1,930 Quotes About Progress

The scientist is not responsible for the laws of nature. It is his job to find out how these laws operate. It is the scientist’s job to find the ways in which these laws can serve the human will. However, it is not the scientist’s job to determine whether a hydrogen bomb should be constructed, whether it should be used, or how it should be used. This responsibility rests with the American people and with their chosen representatives.

The fight for greater equality is not a zero sum game; demonizing all members one group to the advantage of another is not progress but oppression.

It’s not about inviting great things into our lives. Rather, it’s about accepting the invitation of great things to step out of our lives.

The beliefs of the people should adapt to new ideas, instead of new ideas adjusting to old beliefs.

We sometimes hear of the death of literature or of this or that genre, but literature doesn't die, just as it doesn't 'progress' or 'decay.' It expands, it increases. When we feel that it has become stagnant or stale, that usually just means we ourselves are not paying sufficient attention.

Rights are not easy to obtain, and once we understand this, we must work attentively and persistently - and never become careless or lazy.

It seems strange to me that mechanical progress always seems to leave the slower demands of elegance far behind.

We must not overlook the role that extremists play. They are the gadflies that keep society from being too complacent or self-satisfied; they are, if sound, the spearhead of progress. If they are fundamentally wrong, free discussion will in time put an end to them.

A nation falls not because of governmental atrocity, but because of the citizens' indifference to that atrocity.