--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The most solid piece of scientific truth…" description: "\"The most solid piece of scientific truth I know of is that we are profoundly ignorant about nature.\" — Lewis Thomas" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/497/lewis-thomas-2299_ignorant_the-most-solid-piece-of-scientific-truth_2798364.png" --- # The most solid piece of scientific truth I know of is that… ![“The most solid piece of scientific truth I know of is that we are profoundly ignorant about nature.” quote by Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/497/lewis-thomas-2299_ignorant_the-most-solid-piece-of-scientific-truth_2798364.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/497/lewis-thomas-2299_ignorant_the-most-solid-piece-of-scientific-truth_2798364.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/497/lewis-thomas-2299_ignorant_the-most-solid-piece-of-scientific-truth_2798364.png) > “The most solid piece of scientific truth I know of is that we are profoundly ignorant about nature.” [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Scientific humility: we know little about nature despite advances. **In simple terms:** We are largely ignorant about nature. Key Takeaway Stay humble and keep learning. Themes humility science ignorance Mood thoughtful serious Type philosophical scientific When to use this quote - research projects - policy making - education curricula Key Concepts epistemology environmental awareness Questions to Reflect On - What unknowns fascinate you? - How do you balance confidence with humility? A Different Perspective Complexity of nature can be overwhelming. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) [Science](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science/) [Scientific truth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/scientific-truth/) [Truth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/truth/) ## Related quotes > [The only solid piece of scientific truth about which I feel totally confident is that we are profoundly ignorant about nature... It is this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/the-only-solid-piece-of-scientific-truth-about-which-i-feel-totally/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) > [“I know how profoundly someone can touch your life and then leave it in a shambles when they’re gone.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sawyer-bennett/i-know-how-profoundly-someone-can-touch-your-life-and-then-leave-it/) [Sawyer Bennett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sawyer-bennett/) > [Whoever claims to understand another person completely, is either entirely ignorant of himself, or else has a nature so small that he can measure…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucy-larcom/whoever-claims-to-understand-another-person-completely-is-either/) [Lucy Larcom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucy-larcom/) > [To be ignorant of motion is to be ignorant of nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/to-be-ignorant-of-motion-is-to-be-ignorant-of-nature/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) > [“if she be ignorant of the nature of flour, yeast, malt, and hops, what is she good for?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-cobbett/if-she-be-ignorant-of-the-nature-of-flour-yeast-malt-and-hops-what-is/) [William Cobbett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-cobbett/) > [While some of us may know than others about certain things, it is the thinnest slice of all that is, or could be known.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-osgood/while-some-of-us-may-know-than-others-about-certain-things-it-is-the/) [Charles Osgood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-osgood/) > [To me, the right approach is to say we are profoundly ignorant of these matters. We need to work on them. But to suddenly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/to-me-the-right-approach-is-to-say-we-are-profoundly-ignorant-of/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [It seems to me that we are profoundly ignorant of ourselves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-bond/it-seems-to-me-that-we-are-profoundly-ignorant-of-ourselves/) [Edward Bond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-bond/) > [The greatest of fools is he who imposes on himself, and in his greatest concern thinks certainly he knows that which he has least…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-ashley-cooper-7th-earl-of-shaftesbury/the-greatest-of-fools-is-he-who-imposes-on-himself-and-in-his/) [Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 7th Earl of Shaftesbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-ashley-cooper-7th-earl-of-shaftesbury/) > [This is the best book ever written by any man on the wrong side of a question of which he is profoundly ignorant.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-b-macaulay/this-is-the-best-book-ever-written-by-any-man-on-the-wrong-side-of-a/) [Thomas B. Macaulay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-b-macaulay/) > [Those who care about truth know that empowering and encouraging those who support rioters is the wrong course of action.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chad-wolf/those-who-care-about-truth-know-that-empowering-and-encouraging-those/) [Chad Wolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chad-wolf/) > [On the road to truth, only those who do not know what tiredness and fear means reach the truth!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/on-the-road-to-truth-only-those-who-do-not-know-what-tiredness-and/) [Mehmet Murat Ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [Some changes happen deep down inside of you. And the truth is, only you know about them. Maybe thats the way its supposed to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/some-changes-happen-deep-down-inside-of-you-and-the-truth-is-only-you/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [It's not the truth that you know, but the truth that you obey that matters.