---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Scientific principles and laws do not lie…"
description: "\"Scientific principles and laws do not lie on the surface of nature. They are hidden, and must be wrested from nature by an active and elaborate techniq..."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8d6/john-dewey-545_active_scientific-principles-and-laws-do-not-li_1920840.png"
---

#  Scientific principles and laws do not lie on the surface…

![“Scientific principles and laws do not lie on the surface of nature. They are hidden, and must be wrested from nature by an active and elaborate technique of inquiry.” quote by John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8d6/john-dewey-545_active_scientific-principles-and-laws-do-not-li_1920840.png)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8d6/john-dewey-545_active_scientific-principles-and-laws-do-not-li_1920840.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8d6/john-dewey-545_active_scientific-principles-and-laws-do-not-li_1920840.png)

> “Scientific principles and laws do not lie on the surface of nature. They are hidden, and must be wrested from nature by an active and elaborate technique of inquiry.”

[John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/)

## About This Quote

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

Scientific truths are not obvious; they must be uncovered through rigorous, systematic inquiry.

**In simple terms:** Science requires deep, active investigation.

Key Takeaway

Embrace diligent inquiry.

Themes

science methodology inquiry philosophy knowledge

Mood

thoughtful inquisitive

Type

philosophical educational

When to use this quote

- laboratory research
- field studies
- theoretical work
- education

Key Concepts

epistemology critical thinking experimental design

Questions to Reflect On

- What methods best reveal hidden natural laws?
- How does curiosity drive scientific progress?

A Different Perspective

May underplay role of intuition or serendipity.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Inquiry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inquiry/) [Law](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/law/) [Lying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lying/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) [Principles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/principles/) [Research](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/research/) [Science](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science/) [Technique](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/technique/)

## Related quotes

> [“Tell the Spartans, stranger passing by, that here obedient to their laws we lie.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-pressfield/tell-the-spartans-stranger-passing-by-that-here-obedient-to-their/)

[Steven Pressfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-pressfield/)

> [“From the beginning, Judeo-Christian principles have been the foundation for American public dialogue and government policy. They serve as the solid basis for political…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-a-norris/from-the-beginning-judeo-christian-principles-have-been-the/)

David A. Norris

> [Principles are laws that are established by the creator or the manufacturer by which a product functions. If you violate those laws, then you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/myles-munroe/principles-are-laws-that-are-established-by-the-creator-or-the/)

[Myles Munroe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/myles-munroe/)

> [Hermeticism is the science of nature hidden in the hieroglyphics and symbols of the ancient world. It is the search for the principle of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eliphas-levi/hermeticism-is-the-science-of-nature-hidden-in-the-hieroglyphics-and/)

[Eliphas Levi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eliphas-levi/)

> [Nature is often hidden, sometimes overcome, seldom extinguished.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/nature-is-often-hidden-sometimes-overcome-seldom-extinguished/)

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

> [“When you look at nature, you see a hidden mystery that gives a special flavor to the photograph.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abbas-kiarostami/when-you-look-at-nature-you-see-a-hidden-mystery-that-gives-a-special/)

[Abbas Kiarostami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abbas-kiarostami/)

> [Today we are searching for things in nature that are hidden behind the veil of appearance... We look for and paint this inner, spiritual…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franz-marc/today-we-are-searching-for-things-in-nature-that-are-hidden-behind/)

[Franz Marc](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franz-marc/)

> [Everything in Nature contains all the powers of Nature. Everything is made of one hidden stuff.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/everything-in-nature-contains-all-the-powers-of-nature-everything-is/)

[Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/)

> [I believe all complicated phenomena can be explained by simpler scientific principles.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/linus-pauling/i-believe-all-complicated-phenomena-can-be-explained-by-simpler/)

[Linus Pauling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/linus-pauling/)

> [By denying scientific principles, one may maintain any paradox.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/galileo-galilei/by-denying-scientific-principles-one-may-maintain-any-paradox/)

[Galileo Galilei](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/galileo-galilei/)

> [“Magic works best for me when it aligns with scientific principles.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brandon-sanderson/magic-works-best-for-me-when-it-aligns-with-scientific-principles/)

[Brandon Sanderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brandon-sanderson/)

> [This means that to entrust to science - or to deliberate control according to scientific principles - more than scientific method can achieve may…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-august-von-hayek/this-means-that-to-entrust-to-science-or-to-deliberate-control/)

