On Phenomena (Unsourced)

"[All phenomena] are equally susceptible of being calculated, and all that is necessary, to reduce the whole of nature to laws similar to those which Newton discovered with the aid of the calculus, is to have a sufficient number of observations and a mathematics that is complex enough." (Nicolas de Condorcet)

"Although to penetrate into the intimate mysteries of nature and hence to learn the true causes of phenomena is not allowed to us, nevertheless it can happen that a certain fictive hypothesis may suffice for explaining many phenomena." (Leonhard Euler)

"Ever since the observation of nature has existed, it has held a vague notion of its ultimate goal as the composition of the colorful multiplicity of phenomena in a uniform system, where possible, in a single formula." (Max Planck)

"It is an extraordinary feature of science that the most diverse, seemingly unrelated, phenomena can be described with the same mathematical tools. [...] But the variety of natural phenomena is boundless while, despite all appearances to the contrary, the number of really distinct mathematical concepts and tools at our disposal is surprisingly small. [...] When we explore the vast realm of natural and human behavior, we find the most useful tools of measurement and calculation are based on surprisingly few basic ideas." (Benoît B Mandelbrot)

"It [science] has as its highest principle and most coveted aim the solution of the problem to condense all natural phenomena which have been observed and are still to be observed into one simple principle, that allows the computation of past and more especially of future processes from present ones. [...] Amid the more or less general laws which mark the achievements of physical science during the course of the last centuries, the principle of least action is perhaps that which, as regards form and content, may claim to come nearest to that ideal final aim of theoretical research." (Max Planck)

"Man’s first glance at the universe discovers only variety, diversity, multiplicity of phenomena. Let that glance be illuminated by science - by the science which brings man closer to God, - and simplicity and unity shine on all sides." (Louis Pasteur)

"Nature considered rationally, that is to say, submitted to the process of thought, is a unity in diversity of phenomena; a harmony, blending together all created things, however dissimilar in form and attributes; one great whole animated by the breath of life." (Alexander von Humboldt)

"The aim of every science is foresight (prevoyance). For the laws of established observation of phenomena are generally employed to foresee their succession. All men, however little advanced make true predictions, which are always based on the same principle, the knowledge of the future from the past." (Auguste Compte)

"The main goal of physics is to describe a maximum of phenomena with a minimum of variables." (CERN Courier)

"The organic unity of mathematics is inherent in the nature of this science, for mathematics is the foundation of all exact knowledge of natural phenomena." (David Hilbert)

"The World-honored One has taught [that meditation has] four kinds of content. The first is that content accompanied by images for reflection, the second is that content not accompanied by images for reflection, the third is that content which extends to the limit of the phenomenal, and the fourth is that content which fulfills duty." (Samdhinirmocana Sutra [Xuanzang's translation])

"We consider it a good principle to explain the phenomena by the simplest hypothesis possible." (Ptolemy)