--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Nothing can better express the feelings…" description: "\"Nothing can better express the feelings of the scientist towards the great unity of the laws of nature than in Immanuel Kant's words: \"Two things fill ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/620/konrad-lorenz-8538_awe_nothing-can-better-express-the-feelings_1325859.jpg" --- # Nothing can better express the feelings of the scientist… ![“Nothing can better express the feelings of the scientist towards the great unity of the laws of nature than in Immanuel Kant's words: "Two things fill the mind with ever new and increasing awe: the stars above me and the moral law within me."... Would he, who did not yet know of the evolution of…” quote by Konrad Lorenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/620/konrad-lorenz-8538_awe_nothing-can-better-express-the-feelings_1325859.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/620/konrad-lorenz-8538_awe_nothing-can-better-express-the-feelings_1325859.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/620/konrad-lorenz-8538_awe_nothing-can-better-express-the-feelings_1325859.jpg) > “Nothing can better express the feelings of the scientist towards the great unity of the laws of nature than in Immanuel Kant's words: "Two things fill the mind with ever new and increasing awe: the stars above me and the moral law within me."... Would he, who did not yet know of the evolution of the world of organisms, be shocked that we consider the moral law within us not as something given, a priori, but as something which has arisen by natural evolution, just like the laws of the heavens?” [Konrad Lorenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/konrad-lorenz/) ## 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 links awe of cosmos and inner moral sense, questioning if moral law is innate or evolved. **In simple terms:** Awe of stars and conscience may be evolutionary. Key Takeaway Consider moral instincts as evolved. Themes philosophy science ethics Mood reflective inquisitive Type philosophical thought‑provoking When to use this quote - education - public policy - personal reflection Key Concepts Kantian awe evolutionary ethics natural law Questions to Reflect On - Is morality innate or learned? - How does scientific view affect ethical decisions? A Different Perspective Moral law may be culturally shaped, not universal. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Awe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/awe/) [Biology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/biology/) [Evolution](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/evolution/) [Feelings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feelings/) [Heaven](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heaven/) [Law](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/law/) [Laws of nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/laws-of-nature/) [Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mind/) [Moral](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moral/) [Moral law](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moral-law/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) [Organisms](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/organisms/) [Psychology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychology/) [Science](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science/) [Scientist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/scientist/) [Stars](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stars/) [Unity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unity/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [In this age of space flight, when we use the modern tools of science to advance into new regions of human activity, the Bible...…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wernher-von-braun/in-this-age-of-space-flight-when-we-use-the-modern-tools-of-science/) [Wernher von Braun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wernher-von-braun/) > [“Immanuel Kant" "Noch wal”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hugo-claus/immanuel-kant-noch-wal/) [Hugo Claus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hugo-claus/) > [There was a German philosopher who is very well known, his name was Immanuel Kant, and he said there are two things that don’t…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cage/there-was-a-german-philosopher-who-is-very-well-known-his-name-was/) [John Cage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cage/) > [Immanuel Kant lived with knowledge as with his lawfully wedded wife, slept with it in the same intellectual bed for forty years and begot…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stefan-zweig/immanuel-kant-lived-with-knowledge-as-with-his-lawfully-wedded-wife/) [Stefan Zweig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stefan-zweig/) > [“Interestingly, the topic that I believe can best initiate this twenty-first-century rapprochement comes from the same figure who solved the parallel problem in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lee-braver/interestingly-the-topic-that-i-believe-can-best-initiate-this-twenty/) [Lee Braver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lee-braver/) > [Immanuel Kant famously claimed that 'he who wills the ends wills the means,' but he never spent much time in Washington.