--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The interpretations of science do not…" description: "\"The interpretations of science do not give us this intimate sense of objects as the interpretations of poetry give it; they appeal to a limited faculty..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c30/matthew-arnold-1235_animal_the-interpretations-of-science-do-not-gi_2748952.jpg" --- # The interpretations of science do not give us this… ![“The interpretations of science do not give us this intimate sense of objects as the interpretations of poetry give it; they appeal to a limited faculty, and not to the whole man. It is not Linnaeus or Cavendish or Cuvier who gives us the true sense of animals, or water, or plants, who seizes their…” quote by Matthew Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c30/matthew-arnold-1235_animal_the-interpretations-of-science-do-not-gi_2748952.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c30/matthew-arnold-1235_animal_the-interpretations-of-science-do-not-gi_2748952.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c30/matthew-arnold-1235_animal_the-interpretations-of-science-do-not-gi_2748952.jpg) > “The interpretations of science do not give us this intimate sense of objects as the interpretations of poetry give it; they appeal to a limited faculty, and not to the whole man. It is not Linnaeus or Cavendish or Cuvier who gives us the true sense of animals, or water, or plants, who seizes their secret for us, who makes us participate in their life; it is Shakspeare \[sic\] … Wordsworth … Keats … Chateaubriand … Senancour.” [Matthew Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-arnold/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Science explains external forms, but poetry reveals the inner, emotional experience of the world. **In simple terms:** Science describes; poetry feels. Key Takeaway Seek emotional depth beyond facts. Themes art emotion perception knowledge humanity Mood contemplative inspired Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - reading poetry - teaching literature - interdisciplinary studies - personal reflection - creative writing Key Concepts Aesthetic experience subjective understanding holistic perception Questions to Reflect On - How does poetry change your view of nature? - Can scientific facts inspire artistic expression? A Different Perspective Science offers objective data but may miss subjective meaning. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Animal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/animal/) [Appeals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/appeals/) [Faculty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/faculty/) [Giving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/giving/) [Interpretation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/interpretation/) [Interpretations](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/interpretations/) [Interpretations Poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/interpretations-poetry-3084353/) [Interpretations Science](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/interpretations-science-3084352/) [Intimate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intimate/) [Intimate Sense](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intimate-sense-1588090/) [Linnaeus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/linnaeus/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Objects](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/objects/) [Objects Interpretations](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/objects-interpretations-3084354/) [Plant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/plant/) [Poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry/) [Science](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science/) [Secret](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/secret/) [Water](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/water/) [Whole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/whole/) [Wordsworth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wordsworth/) ## Related quotes > [My car's my best friend. My office. My home. My location. I have a very intimate sense when I am in a car with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abbas-kiarostami/my-car-s-my-best-friend-my-office-my-home-my-location-i-have-a-very/) [Abbas Kiarostami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abbas-kiarostami/) > [A very intimate sense of the expressiveness of outward things, which ponders, listens, penetrates, where the earlier, less developed consciousness passed lightly by, is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-pater/a-very-intimate-sense-of-the-expressiveness-of-outward-things-which/) [Walter Pater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-pater/) > [My car is my best friend. My office. My home. My location. I have a very intimate sense when I am in a car…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abbas-kiarostami/my-car-is-my-best-friend-my-office-my-home-my-location-i-have-a-very/) [Abbas Kiarostami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abbas-kiarostami/) > [Time may restore us in his course Goethe's sage mind and Byron's force: But where will Europe's latter hour Again find Wordsworth's healing power?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-arnold/time-may-restore-us-in-his-course-goethe-s-sage-mind-and-byron-s/) [Matthew Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-arnold/) > [“Weed, are you familiar with the work of Carl Linnaeus? His Systema Naturae describes a classification system for all growing things.” Weed’s eyes dart…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maryrose-wood/weed-are-you-familiar-with-the-work-of-carl-linnaeus-his-systema/) [Maryrose Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maryrose-wood/) > [“While we’re at it, why don’t we add a third emotion to this list: lust. You are probably unaware that Linnaeus lumped the tomato…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benson-bruno/while-we-re-at-it-why-don-t-we-add-a-third-emotion-to-this-list-lust/) [Benson Bruno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benson-bruno/) > [“Of course to one so modern as I am, 'Enfant de mon siècle,’ merely to look at the world will be always lovely. