--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Without poetry our science will appear…" description: "\"Without poetry our science will appear incomplete, and most of what now passes with us for religion and philosophy will be replaced by poetry.\" — Matth..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4a5/matthew-arnold-1235_incomplete_without-poetry-our-science-will-appear-i_2415349.jpg" --- # Without poetry our science will appear incomplete, and… ![“Without poetry our science will appear incomplete, and most of what now passes with us for religion and philosophy will be replaced by poetry.” quote by Matthew Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4a5/matthew-arnold-1235_incomplete_without-poetry-our-science-will-appear-i_2415349.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4a5/matthew-arnold-1235_incomplete_without-poetry-our-science-will-appear-i_2415349.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4a5/matthew-arnold-1235_incomplete_without-poetry-our-science-will-appear-i_2415349.jpg) > “Without poetry our science will appear incomplete, and most of what now passes with us for religion and philosophy will be replaced by poetry.” [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. Poetry fills gaps in science, eventually replacing religion and philosophy. **In simple terms:** Poetry complements science and fills existential gaps. Key Takeaway Integrate poetry with scientific thought. Themes science poetry philosophy Mood thoughtful inquisitive Type academic philosophical When to use this quote - education curricula - public talks - creative research Key Concepts aesthetics epistemology culture Questions to Reflect On - How does poetry influence scientific imagination? - Can poetry replace philosophy? A Different Perspective Poetry may not provide empirical answers. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [Philosophy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/philosophy/) [Poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry/) [Religion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religion/) [Science](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science/) [Science and religion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science-and-religion/) ## Related quotes > [In mauve sea-orchids as in her striking earlier book Guardians of the Secret, Lila Zemborain brings into relationship the viscera of the body and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/forrest-gander/in-mauve-sea-orchids-as-in-her-striking-earlier-book-guardians-of-the/) [Forrest Gander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/forrest-gander/) > [“Poetry or science, what matters is saying it how you see it. Saying precisely what and how you saw, and no more. In science,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruth-padel/poetry-or-science-what-matters-is-saying-it-how-you-see-it-saying/) [Ruth Padel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruth-padel/) > [In the earliest ages science was poetry, as in the later poetry has become science.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-russell-lowell/in-the-earliest-ages-science-was-poetry-as-in-the-later-poetry-has/) [James Russell Lowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-russell-lowell/) > [In scientific thinking are always present elements of poetry. Science and music requires a thought homogeneous.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/in-scientific-thinking-are-always-present-elements-of-poetry-science/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) > [For a scientist must indeed be freely imaginative and yet skeptical, creative and yet a critic. There is a sense in which he must…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/for-a-scientist-must-indeed-be-freely-imaginative-and-yet-skeptical/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [In the earliest ages science was poetry, as in the latter poetry has become science.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-russell-lowell/in-the-earliest-ages-science-was-poetry-as-in-the-latter-poetry-has/) [James Russell Lowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-russell-lowell/) > [ “\[L\]et us not overlook the further great fact, that not only does science underlie sculpture, painting, music, poetry, but that science is itself poetic.… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/l-et-us-not-overlook-the-further-great-fact-that-not-only-does/) [Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/) > [Science is the poetry of the intellect and poetry the science of the heart's affections.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-durrell/science-is-the-poetry-of-the-intellect-and-poetry-the-science-of-the/) [Lawrence Durrell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-durrell/) > [There is no conflict between science and religion. Conflict only arises from an incomplete knowledge of either science or religion, or both.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-m-nelson/there-is-no-conflict-between-science-and-religion-conflict-only/) [Russell M. Nelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-m-nelson/) > [The Christians who engaged in infamous persecutions and shameful inquisitions were not evil men but misguided men. The churchmen who felt they had an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr/the-christians-who-engaged-in-infamous-persecutions-and-shameful/) [Martin Luther King, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr/) > [“One of the biggest religions on Roundworld was founded by a carpenter's son!' Ponder snarled. 'For years, the most powerful person on the planet…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/one-of-the-biggest-religions-on-roundworld-was-founded-by-a-carpenter/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [ As you kind of get over the anxiety about \[science and evolution\], it actually adds to your sense of awe about this amazing universe… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-collins/as-you-kind-of-get-over-the-anxiety-about-science-and-evolution-it/) [Francis Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-collins/) > [The scientist who yields anything to theology, however slight, is yielding to ignorance and false pretenses, and as certainly as if he granted that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/the-scientist-who-yields-anything-to-theology-however-slight-is/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [To claim that science and religion pose different questions to the world is not to suggest that if the bones of Jesus were discovered…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-eagleton/to-claim-that-science-and-religion-pose-different-questions-to-the/) [Terry Eagleton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-eagleton/) > [Science can destroy religion by ignoring it as well as by disproving its tenets. No one ever demonstrated, so far as I am aware,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-c-clarke/science-can-destroy-religion-by-ignoring-it-as-well-as-by-disproving/) [Arthur C. Clarke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-c-clarke/) ## 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. Having in mind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-arnold/we-must-hold-fast-to-the-austere-but-true-doctrine-as-to-what-really/) [Matthew Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-arnold/) > [“Culture is the endeavour to know the best and to make this knowledge prevail for the good of all humankind.