--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I regard consciousness as fundamental. I…" description: "\"I regard consciousness as fundamental. I regard matter as a derivative of consciousness.\" — Max Planck" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5ec/max-planck-8715_consciousness_i-regard-consciousness-as-fundamental-i_2258109.jpg" --- # I regard consciousness as fundamental. I regard matter as… ![“I regard consciousness as fundamental. I regard matter as a derivative of consciousness.” quote by Max Planck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5ec/max-planck-8715_consciousness_i-regard-consciousness-as-fundamental-i_2258109.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5ec/max-planck-8715_consciousness_i-regard-consciousness-as-fundamental-i_2258109.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5ec/max-planck-8715_consciousness_i-regard-consciousness-as-fundamental-i_2258109.jpg) > “I regard consciousness as fundamental. I regard matter as a derivative of consciousness.” [Max Planck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-planck/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Proposes that consciousness is the primary reality, with material world emerging from it. **In simple terms:** Consciousness is fundamental; matter follows. Key Takeaway Explore consciousness as the basis of reality. Themes metaphysics consciousness materialism philosophy Mood inquisitive speculative Type philosophical scientific When to use this quote - academic seminars - meditative practice - interdisciplinary research Key Concepts theory of mind ontological hierarchy spiritual inquiry Questions to Reflect On - Can consciousness be measured objectively? - What implications does this view have for science? A Different Perspective Scientific methods may struggle to verify such claims. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Consciousness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/consciousness/) [Consciousness Fundamental](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/consciousness-fundamental-594581/) [Derivative Consciousness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/derivative-consciousness-1640732/) [Derivatives](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/derivatives/) [Fundamental Regard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fundamental-regard-5186098/) [Fundamentals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fundamentals/) [Matter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/matter/) [Philosophy of Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/philosophy-of-mind/) [Regard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/regard/) [Regard Consciousness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/regard-consciousness-1640731/) [Regard Matter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/regard-matter-5186099/) ## Related quotes > [I regard consciousness as fundamental. I regard matter as derivative from consciousness. We cannot get behind consciousness. Everything that we talk about, everything that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-planck/i-regard-consciousness-as-fundamental-i-regard-matter-as-derivative/) [Max Planck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-planck/) > [We must regard all matter as an intrusted secret which we believe the person concerned would wish to be considered as such. Nay, further…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leigh-hunt/we-must-regard-all-matter-as-an-intrusted-secret-which-we-believe-the/) [Leigh Hunt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leigh-hunt/) > [“Evolution, life, physis, appear here as enveloping with regard to ‘consciousness’ of human knowledge.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maurice-merleau-ponty/evolution-life-physis-appear-here-as-enveloping-with-regard-to/) [Maurice Merleau-Ponty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maurice-merleau-ponty/) > [Right, we've got these institutions of media, these financial institutions, we have the means of distribution, we have the means of production, we have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-brand/right-we-ve-got-these-institutions-of-media-these-financial/) [Russell Brand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-brand/) > [We don't need to know what goes on beyond time. We need to know how to save this planet that we live on. To…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-brand/we-don-t-need-to-know-what-goes-on-beyond-time-we-need-to-know-how-to/) [Russell Brand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-brand/) > [Mental synthesis of psychic content in the unity of a moment-consciousness is a fundamental principle of psychology.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/boris-sidis/mental-synthesis-of-psychic-content-in-the-unity-of-a-moment/) [Boris Sidis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/boris-sidis/) > [“The Factor Ensuring Actions’ Results The factor ensuring actions’ results is said to be acquired or inevitable, The stream of mental consciousness, the fundamental…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jamgon-kongtrul-lodro-taye/the-factor-ensuring-actions-results-the-factor-ensuring-actions/) [Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro Taye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jamgon-kongtrul-lodro-taye/) > [There are only four great arts: music, painting, sculpture, and ornamental pastry- architecture being perhaps the least banal derivative of the latter.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julia-child/there-are-only-four-great-arts-music-painting-sculpture-and/) [Julia Child](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julia-child/) > [That Hegel's theory is derivative from Fichte's does not prevent it from being strikingly original and of independent value.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allen-w-wood/that-hegel-s-theory-is-derivative-from-fichte-s-does-not-prevent-it/) [Allen W. Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allen-w-wood/) > [Everything is derivative. Everything is a remix, and we all stand on the shoulders of giants - a great phrase.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexis-ohanian/everything-is-derivative-everything-is-a-remix-and-we-all-stand-on/) [Alexis Ohanian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexis-ohanian/) > [There is a simple rule here, a rule of legislation, a rule of business, a rule of life: beyond a certain point, complexity is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-j-o-rourke/there-is-a-simple-rule-here-a-rule-of-legislation-a-rule-of-business/) [P. J. O'Rourke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-j-o-rourke/) > [I turn away with fright and horror from the lamentable evil of functions which do not have derivatives.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-hermite/i-turn-away-with-fright-and-horror-from-the-lamentable-evil-of/) [Charles Hermite](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-hermite/) > [I think it's really good and helpful to have the people you most admire in some other discipline than what you work in. It's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/whit-stillman/i-think-it-s-really-good-and-helpful-to-have-the-people-you-most/) [Whit Stillman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/whit-stillman/) > [After I finished college, I got a job on Wall Street as a derivatives trader, but after a couple years of it, I was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philipp-meyer/after-i-finished-college-i-got-a-job-on-wall-street-as-a-derivatives/) [Philipp Meyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philipp-meyer/) > [From the 1990s onward, the financial sector created a vast array of instruments designed to separate investors from their money, financial derivatives of an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-l-casti/from-the-1990s-onward-the-financial-sector-created-a-vast-array-of/) [John L. Casti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-l-casti/) ## More by Max Planck > [The entire world we apprehend through our senses is no more than a tiny fragment in the vastness of Nature.