Law Quote by Robert M. Pirsig
““The law of gravity and gravity itself did not exist before Isaac Newton." ...and what that means is that that law of gravity exists nowhere except in people's heads! It 's a ghost!" Mind has no matter or energy but they can't escape its predominance over everything they do. Logic exists in the mind. numbers exist only in the mind. I don't get upset when scientists say that ghosts exist in the mind. it's that only that gets me. science is only in your mind too, it's just that that doesn't make it bad. or ghosts either." Laws of nature are human inventions, like ghosts. Law of logic, of mathematics are also human inventions, like ghosts." ...we see what we see because these ghosts show it to us, ghosts of Moses and Christ and the Buddha, and Plato, and Descartes, and Rousseau and Jefferson and Lincoln, on and on and on. Isaac Newton is a very good ghost. One of the best. Your common sense is nothing more than the voices of thousands and thousands of these ghosts from the past.””
About This Quote
Source Book: Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, 1974
Human concepts like laws, numbers, and logic are mental constructs, not external realities, shaping perception like ghosts.
In simple terms: Ideas are mental constructs, not physical.
Recognize ideas as mental tools.
Themes
Mood
Type
When to use this quote
- scientific debate
- education
- personal reflection
- critical thinking
Key Concepts
Questions to Reflect On
- Do you treat mental constructs as facts?
- How do you test the reality of a concept?
Ideas may be mistaken for objective truth.