--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It is told of Faraday that he refused to…" description: "\"It is told of Faraday that he refused to be called a physicist; he very much disliked the new name as being too special and particular and insisted on ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1fa/lionel-trilling-12210_biographies_it-is-told-of-faraday-that-he-refused-to_1484001.png" --- # It is told of Faraday that he refused to be called a… ![“It is told of Faraday that he refused to be called a physicist; he very much disliked the new name as being too special and particular and insisted on the old one, philosopher, in all its spacious generality: we may suppose that this was his way of saying that he had not over-ridden the limiting…” quote by Lionel Trilling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1fa/lionel-trilling-12210_biographies_it-is-told-of-faraday-that-he-refused-to_1484001.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1fa/lionel-trilling-12210_biographies_it-is-told-of-faraday-that-he-refused-to_1484001.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1fa/lionel-trilling-12210_biographies_it-is-told-of-faraday-that-he-refused-to_1484001.png) > “It is told of Faraday that he refused to be called a physicist; he very much disliked the new name as being too special and particular and insisted on the old one, philosopher, in all its spacious generality: we may suppose that this was his way of saying that he had not over-ridden the limiting conditions of class only to submit to the limitation of a profession.” [Lionel Trilling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-trilling/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Faraday preferred “philosopher” over “physicist” to avoid narrow professional limits and embrace broader inquiry. **In simple terms:** He chose a broader identity to stay open-minded. Key Takeaway Embrace broad perspectives over restrictive labels. Themes identity discipline intellectual freedom Mood analytical critical Type essayistic reflective When to use this quote - academic career choices - interdisciplinary research - personal branding Key Concepts philosophical identity disciplinary boundaries Questions to Reflect On - How do your professional titles shape your thinking? - When might a specific label be advantageous? A Different Perspective Labels can still constrain thinking despite intentions. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Class](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/class/) [Faraday](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/faraday/) [Limitation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/limitation/) [Nomenclature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nomenclature/) [Philosopher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/philosopher/) [Philosophy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/philosophy/) [Profession](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/profession/) [Science](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science/) ## Related quotes > [“One field Faraday studied was the electric field. This is not a number but a vector, which we may visualize as an arrow and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lee-smolin/one-field-faraday-studied-was-the-electric-field-this-is-not-a-number/) [Lee Smolin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lee-smolin/) > [“Taking him for all and all, I think it will be conceded that Michael Faraday was the greatest experimental philosopher the world has ever…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-tyndall/taking-him-for-all-and-all-i-think-it-will-be-conceded-that-michael/) [John Tyndall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-tyndall/) > [ “His \[Faraday's\] third great discovery is the Magnetization of Light, which I should liken to the Weisshorn among mountains-high, beautiful, and alone.” ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-tyndall/his-faraday-s-third-great-discovery-is-the-magnetization-of-light/) [John Tyndall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-tyndall/) > [“why on earth should you generate current in that coil? It wasn’t clear at first what the importance of this discovery was. Soon afterward,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-lewin/why-on-earth-should-you-generate-current-in-that-coil-it-wasn-t-clear/) [Walter Lewin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-lewin/) > [To what part of electrical science are we not indebted to Faraday? He has increased our knowledge of the hidden and unknown to such…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-smee/to-what-part-of-electrical-science-are-we-not-indebted-to-faraday-he/) Alfred Smee > [There is in the chemist a form of thought by which all ideas become visible in the mind as strains of an imagined piece…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justus-von-liebig/there-is-in-the-chemist-a-form-of-thought-by-which-all-ideas-become/) [Justus von Liebig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justus-von-liebig/) > [Tyndall, ... I must remain plain Michael Faraday to the last; and let me now tell you, that if accepted the honour which the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-faraday/tyndall-i-must-remain-plain-michael-faraday-to-the-last-and-let-me/) [Michael Faraday](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-faraday/) > [“ Ohm found that the results could be summed up in such a simple law that he who runs may read it, and a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-heaviside/ohm-found-that-the-results-could-be-summed-up-in-such-a-simple-law/) [Oliver Heaviside](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-heaviside/) > [The most startling result of Faraday's Law is perhaps this. If we accept the hypothesis that the elementary substances are composed of