--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The puritanical potentialities of science…" description: "\"The puritanical potentialities of science have never been forecast. If it evolves a body of organized rites, and is established as a religion, hierarch..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4e9/wyndham-lewis-7767_body_the-puritanical-potentialities-of-scienc_2682660.png" --- # The puritanical potentialities of science have never been… ![“The puritanical potentialities of science have never been forecast. If it evolves a body of organized rites, and is established as a religion, hierarchically organized, things more than anything else will be done in the name of 'decency.' The coarse fumes of tobacco and liquors, the consequent…” quote by Wyndham Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4e9/wyndham-lewis-7767_body_the-puritanical-potentialities-of-scienc_2682660.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4e9/wyndham-lewis-7767_body_the-puritanical-potentialities-of-scienc_2682660.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4e9/wyndham-lewis-7767_body_the-puritanical-potentialities-of-scienc_2682660.png) > “The puritanical potentialities of science have never been forecast. If it evolves a body of organized rites, and is established as a religion, hierarchically organized, things more than anything else will be done in the name of 'decency.' The coarse fumes of tobacco and liquors, the consequent tainting of the breath and staining of white fingers and teeth, which is so offensive to many women, will be the first things attended to.” [Wyndham Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wyndham-lewis/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. He predicts science becoming ritualized and moralistic, focusing on superficial decency over deeper inquiry. **In simple terms:** Science may turn into a religion of decency, ignoring deeper issues. Key Takeaway Guard against dogmatic scientific practices. Themes science religion morality Mood critical skeptical Type philosophical academic When to use this quote - research ethics - policy making - public health initiatives Key Concepts philosophy of science culture Questions to Reflect On - How can science stay open and critical? - What role should ethics play in scientific advancement? A Different Perspective Scientific progress can be hindered by moral policing. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Body](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/body/) [Breaths](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/breaths/) [Decency](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/decency/) [Evolution](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/evolution/) [First things](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/first-things/) [Puritanical](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/puritanical/) [Religion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religion/) [Rite](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rite/) [Science](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science/) ## Related quotes > [Life would be a great deal easier if dead things had the decency to remain dead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/life-would-be-a-great-deal-easier-if-dead-things-had-the-decency-to/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“The physical vanity of the diet-and-exercise obsessive is recast as the pursuit of a kind of ritual purity, hedged about with taboos and guilt…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ross-douthat/the-physical-vanity-of-the-diet-and-exercise-obsessive-is-recast-as/) [Ross Douthat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ross-douthat/) > [The United States is considered a puritanical society by many Western nations. For example, they can't believe we hassle public servants like General David…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-o-reilly/the-united-states-is-considered-a-puritanical-society-by-many-western/) [Bill O'Reilly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-o-reilly/) > [We're more sexually repressed than men, having been given a much more strict puritanical code of behavior than men ever have.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-millett/we-re-more-sexually-repressed-than-men-having-been-given-a-much-more/) [Kate Millett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-millett/) > [“American feminism has always had a puritanical strain, an imposed blindness to erotic truth.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/siri-hustvedt/american-feminism-has-always-had-a-puritanical-strain-an-imposed/) [Siri Hustvedt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/siri-hustvedt/) > [How unnatural the imposed view, imposed by a puritanical ethos, that passionate love belongs only to the young, that people are dead from the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/may-sarton/how-unnatural-the-imposed-view-imposed-by-a-puritanical-ethos-that/) [May Sarton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/may-sarton/) > [“O sirs, how many souls, then, have every one of us been guilty of damning! What a number of our neighbours and acquaintance are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-baxter/o-sirs-how-many-souls-then-have-every-one-of-us-been-guilty-of/) [Richard Baxter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-baxter/) > [I had a father who was strong and kind and loving beyond ... at the same time who was extremely puritanical, who had been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/i-had-a-father-who-was-strong-and-kind-and-loving-beyond-at-the-same/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [I was raised to think that if you behaved badly with men, you went to hell. I realise now it is puritanical and not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/debbie-reynolds/i-was-raised-to-think-that-if-you-behaved-badly-with-men-you-went-to/) [Debbie Reynolds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/debbie-reynolds/) > [The Catholic Church with its foreshortened American history and tangled puritanical roots was as inviolate to my mother and father as it was to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maureen-howard/the-catholic-church-with-its-foreshortened-american-history-and/) [Maureen Howard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maureen-howard/) > [Europeans used to say Americans were puritanical. Then they discovered that we were not puritans. So now they say that we are obsessed with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-mccarthy/europeans-used-to-say-americans-were-puritanical-then-they-discovered/) [Mary McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-mccarthy/) > [American society is still puritanical.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-nolte/american-society-is-still-puritanical/) [Nick Nolte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-nolte/) > [Even when the writing seems very frivolous, I'm puritanical. I don't mean my subject matter. It's that I'm almost pathologically incapable of leaving something…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/even-when-the-writing-seems-very-frivolous-i-m-puritanical-i-don-t/) [Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/) > [People are complicated. Personally I don't go in for puritanical people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-kushner/people-are-complicated-personally-i-don-t-go-in-for-puritanical-people/) [Rachel Kushner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-kushner/) > [The more immoral we become in big ways, the more puritanical we become in little ways.