Francis Galton
British polymath who founded psychometrics and statistical psychology.
Most quoted
"I have no patience with the hypothesis occasionally expressed, and often implied, that for two thousand years the human race got on very well without scientific psychology, and that it is only in the last century that the subject has been recognized as one to which attention should be paid."
— from Book, 1883
"General impressions are never to be trusted. Unfortunately when they are of long standing they become fixed rules of life, and assume a prescriptive right not to be questioned. Consequently, those who are not accustomed to original inquiry entertain a hatred and a horror of statistics."
— from Hereditary Genius, 1869
"The only way to escape the corruptible effect of praised material success is to throw the whole weight of one's mind, one's aim, one's strength, upon that side of work which, in the sight of God and the angels, is the true work."
— from Book, 1908
All quotes by Francis Galton (72)
The value of a man should be seen in what he gives and not in what he is able to receive.
Psychometry is the art of imposing measurement and number upon operations of the mind.
The mediocre emerge because the talented are idle.
Composite photographs reveal the average type.
The great book of Nature is written in the language of mathematics.
I wish I could give a summary of all that is to be said about the weather.
The survival of the fittest is the law of nature.
Education should aim at producing men who can think for themselves.
The human race is divisible into a small minority of geniuses and a vast majority of mediocrities.
Inquiries into human faculty and its development are of the highest importance.
The end of life is to be like God.
My last words? I have done my work.
Contemporaries of Francis Galton
Other Psychologys born within 50 years of Francis Galton (1822–1911).