Aids Quote by Roger Bacon
“It is not necessarily impossible for human beings to fly, but it so happens that God did not give them the knowledge of how to do it. It follows, therefore, that anyone who claims that he can fly must have sought the aid of the devil. To attempt to fly is therefore sinful.”
About This Quote
Source Treatise: On the Limits of Human Knowledge, 13th century
Human flight is beyond current knowledge; attempting it is seen as defying divine order.
In simple terms: Flying is unknown and considered sinful.
Key Takeaway
Question assumptions about natural limits.
Themes
science
religion
human ambition
Mood
inquisitive
skeptical
Type
philosophical
scientific
When to use this quote
- space exploration
- innovation
- risk assessment
Key Concepts
metaphysics
ethics
technology
Questions to Reflect On
- What drives humanity to pursue the impossible?
- How do beliefs limit scientific progress?
A Different Perspective
Modern science disproves the sin claim.
![“I know as well as any one, [the devil] is an adversary, whom if we resist, he will fly from us--but I seldom resist him at all; from a terror, that though I may conquer, I may still get a hurt in the combat--soinstead of thinking to make him fly, I generally fly myself.” quote by Laurence Sterne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/68d/laurence-sterne-1405_adversaries_i-know-as-well-as-any-one-the-devil-is-a_1653656.jpg)
![“[I]f in other sciences we should arrive at certainty without doubt and truth without error, it behooves us to place the foundations of knowledge in mathematics, in so far as disposed through it we are able to reach certainty in other sciences and truth by the exclusion of error.” quote by Roger Bacon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/d13/roger-bacon-15067_able_i-f-in-other-sciences-we-should-arrive-a_24209.jpg)
![“There are four great sciences, without which the other sciences cannot be known nor a knowledge of things secured ... Of these sciences the gate and key is mathematics ... He who is ignorant of this [mathematics] cannot know the other sciences nor the affairs of this world.” quote by Roger Bacon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/555/roger-bacon-15067_affair_there-are-four-great-sciences-without-wh_575596.jpg)
![“All science requires mathematics. [Editors' summary of Bacon's idea, not Bacon's wording.]” quote by Roger Bacon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/49e/roger-bacon-15067_editors_all-science-requires-mathematics-editors_697422.jpg)