[Friedrich August von Hayek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-august-von-hayek/)

> [Although a science fair can seem like a big "pain" it can help you understand important scientific principles, such as Newton's First Law of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-barry/although-a-science-fair-can-seem-like-a-big-pain-it-can-help-you/)

[Dave Barry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-barry/)

> [No government has the right to decide on the truth of scientific principles, nor to prescribe in any way the character of the questions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-p-feynman/no-government-has-the-right-to-decide-on-the-truth-of-scientific/)

[Richard P. Feynman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-p-feynman/)

> [The routine of custom tends to deaden even scientific inquiry; it stands in the way of discovery and of the active scientific worker. For…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/the-routine-of-custom-tends-to-deaden-even-scientific-inquiry-it/)

[John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/)

## More by John Dewey

> [“The deepest urge in human nature is the desire to be important.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/the-deepest-urge-in-human-nature-is-the-desire-to-be-important/)

[John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/)

> [“Empirically, things are poignant, tragic, beautiful, humorous, settled, disturbed, comfortable, annoying, barren, harsh, consoling, splendid, fearful; are such immediately and in their own right…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/empirically-things-are-poignant-tragic-beautiful-humorous-settled/)

[John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/)

> [A good aim surveys the present state of experience of pupils, and forming a tentative plan of treatment, keeps the plan constantly in view…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/a-good-aim-surveys-the-present-state-of-experience-of-pupils-and/)

[John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/)

> [Experiences in order to be educative must lead out into an expanding world of subject matter, a subject matter of facts or information and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/experiences-in-order-to-be-educative-must-lead-out-into-an-expanding/)

[John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/)

> [A tribe, let us say, is warlike. The successes for which it strives, the achievements upon which it sets store, are connected with fighting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/a-tribe-let-us-say-is-warlike-the-successes-for-which-it-strives-the/)

[John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/)

> [The phrase "think for one's self" is a pleonasm. Unless one does it for one's self, it isn't thinking.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/the-phrase-think-for-one-s-self-is-a-pleonasm-unless-one-does-it-for/)

[John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/)

> [Doctrine that eliminates or even obscures the function of choice of values and enlistment of desires and emotions in behalf of those chosen weakens…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/doctrine-that-eliminates-or-even-obscures-the-function-of-choice-of/)

[John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/)

> [There is no such thing as educational value in the abstract. The notion that some subjects and methods and that acquaintance with certain facts…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/there-is-no-such-thing-as-educational-value-in-the-abstract-the/)

[John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/)

> [Men live in a community in virtue of the things which they have in common; and communication is the way in which they come…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/men-live-in-a-community-in-virtue-of-the-things-which-they-have-in/)

[John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/)

> [We can have facts without thinking but we cannot have thinking without facts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/we-can-have-facts-without-thinking-but-we-cannot-have-thinking/)

[John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/)

> [But progress in knowledge has made us aware of the superficiality of Plato's lumping of individuals and their original powers into a few sharply…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/but-progress-in-knowledge-has-made-us-aware-of-the-superficiality-of/)

[John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/)

> [Even the alleged benefits of war, so far as more than alleged, spring from the fact that conflict of peoples at least enforces intercourse…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/even-the-alleged-benefits-of-war-so-far-as-more-than-alleged-spring/)

[John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/)

> [“When the organization called soul is free, moving and operative, initial as well as terminal, it is spirit. Qualities are both static, substantial, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/when-the-organization-called-soul-is-free-moving-and-operative/)

[John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/)

> [Since in reality there is nothing to which growth is relative save more growth, there is nothing to which education is subordinate save more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/since-in-reality-there-is-nothing-to-which-growth-is-relative-save/)

[John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/)

> [Creative thinking will improve as we relate the new fact to the old and all facts to each other.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/creative-thinking-will-improve-as-we-relate-the-new-fact-to-the-old/)

[John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/)

[Explore all 486 John Dewey quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/)

## More Active quotes

> [Listening is a very active awareness of the coming together of at least two lives. Listening, as far as I'm concerned, is certainly a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fred-rogers/listening-is-a-very-active-awareness-of-the-coming-together-of-at/)

[Fred Rogers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fred-rogers/)

