Authority Quote by Tycho Brahe
![“The body of the Earth, large, sluggish and inapt for motion, is not to be disturbed by movement (especially three movements), any more than the Aetherial Lights [stars] are to be shifted, so that such ideas are opposed both to physical principles and to the authority of the Holy Writ which many…” quote by Tycho Brahe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/215/tycho-brahe-26422_authority_the-body-of-the-earth-large-sluggish-and_292236.jpg)
“The body of the Earth, large, sluggish and inapt for motion, is not to be disturbed by movement (especially three movements), any more than the Aetherial Lights [stars] are to be shifted, so that such ideas are opposed both to physical principles and to the authority of the Holy Writ which many time: confirms the stability of the Earth (as we shall discuss more fully elsewhere).”
About This Quote
Source Treatise: De mundi aedibus, 1598
The Earth is stable and should not be moved, reflecting contemporary belief in a fixed cosmos contrary to emerging heliocentric ideas.
In simple terms: Earth was thought unchangeable.
Key Takeaway
Question assumptions with evidence.
Themes
science
philosophy
history
Mood
thought‑provoking
historical
Type
science
philosophy
When to use this quote
- academic debate
- educational curricula
- public lectures
Key Concepts
geocentrism
heliocentrism
empiricism
Questions to Reflect On
- How does scientific paradigm shift occur?
- What role does evidence play in overturning long‑standing beliefs?
A Different Perspective
Later discoveries disproved this view.
![“For those [observations] that I made in Leipzig in my youth and up to my 21st year, I usually call childish and of doubtful value. Those that I took later until my 28th year [i.e., until 1574] I call juvenile and fairly serviceable. The third group, however, which I made at Uraniborg during…” quote by Tycho Brahe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/0ea/tycho-brahe-26422_accurate_for-those-observations-that-i-made-in-le_593536.jpg)
![“And when statesmen or others worry him [the scientist] too much, then he should leave with his possessions. With a firm and steadfast mind one should hold under all conditions, that everywhere the earth is below and the sky above and to the energetic man, every region is his fatherland.” quote by Tycho Brahe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/071/tycho-brahe-26422_earth_and-when-statesmen-or-others-worry-him-t_814434.jpg)
![“The star [Tycho's supernova] was at first like Venus and Jupiter, giving pleasing effects; but as it then became like Mars, there will next come a period of wars, seditions, captivity and death of princes, and destruction of cities, together with dryness and fiery meteors in the air, pestilence…” quote by Tycho Brahe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/448/tycho-brahe-26422_air_the-star-tycho-s-supernova-was-at-first_1044003.jpg)
![“The rationale which accompanies that imposition of male authority euphemistically referred to as 'the battle of the sexes' bears a certain resemblance to the formulas of nations at war, where any heinousness is justified on the grounds that the enemy is either an inferior [part of the] species or…” quote by Kate Millett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/895/kate-millett-7301_accompany_the-rationale-which-accompanies-that-imp_8896.jpg)