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johnny-hunt/it-s-not-the-truth-that-you-know-but-the-truth-that-you-obey-that/) [Johnny Hunt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johnny-hunt/) > [I think everybody's talking about like facts and truth and you know like that 'We're here to fact check' and all of that, that's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-polgreen/i-think-everybody-s-talking-about-like-facts-and-truth-and-you-know/) [Lydia Polgreen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-polgreen/) ## More by Lewis Thomas > [“We are endowed with genes which code out our reaction to beavers and otters, maybe our reaction to each other as well. We are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/we-are-endowed-with-genes-which-code-out-our-reaction-to-beavers-and/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) > [We are a spectacular, splendid manifestation of life. We have language. . . . We have affection. We have genes for usefulness, and usefulness…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/we-are-a-spectacular-splendid-manifestation-of-life-we-have-language/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) > [“It is not a simple thing to decide where we fit, for at one time or another in our lives we manage to organize…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/it-is-not-a-simple-thing-to-decide-where-we-fit-for-at-one-time-or/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) > [It is in our genes to understand the universe if we can, to keep trying even if we cannot, and to be enchanted by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/it-is-in-our-genes-to-understand-the-universe-if-we-can-to-keep/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) > [If an idea cannot move on its own, pushing it doesn't help; best to let it lie there.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/if-an-idea-cannot-move-on-its-own-pushing-it-doesn-t-help-best-to-let/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) > [Left to ourselves, mechanistic and autonomic, we hanker for friends.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/left-to-ourselves-mechanistic-and-autonomic-we-hanker-for-friends/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) > [I do not agree with this century's fashion of running down the human species as a failed try, a doomed sport. At our worst,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/i-do-not-agree-with-this-century-s-fashion-of-running-down-the-human/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) > [It would seem to me... an offense against nature, for us to come on the same scene endowed as we are with the curiosity,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/it-would-seem-to-me-an-offense-against-nature-for-us-to-come-on-the/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) > [The drive to be useful is encoded in our genes. But when we gather in very large numbers, as in the modern nation-state, we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/the-drive-to-be-useful-is-encoded-in-our-genes-but-when-we-gather-in/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) > [I would send the complete works of Johann Sebastian Bach into outer space on the Voyager spacecraft. But that would be boasting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/i-would-send-the-complete-works-of-johann-sebastian-bach-into-outer/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) > [“Nature abhors a long silence.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/nature-abhors-a-long-silence/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) > [“The future is too interesting and dangerous to be entrusted to any predictable, reliable agency. We need all the fallibility we can get. Most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/the-future-is-too-interesting-and-dangerous-to-be-entrusted-to-any/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) > [We pass the word around; we ponder how the case is put by different people, we read the poetry; we meditate over the literature;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/we-pass-the-word-around-we-ponder-how-the-case-is-put-by-different/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) > [“The uniformity of the earth's life, more astonishing than its diversity, is accountable by the high probability that we derived, originally, from some single…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/the-uniformity-of-the-earth-s-life-more-astonishing-than-its/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) > [Having long suspected that there was something alive in there, running the place, separate from everything else, absolutely individual and independent, we've celebrated by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/having-long-suspected-that-there-was-something-alive-in-there-running/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) [Explore all 173 Lewis Thomas quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) ## More Ignorant quotes > [Don't judge me because I'm stupid. Don't judge me because I'm, mean. Don't judge me because I'm weird. Don't judge me for mistakes. Because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaiah-harden-me/don-t-judge-me-because-i-m-stupid-don-t-judge-me-because-i-m-mean-don/) Isaiah Harden (Me > [... informed ignorance provides the natural state of mind for research scientists at the ever-shifting frontiers of knowledge. People who believe themselves ignorant of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/informed-ignorance-provides-the-natural-state-of-mind-for-research/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [The poor and ignorant will continue to lie and steal as long as the rich and educated show them how.