--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It is always observable that the physical…" description: "\"It is always observable that the physical and the exact sciences are the last to suffer under despotisms.\" — Richard Henry Dana, Jr" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2a8/richard-henry-dana-jr-2-52663_despotism_it-is-always-observable-that-the-physica_2152599.jpg" --- # It is always observable that the physical and the exact… ![“It is always observable that the physical and the exact sciences are the last to suffer under despotisms.” quote by Richard Henry Dana, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2a8/richard-henry-dana-jr-2-52663_despotism_it-is-always-observable-that-the-physica_2152599.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2a8/richard-henry-dana-jr-2-52663_despotism_it-is-always-observable-that-the-physica_2152599.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2a8/richard-henry-dana-jr-2-52663_despotism_it-is-always-observable-that-the-physica_2152599.jpg) > “It is always observable that the physical and the exact sciences are the last to suffer under despotisms.” [Richard Henry Dana, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-henry-dana-jr-2/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Physical and exact sciences are the last to be suppressed under tyrannical rule. **In simple terms:** Science resists oppression longest. Key Takeaway Protect scientific freedom. Themes politics science freedom Mood reflective serious Type historical philosophical When to use this quote - academic institutions - research funding Key Concepts censorship authoritarianism Questions to Reflect On - Why do tyrants target science last? - How can societies safeguard scientific inquiry? A Different Perspective Science may still be indirectly controlled. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Despotism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/despotism/) [Exact sciences](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/exact-sciences/) [Physical science](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/physical-science/) [Science](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science/) [Suffering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/suffering/) ## Related quotes > [All such men are, or ought to be, agreed, that simple governments are despotisms; and of all despotisms, a democracy, though the least durable,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fisher-ames/all-such-men-are-or-ought-to-be-agreed-that-simple-governments-are/) [Fisher Ames](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fisher-ames/) > [Unlike despotisms, modern democracies are not supposed promiscuously to accumulate property and then charge their taxpayers to maintain it. But that is what they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-buchan/unlike-despotisms-modern-democracies-are-not-supposed-promiscuously/) [James Buchan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-buchan/) > [“Topographic conditions were the foundation of Greek democracy, just as those of a different kind gave rise to the Oriental despotisms of Egypt and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-dale-davidson/topographic-conditions-were-the-foundation-of-greek-democracy-just-as/) [James Dale Davidson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-dale-davidson/) > [The whole conception of God is a conception derived from the ancient Oriental despotisms.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertrand-russell/the-whole-conception-of-god-is-a-conception-derived-from-the-ancient/) [Bertrand Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertrand-russell/) > [Although this may seem a paradox, all exact science is dominated by the idea of approximation. When a man tells you that he knows…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertrand-russell/although-this-may-seem-a-paradox-all-exact-science-is-dominated-by/) [Bertrand Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertrand-russell/) > [Although this may seem a paradox, all exact science is based on the idea of approximation. If a man tells you he knows a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertrand-russell/although-this-may-seem-a-paradox-all-exact-science-is-based-on-the/) [Bertrand Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertrand-russell/) > [All the mathematical sciences are founded on relations between physical laws and laws of numbers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-clerk-maxwell/all-the-mathematical-sciences-are-founded-on-relations-between/) [James Clerk Maxwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-clerk-maxwell/) > [Economics is not an exact science.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-kenneth-galbraith/economics-is-not-an-exact-science/) [John Kenneth Galbraith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-kenneth-galbraith/) > [Politics is no exact science.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/otto-von-bismarck/politics-is-no-exact-science/) [Otto von Bismarck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/otto-von-bismarck/) > [For how shall we fill people with blind faith in the correctness of a doctrine, if we ourselves spread uncertainty and doubt by constant…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adolf-hitler/for-how-shall-we-fill-people-with-blind-faith-in-the-correctness-of-a/) [Adolf Hitler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adolf-hitler/) > [Engineering training deals with the exact sciences. That sort of exactness makes for truth and conscience. It might be good for the world if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-hoover/engineering-training-deals-with-the-exact-sciences-that-sort-of/) [Herbert Hoover](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-hoover/) > [An exact science is one that admits loss.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/genesis-p-orridge/an-exact-science-is-one-that-admits-loss/) [Genesis P-Orridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/genesis-p-orridge/) > [ \[Dr. Constain James\] refuted so well the aberrations of Darwinism… \[A system\] which is repugnant at once to history, to the tradition of all… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-pius-ix/dr-constain-james-refuted-so-well-the-aberrations-of-darwinism-a/) [Pope Pius IX](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-pius-ix/) > [If you ask ... the man in the street ... the human significance of mathematics, the answer of the world will be, that mathematics…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cassius-jackson-keyser/if-you-ask-the-man-in-the-street-the-human-significance-of/) [Cassius Jackson Keyser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cassius-jackson-keyser/) > [ By profession a biologist, \[Thomas Henry Huxley\] covered in fact the whole field of the exact sciences, and then bulged through its four fences.… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/by-profession-a-biologist-thomas-henry-huxley-covered-in-fact-the/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) ## More by Richard Henry Dana, Jr > [As has often been said, a ship is like a lady's watch, always out of repair.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-henry-dana-jr-2/as-has-often-been-said-a-ship-is-like-a-lady-s-watch-always-out-of/) [Richard Henry Dana, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-henry-dana-jr-2/) > [Thou little bird, thou dweller by the sea, Why takest thou its melancholy voice, And with that boding cry Along the waves dost thou…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-henry-dana-jr-2/thou-little-bird-thou-dweller-by-the-sea-why-takest-thou-its/) [Richard Henry Dana, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-henry-dana-jr-2/) > [There is a witchery in the sea, its songs and stories, and in the mere sight of a ship, and the sailor's dress, especially…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-henry-dana-jr-2/there-is-a-witchery-in-the-sea-its-songs-and-stories-and-in-the-mere/) [Richard Henry Dana, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-henry-dana-jr-2/) > [Sin hath broke the world's sweet peace--unstrung Th' harmonious chords to which the angels sung.