--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: (Five) thinkers since Galileo, each…" description: "\"(Five) thinkers since Galileo, each informing his successor of what discoveries his own lifetime had seen achieved, might have passed the torch of scie..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/577/william-james-228_audience_five-thinkers-since-galileo-each-informi_1624518.jpg" --- # (Five) thinkers since Galileo, each informing his… ![“(Five) thinkers since Galileo, each informing his successor of what discoveries his own lifetime had seen achieved, might have passed the torch of science into our hands as we sit here in this room. Indeed, for the matter of that, an audience much smaller than the present one, an audience of some…” quote by William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/577/william-james-228_audience_five-thinkers-since-galileo-each-informi_1624518.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/577/william-james-228_audience_five-thinkers-since-galileo-each-informi_1624518.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/577/william-james-228_audience_five-thinkers-since-galileo-each-informi_1624518.jpg) > “(Five) thinkers since Galileo, each informing his successor of what discoveries his own lifetime had seen achieved, might have passed the torch of science into our hands as we sit here in this room. Indeed, for the matter of that, an audience much smaller than the present one, an audience of some 5 or 6 score people, if each person in it could speak for his own generation, would carry us away to the black unknown of the human species, to days without a document or monument to tell their tale.” [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The speaker suggests that passing knowledge across generations shapes our collective understanding of the unknown. **In simple terms:** Ideas travel through generations, guiding humanity into new frontiers. Key Takeaway Value and preserve intergenerational knowledge. Themes philosophy science history knowledge progress Mood inspirational reflective thoughtful Type philosophical motivational historical When to use this quote - academic lecture - historical analysis - philosophical discourse Key Concepts epistemology collective memory continuity Questions to Reflect On - What role does each generation play in scientific advancement? - How can we ensure diverse voices are heard? A Different Perspective The metaphor may romanticize scientific progress, ignoring conflicts and setbacks. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Audience](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/audience/) [Discovery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/discovery/) [Generations](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/generations/) [Human species](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-species/) [Humans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humans/) [Lifetime](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lifetime/) [Monument](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/monument/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Science](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science/) [Tales](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tales/) [Thinker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinker/) [Thinkers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinkers/) ## Related quotes > [Compared with men, it is probable that brutes neither attend to abstract characters, nor have associations by similarity. Their thoughts probably pass from one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/compared-with-men-it-is-probable-that-brutes-neither-attend-to/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [I've given up email. Well, almost. At the weekend I set up one of those auto-reply messages, informing my correspondents that I would no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-hodgkinson/i-ve-given-up-email-well-almost-at-the-weekend-i-set-up-one-of-those/) [Tom Hodgkinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-hodgkinson/) > [The way you get democracy to function is by informing the public.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-f-kennedy-jr/the-way-you-get-democracy-to-function-is-by-informing-the-public/) [Robert F. Kennedy, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-f-kennedy-jr/) > [A person who says "it's your decision" is informing you that your decision sucks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deb-caletti/a-person-who-says-it-s-your-decision-is-informing-you-that-your/) [Deb Caletti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deb-caletti/) > [A lot of black people worked with the police as snitches. We used to call them bimpees where I grew up. And, you know,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/trevor-noah/a-lot-of-black-people-worked-with-the-police-as-snitches-we-used-to/) [Trevor Noah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/trevor-noah/) > [I'm not threatening you. I'm just informing you of police procedure. If you continue to obstruct me, I remove the obstruction, in this case…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eoin-colfer/i-m-not-threatening-you-i-m-just-informing-you-of-police-procedure-if/) [Eoin Colfer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eoin-colfer/) > [If you are able to see on a monitor what it's actually going to look like and have that kind of feedback informing your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-heinrichs/if-you-are-able-to-see-on-a-monitor-what-it-s-actually-going-to-look/) [Rick Heinrichs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-heinrichs/) > [I was not able to work up much enthusiasm over the ball game, and in the midst of it I was handed a note…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-hoover/i-was-not-able-to-work-up-much-enthusiasm-over-the-ball-game-and-in/) [Herbert Hoover](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-hoover/) > [The real accomplishment of modern science and technology consists in taking ordinary men, informing them narrowly and deeply and then, through appropriate organization, arranging…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-kenneth-galbraith/the-real-accomplishment-of-modern-science-and-technology-consists-in/) [John Kenneth Galbraith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-kenneth-galbraith/) > [I am passionate about informing the world about our ocean - its complexity and beauty, its value to us, and the perils that it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-toomey/i-am-passionate-about-informing-the-world-about-our-ocean-its/) [Jim Toomey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-toomey/) > [The role of empirical work in informing our philosophical theories, as I see it, is not that it gives us a better view of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-kornblith/the-role-of-empirical-work-in-informing-our-philosophical-theories-as/) [Hilary Kornblith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-kornblith/) > [Often their rage erupts because they believe that all ways of looking that highlight difference subvert the liberal belief in a universal subjectivity (we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bell-hooks/often-their-rage-erupts-because-they-believe-that-all-ways-of-looking/) [Bell Hooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bell-hooks/) > [What you believe about the future shapes, informs, and determines how you live now.