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elliott-abrams/immanuel-kant-famously-claimed-that-he-who-wills-the-ends-wills-the/) [Elliott Abrams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elliott-abrams/) > [Immanuel Kant would've made a lousy lawyer, but a great judge!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-gillers/immanuel-kant-would-ve-made-a-lousy-lawyer-but-a-great-judge/) Stephen Gillers > [“The history of Immanuel Kant's life is difficult to portray, for he had neither life nor history. He led a mechanical, regular, almost abstract…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heinrich-heine/the-history-of-immanuel-kant-s-life-is-difficult-to-portray-for-he/) [Heinrich Heine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heinrich-heine/) > [I respond well to what I read of Immanuel Kant's idea that the world as we see it is absolutely a function of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-beckett/i-respond-well-to-what-i-read-of-immanuel-kant-s-idea-that-the-world/) [Bernard Beckett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-beckett/) > [“Rules for Happiness: something to do, someone to love, something to hope for. —Immanuel Kant”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-biden/rules-for-happiness-something-to-do-someone-to-love-something-to-hope/) [Joe Biden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-biden/) > [In his essay, ‘Perpetual Peace,’ the philosopher, Immanuel Kant, argued that perpetual peace would eventually come to the world in one of two ways,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/in-his-essay-perpetual-peace-the-philosopher-immanuel-kant-argued/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“I remembered an unpleasant weekend spent struggling to comprehend the philosopher Immanuel Kant's explanation of the difference between calling something beautiful and calling it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-adams/i-remembered-an-unpleasant-weekend-spent-struggling-to-comprehend-the/) [Mark Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-adams/) > [Kant thinks that a free will is a will under moral laws and that freedom and the moral law are distinct thoughts that reciprocally…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allen-w-wood/kant-thinks-that-a-free-will-is-a-will-under-moral-laws-and-that/) [Allen W. Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allen-w-wood/) > [Kant, as we all know, compared moral law to the starry heavens, and found them both sublime. On the naturalistic hypothesis we should rather…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-balfour/kant-as-we-all-know-compared-moral-law-to-the-starry-heavens-and/) [Arthur Balfour](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-balfour/) > [“Against Hume, Kant has found a more proper ground for humility: “True humility follows unavoidably from our sincere and exact comparison of ourselves with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeanine-grenberg/against-hume-kant-has-found-a-more-proper-ground-for-humility-true/) Jeanine Grenberg ## More by Konrad Lorenz > [Practically all animals which move fast in a homogeneous medium have found means of giving their body a streamlined shape, thereby reducing friction to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/konrad-lorenz/practically-all-animals-which-move-fast-in-a-homogeneous-medium-have/) [Konrad Lorenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/konrad-lorenz/) > [I owe undying gratitude to my patient parents.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/konrad-lorenz/i-owe-undying-gratitude-to-my-patient-parents/) [Konrad Lorenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/konrad-lorenz/) > [It is a good morning exercise for a research scientist to discard a pet hypothesis every day before breakfast. It keeps him young.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/konrad-lorenz/it-is-a-good-morning-exercise-for-a-research-scientist-to-discard-a/) [Konrad Lorenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/konrad-lorenz/) > ['I don't need brains,' says the billionaire contemptuously. 'I'm brainy enough myself!' 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He must become either a poet or a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/konrad-lorenz/he-who-has-seen-the-intimate-beauty-of-nature-cannot-tear-himself/) [Konrad Lorenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/konrad-lorenz/) > [We had better dispense with the personification of evil, because it leads, all too easily, to the most dangerous kind of war: religious war.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/konrad-lorenz/we-had-better-dispense-with-the-personification-of-evil-because-it/) [Konrad Lorenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/konrad-lorenz/) > [If you confine yourself to this Skinnerian technique, you study nothing but the learning apparatus and you leave out everything that is different in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/konrad-lorenz/if-you-confine-yourself-to-this-skinnerian-technique-you-study/) [Konrad Lorenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/konrad-lorenz/) > [All scientific knowledge to which man owes his role as master of the world arose from playful activities.