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-henry-dana-jr-2/sin-hath-broke-the-world-s-sweet-peace-unstrung-th-harmonious-chords/) [Richard Henry Dana, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-henry-dana-jr-2/) > [The Californians are an idle, thriftless people, and can make nothing for themselves. The country abounds in grapes, yet they buy, at a great…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-henry-dana-jr-2/the-californians-are-an-idle-thriftless-people-and-can-make-nothing/) [Richard Henry Dana, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-henry-dana-jr-2/) > [O sin, what hast thou done to this fair earth!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-henry-dana-jr-2/o-sin-what-hast-thou-done-to-this-fair-earth/) [Richard Henry Dana, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-henry-dana-jr-2/) [Explore all 7 Richard Henry Dana, Jr quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-henry-dana-jr-2/) ## More Despotism quotes > [Generally, I like all islands. There, it is easier to rule.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/generally-i-like-all-islands-there-it-is-easier-to-rule/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) > [At a distance, we cannot conceive of the authority of a despot who knows all his subjects on sight.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stendhal/at-a-distance-we-cannot-conceive-of-the-authority-of-a-despot-who/) [Stendhal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stendhal/) > [“The central government was a despotism tempered by military rebellion and assassination and replacement of one scurvy lot of ruling dynasts by another. But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-f-cantor/the-central-government-was-a-despotism-tempered-by-military-rebellion/) [Norman F. Cantor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-f-cantor/) > [When the savages of Louisiana wish to have fruit, they cut the tree at the bottom and gather the fruit. That is exactly a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/baron-de-montesquieu/when-the-savages-of-louisiana-wish-to-have-fruit-they-cut-the-tree-at/) [Baron de Montesquieu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/baron-de-montesquieu/) > [Republican despotism is more fertile in acts of tyranny, because everyone has a hand in it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/napoleon-bonaparte/republican-despotism-is-more-fertile-in-acts-of-tyranny-because/) [Napoleon Bonaparte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/napoleon-bonaparte/) > [There are, after all, atheists who say they wish the fable were true but are unable to suspend the requisite disbelief, or who have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/there-are-after-all-atheists-who-say-they-wish-the-fable-were-true/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [Neither should men study war with a view to the enslavement of those who do not deserve to be enslaved; but first of all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/neither-should-men-study-war-with-a-view-to-the-enslavement-of-those/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) > [If Despotism failed only for want of a capable benevolent despot, what chance has Democracy, which requires a whole population of capable voters.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/if-despotism-failed-only-for-want-of-a-capable-benevolent-despot-what/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [Liberty ... was a two-headed boon. There was first, the liberty of the people as a whole to determine the forms of their own…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/liberty-was-a-two-headed-boon-there-was-first-the-liberty-of-the/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [“No longer enslaved or made dependent by force of law, the great majority are so by force of poverty; they are still chained to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-stuart-mill/no-longer-enslaved-or-made-dependent-by-force-of-law-the-great/) [John Stuart Mill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-stuart-mill/) > [“All despotism is bad; but the worst is that which works with the machinery of freedom.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/junius/all-despotism-is-bad-but-the-worst-is-that-which-works-with-the/) [Junius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/junius/) > [But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/but-when-a-long-train-of-abuses-and-usurpations-pursuing-invariably/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Despotism often presents itself as the repairer of all the ills suffered, the support of just rights, defender of the oppressed, and founder of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexis-de-tocqueville/despotism-often-presents-itself-as-the-repairer-of-all-the-ills/) [Alexis de Tocqueville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexis-de-tocqueville/) > [A court which yields to the popular will thereby licenses itself to practice despotism, for there can be no assurance that it will not,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felix-frankfurter/a-court-which-yields-to-the-popular-will-thereby-licenses-itself-to/) [Felix Frankfurter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/felix-frankfurter/) > [“Despotism may govern without faith, but liberty cannot.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexis-de-tocqueville/despotism-may-govern-without-faith-but-liberty-cannot/) [Alexis de Tocqueville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexis-de-tocqueville/) [Browse all 327 Despotism quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/despotism/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "It is always observable that the physical and the exact sciences are the last to suffer under despotisms.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Richard Henry Dana, Jr" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-henry-dana-jr-2/it-is-always-observable-that-the-physical-and-the-exact-sciences-are/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Despotism" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-henry-dana-jr-2/it-is-always-observable-that-the-physical-and-the-exact-sciences-are/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2a8/richard-henry-dana-jr-2-52663_despotism_it-is-always-observable-that-the-physica_2152599.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2a8/richard-henry-dana-jr-2-52663_despotism_it-is-always-observable-that-the-physica_2152599.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2a8/richard-henry-dana-jr-2-52663_despotism_it-is-always-observable-that-the-physica_2152599.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“It is always observable that the physical and the exact sciences are the last to suffer under despotisms.” — Richard Henry Dana, Jr", "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": "Richard Henry Dana, Jr", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-henry-dana-jr-2/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "It is always observable that the...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-henry-dana-jr-2/it-is-always-observable-that-the-physical-and-the-exact-sciences-are/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-henry-dana-jr-2/it-is-always-observable-that-the-physical-and-the-exact-sciences-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 } } ] } ```