--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: There is no greater impediment to the…" description: "\"There is no greater impediment to the advancement of knowledge than the ambiguity of words. To this chiefly it is owing that we find sects and parties ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aaa/thomas-reid-22153_advancement_there-is-no-greater-impediment-to-the-ad_655402.jpg" --- # There is no greater impediment to the advancement of… ![“There is no greater impediment to the advancement of knowledge than the ambiguity of words. To this chiefly it is owing that we find sects and parties in most branches of science [and politics]; and disputes that are carried on from age to age, without being brought to issue.” quote by Thomas Reid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aaa/thomas-reid-22153_advancement_there-is-no-greater-impediment-to-the-ad_655402.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aaa/thomas-reid-22153_advancement_there-is-no-greater-impediment-to-the-ad_655402.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aaa/thomas-reid-22153_advancement_there-is-no-greater-impediment-to-the-ad_655402.jpg) > “There is no greater impediment to the advancement of knowledge than the ambiguity of words. To this chiefly it is owing that we find sects and parties in most branches of science \[and politics\]; and disputes that are carried on from age to age, without being brought to issue.” [Thomas Reid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-reid/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Ambiguous language fuels division and hinders progress in science and politics. **In simple terms:** Unclear words create conflict and block knowledge. Key Takeaway Clarify language to advance understanding. Themes communication knowledge division Mood critical analytical Type philosophical reflective When to use this quote - academic debate - policy making - public discourse - scientific collaboration Key Concepts philosophy linguistics politics Questions to Reflect On - How can we promote precise language in public debate? - What role does rhetoric play in scientific disputes? A Different Perspective Words can be deliberately vague to maintain power. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Advancement](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/advancement/) [Age](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/age/) [Ambiguity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ambiguity/) [Impediments](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/impediments/) [Issues](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/issues/) [Knowledge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knowledge/) [Language](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/language/) [Party](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/party/) [Science](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science/) [Sects](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sects/) ## Related quotes > [There is no greater impediment to the advancement of knowledge than the ambiguity of words.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/there-is-no-greater-impediment-to-the-advancement-of-knowledge-than-2/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The truth always carries the ambiguity of the words used to express it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-herbert/the-truth-always-carries-the-ambiguity-of-the-words-used-to-express-it/) [Frank Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-herbert/) > [There is need for more science in politics and less politics in science.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-j-roberts/there-is-need-for-more-science-in-politics-and-less-politics-in/) [Richard J. Roberts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-j-roberts/) > [Neither science, nor the politics in power, nor the mass media, nor business, nor the law nor even the military are in a position…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ulrich-beck/neither-science-nor-the-politics-in-power-nor-the-mass-media-nor/) [Ulrich Beck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ulrich-beck/) > [It is a mistake to think of these men as visionary dreamers, playing around at Philadelphia with abstract conceptions of political theory, pulling a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fred-rodell/it-is-a-mistake-to-think-of-these-men-as-visionary-dreamers-playing/) [Fred Rodell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fred-rodell/) > [No great advance has ever been made in science, politics, or religion, without controversy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lyman-beecher/no-great-advance-has-ever-been-made-in-science-politics-or-religion/) [Lyman Beecher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lyman-beecher/) > [The belief that politics can be scientific must inevitably produce tyrannies. Politics cannot be a science, because in politics theory and practice cannot be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden/the-belief-that-politics-can-be-scientific-must-inevitably-produce/) [W. H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden/) > [Politics cannot be a science, because in politics theory and practice cannot be separated, and the sciences depend upon their separation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden/politics-cannot-be-a-science-because-in-politics-theory-and-practice/) [W. H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden/) > [The crossroads of science and politics is a dodgy place.