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/konrad-lorenz/all-scientific-knowledge-to-which-man-owes-his-role-as-master-of-the/) [Konrad Lorenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/konrad-lorenz/) > [All the advantages that man has gained from his ever-deepening understanding of the natural world that surrounds him, his technological, chemical and medical progress,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/konrad-lorenz/all-the-advantages-that-man-has-gained-from-his-ever-deepening/) [Konrad Lorenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/konrad-lorenz/) > [Truth in science can be defined as the working hypothesis best suited to open the way to the next better one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/konrad-lorenz/truth-in-science-can-be-defined-as-the-working-hypothesis-best-suited/) [Konrad Lorenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/konrad-lorenz/) > [“Every scientist should, after all, regard it as his duty to tell the public, in a generally intelligible way, about what he is doing”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/konrad-lorenz/every-scientist-should-after-all-regard-it-as-his-duty-to-tell-the/) [Konrad Lorenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/konrad-lorenz/) > [I consider early childhood events as most essential to a man's scientific and philosophical development.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/konrad-lorenz/i-consider-early-childhood-events-as-most-essential-to-a-man-s/) [Konrad Lorenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/konrad-lorenz/) [Explore all 78 Konrad Lorenz quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/konrad-lorenz/) ## More Awe quotes > [Because I've never had any higher education of any sort, I've never held in awe those who have had it or have a sense…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeremy-corbyn/because-i-ve-never-had-any-higher-education-of-any-sort-i-ve-never/) [Jeremy Corbyn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeremy-corbyn/) > [Of course the Dharma-body of the Buddha was the hedge at the bottom of the garden. At the same time, and no less obviously,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/of-course-the-dharma-body-of-the-buddha-was-the-hedge-at-the-bottom/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [When I look at the human brain I'm still in awe of it. Every single time you lift off the bone and open the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-carson/when-i-look-at-the-human-brain-i-m-still-in-awe-of-it-every-single/) [Benjamin Carson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-carson/) > [“I know you deserve better than me. You think I don’t know that? But if there was any woman made for me … it’s…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jamie-mcguire/i-know-you-deserve-better-than-me-you-think-i-don-t-know-that-but-if/) [Jamie McGuire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jamie-mcguire/) > [There are certain scenes that would awe an atheist into belief without the help of any other argument.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-gray/there-are-certain-scenes-that-would-awe-an-atheist-into-belief/) [Thomas Gray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-gray/) > [As we contemplate with reverence and awe how our Savior embraces us, comforts us, and heals us, let us commit to become His hands,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dieter-f-uchtdorf/as-we-contemplate-with-reverence-and-awe-how-our-savior-embraces-us/) [Dieter F. Uchtdorf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dieter-f-uchtdorf/) > [My journey deep into coma, outside this lowly physical realm and into the loftiest dwelling place of the almighty Creator, revealed the indescribably immense…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eben-alexander/my-journey-deep-into-coma-outside-this-lowly-physical-realm-and-into/) [Eben Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eben-alexander/) > [Awe combined with intimacy is the essence of Christian worship.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/awe-combined-with-intimacy-is-the-essence-of-christian-worship/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Everything we perceive to be solid and static is made up of almost entirely empty space.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-p-kauffman/everything-we-perceive-to-be-solid-and-static-is-made-up-of-almost/) [Joseph P. Kauffman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-p-kauffman/) > [“Oftentimes we call Life bitter names, but only when we ourselves are bitter and dark. And we deem her empty and unprofitable, but only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kahlil-gibran/oftentimes-we-call-life-bitter-names-but-only-when-we-ourselves-are/) [Kahlil Gibran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kahlil-gibran/) > [The laws of nature are the skeleton of the universe. They support it, give it shape, tie it together. Taken as a whole, they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-trefil/the-laws-of-nature-are-the-skeleton-of-the-universe-they-support-it/) James Trefil > [When you look at yourself and feel dissatisfaction about any part of you, you will continue to attract feelings of dissatisfaction, because the law…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rhonda-byrne/when-you-look-at-yourself-and-feel-dissatisfaction-about-any-part-of/) [Rhonda Byrne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rhonda-byrne/) > [“What can we make of the inexpressible joy of children? 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