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-arnold/culture-is-the-endeavour-to-know-the-best-and-to-make-this-knowledge/) [Matthew Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-arnold/) > [The difference between genuine poetry and the poetry of Dryden, Pope, and all their school, is briefly this: their poetry is conceived and composed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-arnold/the-difference-between-genuine-poetry-and-the-poetry-of-dryden-pope/) [Matthew Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-arnold/) > [Culture, the acquainting ourselves with the best that has been known and said in the world, and thus with the history of the human…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-arnold/culture-the-acquainting-ourselves-with-the-best-that-has-been-known/) [Matthew Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-arnold/) > [Strew on her roses, roses, And never a spray of yew! 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 Incomplete quotes > [I am tired of our characters being so incomplete. When do we ever save the day in a film? When does a Latino actor…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/esai-morales/i-am-tired-of-our-characters-being-so-incomplete-when-do-we-ever-save/) [Esai Morales](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/esai-morales/) > [When you feel you have good although incomplete expertise, start trying things. If it's not working, try something else; maintain an experimental mindset.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-robbins/when-you-feel-you-have-good-although-incomplete-expertise-start/) [Tony Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-robbins/) > [Miss You In Every Beat Of My Heart In Every Blink Of My Eyes In Every Second Of Time In Every Moment Of A…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/xashif-shah/miss-you-in-every-beat-of-my-heart-in-every-blink-of-my-eyes-in-every/) [Xashif Shah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/xashif-shah/) > [People don't have an ongoing relation unless it's a form of debt because everything is an exchange, so ongoing relationships are incomplete exchanges, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-graeber/people-don-t-have-an-ongoing-relation-unless-it-s-a-form-of-debt/) [David Graeber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-graeber/) > [if you get married they think you're finished and if you are without a woman they think you're incomplete.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-bukowski/if-you-get-married-they-think-you-re-finished-and-if-you-are-without/) [Charles Bukowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-bukowski/) > [I don't think we have all the words in a single vocabulary to explain what we are or why we are. I don't think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexandra-fuller/i-don-t-think-we-have-all-the-words-in-a-single-vocabulary-to-explain/) [Alexandra Fuller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexandra-fuller/) > [Many men build as cathedrals are built-the part nearest the ground finished, but that part which soars toward heaven, the turrets and the spires,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-ward-beecher/many-men-build-as-cathedrals-are-built-the-part-nearest-the-ground/) [Henry Ward Beecher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-ward-beecher/) > [An incomplete sketch superbly executed is power.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-schmid/an-incomplete-sketch-superbly-executed-is-power/) [Richard Schmid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-schmid/) > [A wife is like a children's movie; always under-appreciated and without either, life would be incomplete.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/a-wife-is-like-a-children-s-movie-always-under-appreciated-and/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [Some of the greatest moments in life come from moments that are incomplete.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nikki-reed/some-of-the-greatest-moments-in-life-come-from-moments-that-are/) [Nikki Reed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nikki-reed/) > [Of course, we knew that the official reports were sketchy, if not falsified. But, in terms of information theory, this is precisely where the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/konrad-zuse/of-course-we-knew-that-the-official-reports-were-sketchy-if-not/) [Konrad Zuse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/konrad-zuse/) > [Blackouts can be fun if approached with the right mindset. You just can't sweat the fact that you've lost a small portion of your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josh-kilmer-purcell/blackouts-can-be-fun-if-approached-with-the-right-mindset-you-just/) [Josh Kilmer-Purcell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josh-kilmer-purcell/) > [When established identities become outworn or unfinished ones threaten to remain incomplete, special crises compel men to wage holy wars, by the cruelest means,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/when-established-identities-become-outworn-or-unfinished-ones/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“What if everything was unfinished? What if everything was made incomplete?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-vann/what-if-everything-was-unfinished-what-if-everything-was-made/) [David Vann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-vann/) > [No matter where i go, i still end up me. What's missing never changes. The scenery may change, but i'm still the same incomplete…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/no-matter-where-i-go-i-still-end-up-me-what-s-missing-never-changes/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) Browse all 408 Incomplete quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Without poetry our science will appear incomplete, and most of what now passes with us for religion and philosophy will be replaced by poetry.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Matthew Arnold" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-arnold/without-poetry-our-science-will-appear-incomplete-and-most-of-what/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Incomplete" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-arnold/without-poetry-our-science-will-appear-incomplete-and-most-of-what/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4a5/matthew-arnold-1235_incomplete_without-poetry-our-science-will-appear-i_2415349.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4a5/matthew-arnold-1235_incomplete_without-poetry-our-science-will-appear-i_2415349.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4a5/matthew-arnold-1235_incomplete_without-poetry-our-science-will-appear-i_2415349.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Without poetry our science will appear incomplete, and most of what now passes with us for religion and…” — Matthew Arnold", "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": "Matthew Arnold", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-arnold/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Without poetry our science will appear...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-arnold/without-poetry-our-science-will-appear-incomplete-and-most-of-what/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-arnold/without-poetry-our-science-will-appear-incomplete-and-most-of-what/#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 } } ] } ```