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There are three principal means of acquiring knowledge. . . observation of nature, reflection, and experimentation. Observation collects facts; reflection combines them; experimentation verifies the result of that combination.

Denis Diderot

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There are three principal means of acquiring knowledge... observation of nature, reflection, and experimentation. Observation collects facts; reflection combines them; experimentation verifies the result of that combination.
— Denis Diderot
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Our observation of nature must be diligent, our reflection profound, and our experiments exact. We rarely see these three means combined; and for this reason, creative geniuses are not common.
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It is not human nature we should accuse but the despicable conventions that pervert it.
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No man has received from nature the right to command his fellow human beings.
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Direct observation includes the person having knowledge of what is being done and how to do it. It is not simply standing there and looking at someone doing the job.
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