Discourses on the Objects and Uses of Science and Literature |
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Page ix
... pleasure than when , escaping , through their aid , from the sense of worldly care and be- reavement , he gains , at the same time , an enlarged acquaintance with man and nature , and finds his good resolutions strengthened , his better ...
... pleasure than when , escaping , through their aid , from the sense of worldly care and be- reavement , he gains , at the same time , an enlarged acquaintance with man and nature , and finds his good resolutions strengthened , his better ...
Page xi
... pleasure in using them ; and hence , whoever would cultivate in himself or others this most desirable taste , should select , especially at first , such works as can be read with sustained and quickened attention . But let it not be ...
... pleasure in using them ; and hence , whoever would cultivate in himself or others this most desirable taste , should select , especially at first , such works as can be read with sustained and quickened attention . But let it not be ...
Page xii
... pleasure from poisoned fountains . Nor let him ascribe the respon- sibility of all this to authors and publishers . They would hardly send forth impure streams if they had not found that the reading public thirsts for them . It is not ...
... pleasure from poisoned fountains . Nor let him ascribe the respon- sibility of all this to authors and publishers . They would hardly send forth impure streams if they had not found that the reading public thirsts for them . It is not ...
Page xix
... pleasure in the simple contemplation of truth . Let that pleasure be enjoyed . It is not only innocent , but healthy . To be conscious of the power which God has given us , of penetrating the secrets of nature , of looking before and ...
... pleasure in the simple contemplation of truth . Let that pleasure be enjoyed . It is not only innocent , but healthy . To be conscious of the power which God has given us , of penetrating the secrets of nature , of looking before and ...
Page xxiii
... pleasure , and , if properly exercised , of refinement , but it may be- come a spring of improvement also . By inciting us in all our efforts to attain not merely to what is right or good , but also to what is graceful and per- fect ...
... pleasure , and , if properly exercised , of refinement , but it may be- come a spring of improvement also . By inciting us in all our efforts to attain not merely to what is right or good , but also to what is graceful and per- fect ...
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Common terms and phrases
action animals application Aristodemus arithme ascer astronomy benevolence bodies branches called cause Christian Chym chymical Chymistry comprehend condition conscience contrivance curve cycloid Discourse discoveries distance doctrines drawn duty earth effect ellipse ence evil experience facts faculties feelings force give glory habits hand happiness honour human ical imagination influence intel intellectual John Herschel JOHN SMEATON judgment kind knowledge labour language less light LORD BROUGHAM mankind Marinus Willet material world mathematical matter means mechanical Mechanical Philosophy ment mind Mixed Mathematics moons moral moral philosophy motion move Natural Philosophy numbers observation once parabola passions phenomena philosophy physical plant pleasure principles properties proved reason religion round rule sense sentiments side social soul strength suppose taste teaches things third eyelid thought tion true truth ture VERPLANCK virtue whole wisdom word
Popular passages
Page 222 - If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me. If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me. Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee.
Page 211 - Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding. Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? or who hath stretched the line upon it? Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? or who laid the corner stone thereof; When the morning stars sang together, and all the Sons of God shouted for joy?
Page xix - But the greatest error of all the rest, is the mistaking or misplacing of the last or farthest end of knowledge : for men have entered into a desire of learning and knowledge...
Page 184 - The motive for continuing in the same state or action is only the present satisfaction in it; the motive to change is always some uneasiness; nothing setting us upon the change of state, or upon any new action, but some uneasiness. This is the great motive that works on the mind to put it upon action, which for shortness' sake we will call "determining of the will" ; which I shall more at large explain.
Page ix - If I were to pray for a taste which should stand me in stead under every variety of circumstances, and be a source of happiness and cheerfulness to me through life, and a shield against its Ills, however things might go amiss, and the world frown upon me, it would be a taste for reading.
Page 124 - ... treats which science affords us is the knowledge of the extraordinary powers with which the human mind is endowed. No man, until he has studied philosophy, can have a just idea of the great things for which Providence has fitted his understanding — the extraordinary disproportion which there is between his natural strength, and the powers of his mind and the force he derives from them.
Page 118 - Chemistry is not behind in its wonders. That the diamond should be made of the same material with coal ; that water should be chiefly composed of an inflammable substance ; that acids should be almost all formed of different kinds of air, and that one of those acids, whose strength can dissolve almost any of the metals, should be made of the self-same ingredients with the common air we breathe...
Page xxx - Wise men have said are wearisome; who reads Incessantly, and to his reading brings not A spirit and judgment equal or superior (And what he brings, what needs he elsewhere seek) Uncertain and unsettled still remains, Deep versed in books and shallow in himself, Crude or intoxicate, collecting toys, And trifles for choice matters, worth a sponge; As children gathering pebbles on the shore.
Page 278 - We have said that Mr. Watt was the great Improver of the steamengine ; but, in truth, as to all that is admirable in its structure, or vast in its utility, he should rather be described as its Inventor. It was by his inventions that its action was so regulated as to make it capable of being applied to the finest and most delicate manufactures, and its power so increased as to set weight and solidity at defiance. By his admirable...
Page 126 - Providence, every part would be in harmony with a plan of absolute benevolence. Independently, however, of this most consoling inference, the delight is inexpressible of being able to follow, as it were, with our eyes, the marvellous works of the Great Architect of Nature, to trace the unbounded power and exquisite skill which are exhibited in the most minute, as well as the mightiest parts of his system.