> [we need not avoid our active lives, but simply bring to them a new vision and shift of gravity. for in the center we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-monk-kidd/we-need-not-avoid-our-active-lives-but-simply-bring-to-them-a-new/)

[Sue Monk Kidd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-monk-kidd/)

> [We in US need active intelligence: people being on the streets, people being able to stop and ask questions of individuals that they suspect…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kimberly-guilfoyle/we-in-us-need-active-intelligence-people-being-on-the-streets-people/)

[Kimberly Guilfoyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kimberly-guilfoyle/)

> [Nothing is worse than active ignorance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/nothing-is-worse-than-active-ignorance/)

[Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/)

> [I eat healthy most of the time. Whole foods are the best for you when you are super active, so I get plenty of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/witney-carson/i-eat-healthy-most-of-the-time-whole-foods-are-the-best-for-you-when/)

[Witney Carson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/witney-carson/)

> [Art shows us how to see things that are constructive and good, and to be an active part of that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerhard-richter/art-shows-us-how-to-see-things-that-are-constructive-and-good-and-to/)

[Gerhard Richter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerhard-richter/)

> [Love, like truth and beauty, is concrete. Love is not fundamentally a sweet feeling; not, at heart, a matter of sentiment, attachment, or being…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carter-heyward/love-like-truth-and-beauty-is-concrete-love-is-not-fundamentally-a/)

[Carter Heyward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carter-heyward/)

> [Studying Sol's interior by looking for analogous patterns on its incandescent face is known as helioseismology, an active - if largely unpronounceable - research…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-shostak/studying-sol-s-interior-by-looking-for-analogous-patterns-on-its/)

[Seth Shostak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-shostak/)

> [Science manipulates things and gives up living in them. It makes its own limited models of things; operating upon these indices or variables to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maurice-merleau-ponty/science-manipulates-things-and-gives-up-living-in-them-it-makes-its/)

[Maurice Merleau-Ponty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maurice-merleau-ponty/)

> [I stayed in L.A. long enough to get on my feet, and then I moved back to New York. The reason I moved here…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iggy-pop/i-stayed-in-l-a-long-enough-to-get-on-my-feet-and-then-i-moved-back/)

[Iggy Pop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iggy-pop/)

> [The answer to any challenge you are having has nothing to do with God's willingness to help. It has to do with your acceptance…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-beckwith/the-answer-to-any-challenge-you-are-having-has-nothing-to-do-with-god/)

[Michael Beckwith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-beckwith/)

> [Pete Townsend for me was a huge influence. Because essentially they were a three-piece band and the way he structured his chords and took…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-lifeson/pete-townsend-for-me-was-a-huge-influence-because-essentially-they/)

[Alex Lifeson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-lifeson/)

> [There is an enemy. There is an intelligent, active, malign force working against us. Step one is to recognize this. This recognition alone is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-pressfield/there-is-an-enemy-there-is-an-intelligent-active-malign-force-working/)

[Steven Pressfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-pressfield/)

> [Few, if any, creatures are equally active all night.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/few-if-any-creatures-are-equally-active-all-night/)

[Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/)

> [You need to enjoy yourself and just get into the routine of keeping fit and enjoying being active. That's always easier once you've made…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alistair-brownlee/you-need-to-enjoy-yourself-and-just-get-into-the-routine-of-keeping/)

[Alistair Brownlee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alistair-brownlee/)

Browse all 2,212 Active quotes

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "Scientific principles and laws do not lie on the surface of nature. They are hidden, and must be wrested from nature by an active and elaborate technique of inquiry.",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "John Dewey"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/scientific-principles-and-laws-do-not-lie-on-the-surface-of-nature/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Active"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/scientific-principles-and-laws-do-not-lie-on-the-surface-of-nature/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8d6/john-dewey-545_active_scientific-principles-and-laws-do-not-li_1920840.png",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8d6/john-dewey-545_active_scientific-principles-and-laws-do-not-li_1920840.png",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8d6/john-dewey-545_active_scientific-principles-and-laws-do-not-li_1920840.png",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“Scientific principles and laws do not lie on the surface of nature. They are hidden, and must be wrested…” — John Dewey",
                "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": "John Dewey",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "Scientific principles and laws do not...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/scientific-principles-and-laws-do-not-lie-on-the-surface-of-nature/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/scientific-principles-and-laws-do-not-lie-on-the-surface-of-nature/#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
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