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-bell/what-you-believe-about-the-future-shapes-informs-and-determines-how/) [Rob Bell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-bell/) > [I love the melodies in the Old Testament, how preachers highlight them when they read from the Scripture. But I was influenced forever by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/i-love-the-melodies-in-the-old-testament-how-preachers-highlight-them/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [Throughout human history, as our species has faced the frightening, terrorizing fact that we do not know who we are, or where we are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-leary/throughout-human-history-as-our-species-has-faced-the-frightening/) [Timothy Leary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-leary/) ## More by William James > [Effort is the one strictly undervalued and original contribution we make to this world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/effort-is-the-one-strictly-undervalued-and-original-contribution-we/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [We are all potentially such sick men. The sanest and best of us are of one clay with lunatics and prison-inmates. And whenever we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/we-are-all-potentially-such-sick-men-the-sanest-and-best-of-us-are-of/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [In the dim background of our mind we know meanwhile what we ought to be doing: getting up, dressing ourselves, answering the person who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/in-the-dim-background-of-our-mind-we-know-meanwhile-what-we-ought-to/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [“Our minds thus grow in spots; and like grease-spots, the spots spread. But we let them spread as little as possible: we keep unaltered…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/our-minds-thus-grow-in-spots-and-like-grease-spots-the-spots-spread/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [Circumstance does not make me, it reveals me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/circumstance-does-not-make-me-it-reveals-me/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > ['Facts' are the bounds of human knowledge, set for it, not by it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/facts-are-the-bounds-of-human-knowledge-set-for-it-not-by-it/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [Woe to him whose beliefs play fast and loose with the order which realities follow in his experience; they will lead him nowhere or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/woe-to-him-whose-beliefs-play-fast-and-loose-with-the-order-which/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [We never fully grasp the import of any true statement until we have a clear notion of what the opposite untrue statement would be.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/we-never-fully-grasp-the-import-of-any-true-statement-until-we-have-a/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [It is your friends who make your world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/it-is-your-friends-who-make-your-world/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [Human beings can alter their lives by altering their attitudes of mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/human-beings-can-alter-their-lives-by-altering-their-attitudes-of-mind/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [Most people, probably, are in doubt about certain matters ascribed to their past. They may have seen them, may have said them, done them,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/most-people-probably-are-in-doubt-about-certain-matters-ascribed-to/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [“How soon, indeed, are human things forgotten! As we meet here this morning, the Southern sun is shining on their place of burial, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/how-soon-indeed-are-human-things-forgotten-as-we-meet-here-this/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [There can be no difference anywhere that does not make a difference somewhere.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/there-can-be-no-difference-anywhere-that-does-not-make-a-difference/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [It is wrong always, everywhere, and for everyone, to believe anything upon insufficient evidence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/it-is-wrong-always-everywhere-and-for-everyone-to-believe-anything/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [The pragmatist turns away from abstraction and insufficiency, from verbal solutions, from bad a priori reasons, from fixed principles, closed systems, and pretended absolutes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/the-pragmatist-turns-away-from-abstraction-and-insufficiency-from/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) [Explore all 854 William James quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) ## More Audience quotes > [If the audience likes your work, if they like you, they don't think whether you are married or have children or not. I made…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dimple-kapadia/if-the-audience-likes-your-work-if-they-like-you-they-don-t-think/) [Dimple Kapadia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dimple-kapadia/) > [It's those moments, those odd moments that you look for and sometimes by creating this kind of loose atmosphere you find those little moments…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barry-levinson/it-s-those-moments-those-odd-moments-that-you-look-for-and-sometimes/) [Barry Levinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barry-levinson/) > [I can skate beautifully. While performing on ice I always try to please the audience and to win as well. Being artistic is very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evgeni-plushenko/i-can-skate-beautifully-while-performing-on-ice-i-always-try-to/) [Evgeni Plushenko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evgeni-plushenko/) > [One of the best moments of any Liars show is hearing the crowd squawk 'We're doomed! We're doomed!' on cue during 'We Fenced Other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-sheffield/one-of-the-best-moments-of-any-liars-show-is-hearing-the-crowd-squawk/) [Rob Sheffield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-sheffield/) > [It's the adrenaline rush you only get from being in front of an audience. It's addictive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raphael-saadiq/it-s-the-adrenaline-rush-you-only-get-from-being-in-front-of-an/) [Raphael Saadiq](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raphael-saadiq/) > [If I had to speak in front of a Korean audience, I would be hard pressed to sound other than a little girl.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/an-na/if-i-had-to-speak-in-front-of-a-korean-audience-i-would-be-hard/) [An Na](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/an-na/) > [The liveness of theater, and the excitement of experiencing it alongside an audience, is something you can't get at home. That makes the theater…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-blaemire/the-liveness-of-theater-and-the-excitement-of-experiencing-it/) [Nick Blaemire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-blaemire/) > [One of the things that touches me most when I play for an audience is that although we may be unable to communicate in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-hough/one-of-the-things-that-touches-me-most-when-i-play-for-an-audience-is/) [Stephen Hough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-hough/) > [I have to feel the audience. I enjoy that feeling of community.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-gahan/i-have-to-feel-the-audience-i-enjoy-that-feeling-of-community/) [Dave Gahan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-gahan/) > [When you lived it for years and years and years and seen different characters just get pummeled and squashed because 'I said so,' it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arn-anderson/when-you-lived-it-for-years-and-years-and-years-and-seen-different/) [Arn Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arn-anderson/) > [“During the first few minutes of your presentation, your job is to assure the audience members that you are not going to waste their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dale-ludwig-and-greg-owen-boger/during-the-first-few-minutes-of-your-presentation-your-job-is-to/) [Dale Ludwig and Greg Owen-Boger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dale-ludwig-and-greg-owen-boger/) > [Donald Trump is a different ball of wax. 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