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nancy-gibbs/the-crossroads-of-science-and-politics-is-a-dodgy-place/) [Nancy Gibbs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nancy-gibbs/) > [That is the danger we now face. And this is why the intermixing of science and politics is a bad combination, with a bad…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-crichton/that-is-the-danger-we-now-face-and-this-is-why-the-intermixing-of/) [Michael Crichton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-crichton/) > [The science of politics is the one science that is deposited by the streams of history, like the grains of gold in the sand…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-acton/the-science-of-politics-is-the-one-science-that-is-deposited-by-the/) [Lord Acton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-acton/) > [Therefore, the good of man must be the end of the science of politics.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/therefore-the-good-of-man-must-be-the-end-of-the-science-of-politics/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) > [There is a sense that science and politics are incompatible. I don't think so at all. I think it's important that scientists take great…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rush-d-holt-jr/there-is-a-sense-that-science-and-politics-are-incompatible-i-don-t/) [Rush D. Holt, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rush-d-holt-jr/) > [The Genealogical Science is a wonderful account of how old-fashioned race science has come to be re-defined by resort to the most recent developments…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/talal-asad/the-genealogical-science-is-a-wonderful-account-of-how-old-fashioned/) [Talal Asad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/talal-asad/) > [Medicine is a social science, and politics is nothing else but medicine on a large scale. Medicine, as a social science, as the science…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rudolf-virchow/medicine-is-a-social-science-and-politics-is-nothing-else-but/) [Rudolf Virchow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rudolf-virchow/) ## More by Thomas Reid > [The want of faith, as well as faith itself, is best shewn by works. If a sceptic avoid the fire as much as those…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-reid/the-want-of-faith-as-well-as-faith-itself-is-best-shewn-by-works-if-a/) [Thomas Reid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-reid/) > [Every man feels that perception gives him an invincible belief of the existence of that which he perceives; and that this belief is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-reid/every-man-feels-that-perception-gives-him-an-invincible-belief-of-the/) [Thomas Reid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-reid/) > [We find sects and parties in most branches of science; and disputes which are carried on from age to age, without being brought to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-reid/we-find-sects-and-parties-in-most-branches-of-science-and-disputes/) [Thomas Reid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-reid/) > [Every conjecture we can form with regard to the works of God has as little probability as the conjectures of a child with regard…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-reid/every-conjecture-we-can-form-with-regard-to-the-works-of-god-has-as/) [Thomas Reid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-reid/) > [When we contemplate the world of Epicurus, and conceive the universe to be a fortuitous jumble of atoms, there is nothing grand in this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-reid/when-we-contemplate-the-world-of-epicurus-and-conceive-the-universe/) [Thomas Reid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-reid/) > [It is a question of fact, whether the influence of motives be fixed by laws of nature, so that they shall always have the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-reid/it-is-a-question-of-fact-whether-the-influence-of-motives-be-fixed-by/) [Thomas Reid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-reid/) > [The rules of navigation never navigated a ship. The rules of architecture never built a house.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-reid/the-rules-of-navigation-never-navigated-a-ship-the-rules-of/) [Thomas Reid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-reid/) > [But when, in the first setting out, he takes it for granted without proof, that distinctions found in the structure of all languages, have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-reid/but-when-in-the-first-setting-out-he-takes-it-for-granted-without/) [Thomas Reid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-reid/) > [For, until the wisdom of men bear some proportion to the wisdom of God, their attempts to find out the structure of his works,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-reid/for-until-the-wisdom-of-men-bear-some-proportion-to-the-wisdom-of-god/) [Thomas Reid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-reid/) > [For the perception of the beautiful we have the term "taste"--a metaphor taken from that which is passive in the body and transferred to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-reid/for-the-perception-of-the-beautiful-we-have-the-term-taste-a-metaphor/) [Thomas Reid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-reid/) > [And, if we have any evidence that the wisdom which formed the plan is in the man, we have the very same evidence, that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-reid/and-if-we-have-any-evidence-that-the-wisdom-which-formed-the-plan-is/) [Thomas Reid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-reid/) > [must acknowledge, that to act properly is much more valuable than to think justly or reason acutely.