The study of Nature makes a man at last as remorseless as Nature.

H.G. Wells
About This Quote

Descartes, the French philosopher, said that “The study of Nature makes a man at last as remorseless as Nature.” This means that studying nature can make you cold and calculating. The idea that the world is ruled by cold logic is one that dates back thousands of years. The Greek philosophers Hippocrates and Aristotle stressed that studying nature meant studying death to help us move on with our lives. The idea was very much in keeping with the stoic philosophy of ancient Greece which taught that life was full of misfortune so one should learn to accept it. If you could learn to accept death, you would be able to look at your life more clearly.

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