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/of-course-to-one-so-modern-as-i-am-enfant-de-mon-si-cle-merely-to/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [“But Linnaeus took one bold step which changed humankind’s view of our place in nature for ever. He was the first person to include…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/but-linnaeus-took-one-bold-step-which-changed-humankind-s-view-of-our/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“I hope you will understand it! 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Oh, I'm vain enough to want my burgeoning Flora Japonica…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-mitchell/linnaeus-s-last-lesson-of-which-he-himself-was-unaware-was-that/) [David Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mitchell/) > [Linnaeus had it constantly in mind:'The closer we get to know the creatures around us, the clearer is the understanding we obtain of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sten-lindroth/linnaeus-had-it-constantly-in-mind-the-closer-we-get-to-know-the/) [Sten Lindroth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sten-lindroth/) > [The air of caricature never fails to show itself in the products of reason applied relentlessly and without correction. The observation of clinical facts…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilfred-trotter/the-air-of-caricature-never-fails-to-show-itself-in-the-products-of/) [Wilfred Trotter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilfred-trotter/) > [“Linnaeus had it constantly in mind: 'The closer we get to know the creatures around us, the clearer is the understanding we obtain of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sten-lindroth/linnaeus-had-it-constantly-in-mind-the-closer-we-get-to-know-the-2/) [Sten Lindroth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sten-lindroth/) ## More by Matthew Arnold > [Culture looks beyond machinery, culture hates hatred; culture has one great passion, the passion for sweetness and light.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-arnold/culture-looks-beyond-machinery-culture-hates-hatred-culture-has-one/) [Matthew Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-arnold/) > [We must hold fast to the austere but true doctrine as to what really governs politics and saves or destroys states. 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In quiet she reposes; Ah, would that I did too!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-arnold/strew-on-her-roses-roses-and-never-a-spray-of-yew-in-quiet-she/) [Matthew Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-arnold/) > [Nature, with equal mind, Sees all her sons at play, Sees man control the wind, The wind sweep man away.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-arnold/nature-with-equal-mind-sees-all-her-sons-at-play-sees-man-control-the/) [Matthew Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-arnold/) > [Six years-six little years-six drops of time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-arnold/six-years-six-little-years-six-drops-of-time/) [Matthew Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-arnold/) > [Let the long contention cease! / Geese are swans, and swans are geese.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-arnold/let-the-long-contention-cease-geese-are-swans-and-swans-are-geese/) [Matthew Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-arnold/) > [It is almost impossible to exaggerate the proneness of the human mind to take miracles as evidence, and to seek for miracles as evidence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-arnold/it-is-almost-impossible-to-exaggerate-the-proneness-of-the-human-mind/) [Matthew Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-arnold/) > [Religion is ethics heightened, enkindled, lit up by feeling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-arnold/religion-is-ethics-heightened-enkindled-lit-up-by-feeling/) [Matthew Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-arnold/) > [Genius is mainly an affair of energy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-arnold/genius-is-mainly-an-affair-of-energy/) [Matthew Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-arnold/) > [Culture is both an intellectual phenomenon and a moral one](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-arnold/culture-is-both-an-intellectual-phenomenon-and-a-moral-one/) [Matthew Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-arnold/) > [English civilization the humanizing, the bringing into one harmonious and truly humane life, of the whole body of English society that is what interests…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-arnold/english-civilization-the-humanizing-the-bringing-into-one-harmonious/) [Matthew Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-arnold/) > [“Wandering between two worlds, one dead The other powerless to be born, With nowhere yet to rest my head Like these, on earth I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-arnold/wandering-between-two-worlds-one-dead-the-other-powerless-to-be-born/) [Matthew Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-arnold/) [Explore all 267 Matthew Arnold quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-arnold/) ## More Animal quotes > [I was 3-years-old - to this day it is a vivid memory. 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He becomes uniquely human when he reaches out for the superfluous and extravagant.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-hoffer/when-grubbing-for-necessities-man-is-still-an-animal-he-becomes/) [Eric Hoffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-hoffer/) > [I'm 38 and I'm single, and I'm having my most intense and gratifying relationship with a dog. 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It makes no sense. None whatsoever.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-l-francione/animal-rights-without-veganism-is-like-human-rights-with-slavery-it/) [Gary L. Francione](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-l-francione/) [Browse all 13,456 Animal quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/animal/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The interpretations of science do not give us this intimate sense of objects as the interpretations of poetry give it; they appeal to a limited faculty, and not to the whole man. 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