Passages from the Life of a Philosopher Quotes

“Whenever a man can get hold of numbers, they are invaluable: if correct, they assist in informing his own mind, but they are still more useful in deluding the minds of others. Numbers are the masters of the weak, but the slaves of the strong.”
― Charles Babbage, Passages from the Life of a Philosopher

“occupation of the mind is such a source of pleasure that it can relieve even the pain of a headache;”
― Charles Babbage, Passages from the Life of a Philosopher [Annotated]

“One of the most singular characteristics of the art of deciphering is the strong conviction possessed by every person, even moderately acquainted with it, that he is able to construct a cipher which nobody else can decipher. I have also observed that the cleverer the person, the more intimate is his conviction.”
― Charles Babbage, Passages from the Life of a Philosopher

“Some men write their lives to save themselves from ennui, careless of the amount they inflict on their readers.”
― Charles Babbage, Passages from the Life of a Philosopher

“Having myself worked with a variety of tools, and having studied the art of constructing each of them, I at length laid it down as a principle—that, except in rare cases, I would never do anything myself if I could afford to hire another person who could do it for me.”
― Charles Babbage, Passages from the Life of a Philosopher [Annotated]

“As soon as an Analytical Engine exists, it will necessarily guide the future course of the science. Whenever any result is sought by its aid, the question will then arise — by what course of calculation can these results be arrived at by the machine in the shortest time?”
― Charles Babbage, Passages from the Life of a Philosopher

“If I played any of the ordinary openings, such as are found in the books, I was sure to be beaten. The only way in which I had a chance of winning, was by making early in the game a move so bad that it had not been mentioned in any treatise.”
― Charles Babbage, Passages from the Life of a Philosopher

“gently expressed a doubt whether the plan was possible, to which I replied that, not being able to prove its impossibility, I should follow out a slight glimmering of light which I thought I perceived.”
― Charles Babbage, Passages from the Life of a Philosopher [Annotated]

“Man wrongs, and Time avenges. Byron—The Prophecy of Dante.”
― Charles Babbage, Passages from the Life of a Philosopher [Annotated]

“the greatest obstacles to the acquisition of knowledge—inasmuch as he possesses the consciousness that he does not know—and he has the moral courage to avow it.”
― Charles Babbage, Passages from the Life of a Philosopher [Annotated]