A Scientist’s faith
Where someone failed, another has succeeded; what was unknown in one century, the next has discovered; science and the arts do not grind themselves into uniformity, but gain shape and regularity by carving and polishing repeatedly […] What my own strength has not been able to uncover, I cease not from working at and trying out and, by reshaping and solidifying this new material, in moulding and heating it, I bequeathe to him who follows some facility and make it the more supple and malleable for him. The second will do the same for the third, which is why difficulty does not make me despair, nor of my own weakness…
Montaigne, Les Essais, Livre II, Chapitre XII.
Possibly relevant posts:
- Decision Time (2/2/2002)
- Farewell 202 (4/2/2008)
- Q: what do Douglas Hoffstadter and Cara have in common? (11/14/2008)