1001Philosophers

Gaston Bachelard Quotes

Gaston Bachelard was a French philosopher of science and imagination whose work spanned both rigorous epistemology and a phenomenology of poetic reverie. After self-taught studies he held chairs of philosophy of science at Dijon and at the Sorbonne. The quotes below are attributed to Gaston Bachelard, organized by topic.

Gaston Bachelard on Knowledge

  • Attributed to Gaston Bachelard:

    “Science is the empire of the new.”

  • Attributed to Gaston Bachelard:

    “There is no first knowledge; all knowledge is the result of struggle against earlier error.”

Gaston Bachelard on Life

  • Attributed to Gaston Bachelard:

    “A house is the topography of our intimate being.”

Gaston Bachelard on Mind

  • Attributed to Gaston Bachelard:

    “The mind is essentially a factory of mistakes.”

  • Attributed to Gaston Bachelard:

    “All that is decisive in the soul has its source in the imagination.”