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elbert-hubbard/the-poor-and-ignorant-will-continue-to-lie-and-steal-as-long-as-the/) [Elbert Hubbard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elbert-hubbard/) > [The masses are still ungrateful or ignorant. They prefer murder, poisonings, and crimes generally to a literature possessed of style and feeling.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-sand/the-masses-are-still-ungrateful-or-ignorant-they-prefer-murder/) [George Sand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-sand/) > [The world is hard and cruel. We are here none knows why, and we go none knows whither. We must be very humble. We…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-somerset-maugham/the-world-is-hard-and-cruel-we-are-here-none-knows-why-and-we-go-none/) [W. Somerset Maugham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-somerset-maugham/) > [The best lessons a man ever learns are from his mistakes. It is not for want of schoolmasters that we are still ignorant.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-ward-beecher/the-best-lessons-a-man-ever-learns-are-from-his-mistakes-it-is-not/) [Henry Ward Beecher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-ward-beecher/) > [If the civil magistrate be a Christian, a disciple or follower of the meek Lamb of God, he is bound to be far from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-williams/if-the-civil-magistrate-be-a-christian-a-disciple-or-follower-of-the/) [Roger Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-williams/) > [Further conceive, I beg, that a stone, while continuing in motion, should be capable of thinking and knowing, that it is endeavoring, as far…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/further-conceive-i-beg-that-a-stone-while-continuing-in-motion-should/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [...God does not possess a private knowledge of Himself and a separate knowledge of all the creatures in common. The universal Cause, by knowing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-dionysius/god-does-not-possess-a-private-knowledge-of-himself-and-a-separate/) [Pope Dionysius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-dionysius/) > [Who does not know that kings and rulers sprang from men who were ignorant of God, who assumed because of blind greed and intolerable…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-gregory-vii/who-does-not-know-that-kings-and-rulers-sprang-from-men-who-were/) [Pope Gregory VII](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-gregory-vii/) > [Calvin: The more you know, the harder it is to take decisive action. Once you are informed, you start seeing complexities and shades of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-watterson/calvin-the-more-you-know-the-harder-it-is-to-take-decisive-action/) [Bill Watterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-watterson/) > [Every single moment, an ignorant discovers an idea that has been known for centuries!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/every-single-moment-an-ignorant-discovers-an-idea-that-has-been-known/) [Mehmet Murat Ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [Judging someone by the color of their skin is ignorant. Their skin complexion has nothing to do with their morals, beliefs or intelligence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/judging-someone-by-the-color-of-their-skin-is-ignorant-their-skin/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The doctrines of the Bible are often not clothed in the language of strict truth, but in that which was fittest to convey to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-pike/the-doctrines-of-the-bible-are-often-not-clothed-in-the-language-of/) [Albert Pike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-pike/) > [“...the difference between stupid and ignorant was that ignorant could learn.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/the-difference-between-stupid-and-ignorant-was-that-ignorant-could/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) Browse all 2,048 Ignorant quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The most solid piece of scientific truth I know of is that we are profoundly ignorant about nature.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Lewis Thomas" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/the-most-solid-piece-of-scientific-truth-i-know-of-is-that-we-are/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Ignorant" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/the-most-solid-piece-of-scientific-truth-i-know-of-is-that-we-are/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/497/lewis-thomas-2299_ignorant_the-most-solid-piece-of-scientific-truth_2798364.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/497/lewis-thomas-2299_ignorant_the-most-solid-piece-of-scientific-truth_2798364.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/497/lewis-thomas-2299_ignorant_the-most-solid-piece-of-scientific-truth_2798364.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The most solid piece of scientific truth I know of is that we are profoundly ignorant about nature.” — Lewis Thomas", "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": "Lewis Thomas", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The most solid piece of scientific...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/the-most-solid-piece-of-scientific-truth-i-know-of-is-that-we-are/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/the-most-solid-piece-of-scientific-truth-i-know-of-is-that-we-are/#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 } } ] } ```