem is to state some of its properties, or…

— IU?. I. Manin

“For Aristotle’s essentialist definitions are the principles from which all our knowledge is derived; they thus contain all our knowledge; and they serve to…

— Karl R. Popper

Definitions.... are never really needed, and rarely of any use

— Karl Popper