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/florence-king/the-more-immoral-we-become-in-big-ways-the-more-puritanical-we-become/) [Florence King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/florence-king/) ## More by Wyndham Lewis > [Surely to root politics out of art is a highly necessary undertaking: for the freedom of art, like that of science, depends entirely upon…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wyndham-lewis/surely-to-root-politics-out-of-art-is-a-highly-necessary-undertaking/) [Wyndham Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wyndham-lewis/) > [Prostration is our natural position. A worm-like movement from a spot of sunlight to a spot of shade, and back, is the type of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wyndham-lewis/prostration-is-our-natural-position-a-worm-like-movement-from-a-spot/) [Wyndham Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wyndham-lewis/) > [Prostration is our natural position. A wormlike movement from a spot of sunlight to a spot of shade, and back, is the type of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wyndham-lewis/prostration-is-our-natural-position-a-wormlike-movement-from-a-spot/) [Wyndham Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wyndham-lewis/) > [Life is art's rival and vice versa.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wyndham-lewis/life-is-art-s-rival-and-vice-versa/) [Wyndham Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wyndham-lewis/) > [No American worth his salt should go around looking for a root. I advance this in all modesty, as a not unreasonable opinion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wyndham-lewis/no-american-worth-his-salt-should-go-around-looking-for-a-root-i/) [Wyndham Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wyndham-lewis/) > [Elephants are VERY BIG. Motor cars go quickly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wyndham-lewis/elephants-are-very-big-motor-cars-go-quickly/) [Wyndham Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wyndham-lewis/) > [All orthodox opinion - that is, today, "revolutionary" opinion either of the pure or the impure variety - is anti-man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wyndham-lewis/all-orthodox-opinion-that-is-today-revolutionary-opinion-either-of/) [Wyndham Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wyndham-lewis/) > [The ideas of a time are like the clothes of a season: they are as arbitrary, as much imposed by some superior will which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wyndham-lewis/the-ideas-of-a-time-are-like-the-clothes-of-a-season-they-are-as/) [Wyndham Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wyndham-lewis/) > [Laughter is the representative of Tragedy, when Tragedy is away.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wyndham-lewis/laughter-is-the-representative-of-tragedy-when-tragedy-is-away/) [Wyndham Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wyndham-lewis/) > [With most people, not describable as artists, all the finer part of their vitality goes into sex. They become third-rate poets during their courtship.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wyndham-lewis/with-most-people-not-describable-as-artists-all-the-finer-part-of/) [Wyndham Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wyndham-lewis/) > [Spain is an overflow of sombreness . . . a strong and threatening tide of history meets you at the frontier.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wyndham-lewis/spain-is-an-overflow-of-sombreness-a-strong-and-threatening-tide-of/) [Wyndham Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wyndham-lewis/) > [For the first rate poet, nothing short of a Queen or a Chimera is adequate for the powers of his praise.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wyndham-lewis/for-the-first-rate-poet-nothing-short-of-a-queen-or-a-chimera-is/) [Wyndham Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wyndham-lewis/) > [Sex is of the same clay as Time! -- of the same clay Since both are in their essence but One-Way Time is the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wyndham-lewis/sex-is-of-the-same-clay-as-time-of-the-same-clay-since-both-are-in/) [Wyndham Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wyndham-lewis/) > [When we say 'science' we can either mean any manipulation of the inventive and organizing power of the human intellect: or we can mean…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wyndham-lewis/when-we-say-science-we-can-either-mean-any-manipulation-of-the/) [Wyndham Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wyndham-lewis/) > [No American worth his salt should go looking around for a root. I advance this in all modesty, as a not unreasonable opinion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wyndham-lewis/no-american-worth-his-salt-should-go-looking-around-for-a-root-i/) [Wyndham Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wyndham-lewis/) [Explore all 87 Wyndham Lewis quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wyndham-lewis/) ## More Body quotes > [Most of us are convinced that we are our egos, which is who we think we are. 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I've also done some gravity tests…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-branson/i-ve-used-the-phoenix-centrifuge-to-replicate-what-the-body-s-going/) [Richard Branson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-branson/) > [Practically all animals which move fast in a homogeneous medium have found means of giving their body a streamlined shape, thereby reducing friction to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/konrad-lorenz/practically-all-animals-which-move-fast-in-a-homogeneous-medium-have/) [Konrad Lorenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/konrad-lorenz/) > [If the media is sending girls the message that their value lies in their bodies, this can only leave them feeling disempowered and distract…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-siebel-newsom/if-the-media-is-sending-girls-the-message-that-their-value-lies-in/) Jennifer Siebel Newsom > [Boys and boys' body image and clothes have become just as important an issue for boys as for girls.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rosalind-wiseman/boys-and-boys-body-image-and-clothes-have-become-just-as-important-an/) [Rosalind Wiseman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rosalind-wiseman/) > [By making conscious choices in our behavior and where we focus our attention, we can transform our experience of our body, decrease our biological…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deepak-chopra/by-making-conscious-choices-in-our-behavior-and-where-we-focus-our/) [Deepak Chopra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deepak-chopra/) > [Racism is a cancer. 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