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-reid/must-acknowledge-that-to-act-properly-is-much-more-valuable-than-to/) [Thomas Reid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-reid/) > [I sit in my loft with the haves and look out at the have-nots - the bottom of the bottom - and I have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-reid/i-sit-in-my-loft-with-the-haves-and-look-out-at-the-have-nots-the/) [Thomas Reid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-reid/) > [ \[I\]f a man bred to the seafaring life, and accustomed to think and talk only of matters relating to navigation, enters into discourse upon… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-reid/i-f-a-man-bred-to-the-seafaring-life-and-accustomed-to-think-and-talk/) [Thomas Reid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-reid/) > [It is the invaluable merit of the great Basle mathematician Leonard Euler, to have freed the analytical calculus from all geometric bounds, and thus…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-reid/it-is-the-invaluable-merit-of-the-great-basle-mathematician-leonard/) [Thomas Reid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-reid/) [Explore all 28 Thomas Reid quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-reid/) ## More Advancement quotes > [Advances in technology will continue to reach far into every sector of our economy. Future job and economic growth in industry, defense, transportation, agriculture,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-bond/advances-in-technology-will-continue-to-reach-far-into-every-sector/) [Christopher Bond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-bond/) > [They either attach themselves to God's will, which results in their continuous progress, improvement and advancement, or they oppose God's will, are justly subjected…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gregory-palamas/they-either-attach-themselves-to-god-s-will-which-results-in-their/) [Gregory Palamas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gregory-palamas/) > [I am far from any intention to limit curiosity, or confine the labours of learning to arts of immediate and necessary use. It is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/i-am-far-from-any-intention-to-limit-curiosity-or-confine-the-labours/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [We have won the time lottery of the last 4 billion years.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stefan-molyneux/we-have-won-the-time-lottery-of-the-last-4-billion-years/) [Stefan Molyneux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stefan-molyneux/) > [“Creativity is key to productivity and prosperity.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ifeanyi-enoch-onuoha/creativity-is-key-to-productivity-and-prosperity/) [Ifeanyi Enoch Onuoha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ifeanyi-enoch-onuoha/) > [No one can stop the advancement of a country wheretalent is recognized properly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mak-786/no-one-can-stop-the-advancement-of-a-country-wheretalent-is/) Mak\_786 > [Each restorational advancement of the Army of the Lord has established denominational forts that are given responsibility to maintain the purity and power of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-hamon/each-restorational-advancement-of-the-army-of-the-lord-has/) [Bill Hamon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-hamon/) > [Setting is preliminary to brighter rising; decay is a process of advancement; death is the condition of higher and more fruitful life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edwin-hubbel-chapin/setting-is-preliminary-to-brighter-rising-decay-is-a-process-of/) [Edwin Hubbel Chapin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edwin-hubbel-chapin/) > [Virtually every advancement made by our species since civilization first peeked out of its nest of stone has been initiated by lone individuals, mavericks…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/virtually-every-advancement-made-by-our-species-since-civilization/) [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) > [Certainly, none of us enjoy going through struggles, but you have to understand that your struggle may be an opportunity for advancement and promotion.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joel-osteen/certainly-none-of-us-enjoy-going-through-struggles-but-you-have-to/) [Joel Osteen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joel-osteen/) > [“Always work towards a dream or you'll always dream of working elsewhere.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/criss-jami/always-work-towards-a-dream-or-you-ll-always-dream-of-working/) [Criss Jami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/criss-jami/) > [Those who are successfully to lead their fellow-men, should have once possessed the nobler feelings. We have all known individuals whose magnanimity was not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-helps/those-who-are-successfully-to-lead-their-fellow-men-should-have-once/) [Arthur Helps](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-helps/) > [Genetic engineering is a result of science advancement, so I don't think that in itself is bad. If used wisely, genetics can be beneficial,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hideo-kojima/genetic-engineering-is-a-result-of-science-advancement-so-i-don-t/) [Hideo Kojima](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hideo-kojima/) > [ZIPPING THROUGH DIMENSIONS WITH INTENTIONS OF ADVANCEMENT](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aeileon/zipping-through-dimensions-with-intentions-of-advancement/) [AEILEON](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aeileon/) > [Our civilization is experiencing unprecedented changes across many realms, largely due to the rapid advancement of information technology. The ability to code and understand…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/al-gore/our-civilization-is-experiencing-unprecedented-changes-across-many/) [Al Gore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/al-gore/) [Browse all 423 Advancement quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/advancement/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "There is no greater impediment to the advancement of knowledge than the ambiguity of words. 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