atoms, we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-most-startling-result-of-faraday-s-law-is-perhaps-this-if-we/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [ “To him \[Faraday\], as to all true philosophers, the main value of a fact was its position and suggestiveness in the general sequence of… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-tyndall/to-him-faraday-as-to-all-true-philosophers-the-main-value-of-a-fact/) [John Tyndall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-tyndall/) > [“ Dewar 's rule in his laboratory was as absolute as that of a Pharaoh, and he showed deference to no one except the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-mendelssohn/dewar-s-rule-in-his-laboratory-was-as-absolute-as-that-of-a-pharaoh/) Kurt Mendelssohn > [“I do regard the Faraday cage as biologically toxic to humans and metal buildings should be avoided by those that like their good health!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-magee/i-do-regard-the-faraday-cage-as-biologically-toxic-to-humans-and/) [Steven Magee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-magee/) > [“When we consider the magnitude and extent of his discoveries and their influence on the progress of science and of industry, there is no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-rutherford/when-we-consider-the-magnitude-and-extent-of-his-discoveries-and/) [Ernest Rutherford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-rutherford/) > [“Mighty men of science and mighty deeds. A Newton who binds the universe together in uniform law; Lagrange, Laplace, Leibnitz with their wondrous mathematical…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-william-sanderson/mighty-men-of-science-and-mighty-deeds-a-newton-who-binds-the/) Frederick William Sanderson > [Faraday is, and must always remain, the father of that enlarged science of electromagnetism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-clerk-maxwell/faraday-is-and-must-always-remain-the-father-of-that-enlarged-science/) [James Clerk Maxwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-clerk-maxwell/) ## More by Lionel Trilling > [Our culture peculiarly honors the act of blaming, which it takes as the sign of virtue and intellect.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-trilling/our-culture-peculiarly-honors-the-act-of-blaming-which-it-takes-as/) [Lionel Trilling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-trilling/) > [The definitions of humanism are many, but let us here take it to be the attitude of those men who think it an advantage…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-trilling/the-definitions-of-humanism-are-many-but-let-us-here-take-it-to-be/) [Lionel Trilling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-trilling/) > [Literature is the human activity that make the fullest and most precise account of variousness, possibility, complexity, and difficulty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-trilling/literature-is-the-human-activity-that-make-the-fullest-and-most/) [Lionel Trilling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-trilling/) > [A primary function of art andthought is to liberate the individual from the tyranny of his culture in the environmental sense and to permit…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-trilling/a-primary-function-of-art-andthought-is-to-liberate-the-individual/) [Lionel Trilling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-trilling/) > [Being a Jew is like walking in the wind or swimming: you are touched at all points and conscious everywhere.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-trilling/being-a-jew-is-like-walking-in-the-wind-or-swimming-you-are-touched/) [Lionel Trilling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-trilling/) > [It is possible that the contemplation of cruelty will not make us humane but cruel; 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it is the habit or the ritual of showing respect for certain formulas to which, for various…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-trilling/ideology-is-not-the-product-of-thought-it-is-the-habit-or-the-ritual/) [Lionel Trilling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-trilling/) > [There is no connection between the political ideas of our educated class and the deep places of the imagination.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-trilling/there-is-no-connection-between-the-political-ideas-of-our-educated/) [Lionel Trilling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-trilling/) > [The function of literature, through all its mutations, has been to make us aware of the particularity of selves, and the high authority of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-trilling/the-function-of-literature-through-all-its-mutations-has-been-to-make/) [Lionel Trilling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-trilling/) > [Unless we insist that politics is imagination and mind, we will learn that imagination and mind are politics, and of a kind we will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-trilling/unless-we-insist-that-politics-is-imagination-and-mind-we-will-learn/) [Lionel Trilling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-trilling/) [Explore all 56 Lionel Trilling quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-trilling/) ## More Biographies quotes > [Don't be afraid of hard work. 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Some of the best…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-smiles/biographies-of-great-but-especially-of-good-men-are-most-instructive/) [Samuel Smiles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-smiles/) > [All Philosophy is Biography](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-j-carroll/all-philosophy-is-biography/) [Peter J. 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