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-planck/the-entire-world-we-apprehend-through-our-senses-is-no-more-than-a/) [Max Planck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-planck/) > [I regard consciousness as fundamental. I regard matter as derivative from consciousness. We cannot get behind consciousness. Everything that we talk about, everything that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-planck/i-regard-consciousness-as-fundamental-i-regard-matter-as-derivative/) [Max Planck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-planck/) > [It was not by accident that the greatest thinkers of all ages were deeply religious souls.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-planck/it-was-not-by-accident-that-the-greatest-thinkers-of-all-ages-were/) [Max Planck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-planck/) > [As a man who has devoted his whole life to the most clear headed science, to the study of matter, I can tell you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-planck/as-a-man-who-has-devoted-his-whole-life-to-the-most-clear-headed/) [Max Planck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-planck/) > [“All matter originates and exists only by virtue of a force which brings the particle of an atom to vibration and holds this most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-planck/all-matter-originates-and-exists-only-by-virtue-of-a-force-which/) [Max Planck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-planck/) > [The Theory of Relativity confers an absolute meaning on a magnitude which in classical theory has only a relative significance: the velocity of light.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-planck/the-theory-of-relativity-confers-an-absolute-meaning-on-a-magnitude/) [Max Planck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-planck/) > [Experimenters are the shock troops of science.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-planck/experimenters-are-the-shock-troops-of-science/) [Max Planck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-planck/) > [An experiment is a question which science poses to Nature and a measurement is the recording of Nature's answer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-planck/an-experiment-is-a-question-which-science-poses-to-nature-and-a/) [Max Planck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-planck/) > [Scientific work will never stop, and it would be terrible if it did. If there were no more problems, you would put your hands…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-planck/scientific-work-will-never-stop-and-it-would-be-terrible-if-it-did-if/) [Max Planck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-planck/) > [We cannot rest and sit down lest we rust and decay. Health is maintained only through work. And as it is with all life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-planck/we-cannot-rest-and-sit-down-lest-we-rust-and-decay-health-is/) [Max Planck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-planck/) > [Science advances one funeral at a time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-planck/science-advances-one-funeral-at-a-time/) [Max Planck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-planck/) > [There can never be any real opposition between religion and science; for the one is the complement of the other. Every serious and reflective…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-planck/there-can-never-be-any-real-opposition-between-religion-and-science/) [Max Planck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-planck/) > [The assumption of an absolute determinism is the essential foundation of every scientific enquiry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-planck/the-assumption-of-an-absolute-determinism-is-the-essential-foundation/) [Max Planck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-planck/) > [Science enhances the moral value of life, because it furthers a love of truth and reverence-love of truth displaying itself in the constant endeavor…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-planck/science-enhances-the-moral-value-of-life-because-it-furthers-a-love/) [Max Planck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-planck/) > [Every advance in knowledge brings us face to face with the mystery of our own being.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-planck/every-advance-in-knowledge-brings-us-face-to-face-with-the-mystery-of/) [Max Planck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-planck/) [Explore all 78 Max Planck quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-planck/) ## More Consciousness quotes > [“You're never alone if you're with your soul.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerard-armond-powell/you-re-never-alone-if-you-re-with-your-soul/) [Gerard Armond Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerard-armond-powell/) > [“I now argue that entry into Upper Palaeolithic caves was probably seen as virtually indistinguishable from entry into the mental vortex that leads to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-david-lewis-williams/i-now-argue-that-entry-into-upper-palaeolithic-caves-was-probably/) [James David Lewis-Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-david-lewis-williams/) > [How wonderful it would be to scatter words as they rise to consciousness, to let them lie where they fall.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joanna-scott/how-wonderful-it-would-be-to-scatter-words-as-they-rise-to/) [Joanna Scott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joanna-scott/) > [“People and situations always show us what we need to see and learn about ourselves, and when we take responsibility for our own feelings,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eliza-mada-dalian/people-and-situations-always-show-us-what-we-need-to-see-and-learn/) [Eliza Mada Dalian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eliza-mada-dalian/) > [With the realization of God comes all power. If the little wave knew that behind it is the great ocean, it could say, "I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paramahansa-yogananda/with-the-realization-of-god-comes-all-power-if-the-little-wave-knew/) [Paramahansa Yogananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paramahansa-yogananda/) > [We do not want to be reminded that it is we, the indigenous people, who are poor and exploited in the land of our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-biko/we-do-not-want-to-be-reminded-that-it-is-we-the-indigenous-people-who/) [Steven Biko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-biko/) > [It is proposed that a form of free dialogue may well be one of the most effective ways of investigating the crisis which faces…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-bohm/it-is-proposed-that-a-form-of-free-dialogue-may-well-be-one-of-the/) [David Bohm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-bohm/) > [“Entropy is the normal state of consciousness—a condition that is neither useful nor enjoyable. 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Hodge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-f-hodge/) > [Human freedom involves our capacity to pause between the stimulus and response and, in that pause, to choose the one response toward which we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rollo-may/human-freedom-involves-our-capacity-to-pause-between-the-stimulus-and/) [Rollo May](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rollo-may/) [Browse all 6,062 Consciousness quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/consciousness/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I regard consciousness as fundamental. 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