Observation and thinking are the two points of departure 

for all the spiritual striving of man, 

insofar as he is conscious of such striving. 

The workings of common sense, 

as well as the most complicated scientific researches, 

rest on these two fundamental pillars of our spirit.

Mistakes are the portals of discovery.

Heretics are the only bitter remedy against the entropy of human thought.

My mind is my own church.

No two languages are ever sufficiently similar 

to be considered as representing the same social reality.

I view my fellow man 

not as a fallen angel, 

but as a risen ape.

Adversity is the first path to truth.

Who questions much, 

shall learn much, 

and retain much.

To love to read 

is to exchange hours of ennui 

for hours of delight.

An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.

It is not only for what we do that we are held responsible, 

but also for what we do not do.

As soon as man does not take his existence for granted, 

but beholds it as something unfathomably mysterious, 

thought begins.

The first and simplest emotion 

which we discover in the human mind, 

is curiosity.

Defending the truth 

is not something one does 

out of a sense of duty 

or to allay guilt complexes, 

but is a reward in itself.

Truth is born into this world 

only with pangs and tribulations, 

and every fresh truth 

is received unwillingly.

But epistemology is always and inevitably personal. 

The point of the probe is always in the heart of the explorer: 

What is my answer to the question of the nature of knowing?

A subtle thought that is in error 

may yet give rise to fruitful inquiry 

that can establish truths of great value.

The mathematics is not there till we put it there.

The diversity of the phenomena of nature is so great, 

and the treasures hidden in the heavens so rich, 

precisely in order that the human mind shall never be lacking 

in fresh nourishment.

Truth is ever to be found in simplicity, 

and not in the multiplicity and confusion of things.

Resolve to be thyself: 

and know that he who finds himself, 

loses his misery.

There are no secrets that time does not reveal.

Individuality is only possible if it unfolds from wholeness.

I will seize fate by the throat; 

it shall certainly never wholly overcome me.

Wisdom comes by disillusionment.

The belief that there is only one truth, 

and that oneself is in possession of it, 

is the root of all evil in the world.

The soul should always stand ajar, 

ready to welcome the ecstatic experience.

Gratitude bestows reverence, 

allowing us to encounter everyday epiphanies, 

those transcendent moments of awe 

that change forever 

how we experience life and the world.

The wise man knows how to run his life 

so that contemplation is possible.

Whoever dedicates his life to searching out particular connections of nature 

will spontaneously be confronted with the question 

how they harmoniously fit into the whole.

Silence is as deep as eternity, 

speech as shallow as time.

Only in men's imagination
does every truth
find an effective and undeniable existence. 

Imagination,
not invention,
is the supreme master of art as of life.

Power is no blessing in itself, 

except when it is used to protect the innocent.

As you think, 

so shall you become.

What most experimenters take for granted 

before they begin their experiments 

is infinitely more interesting 

than any results to which their experiments lead.

He alone is free 

who lives with free consent 

under the entire guidance of reason.

Only thought can resemble. 

It resembles by being what it sees, hears, or knows; 

it becomes what the world offers it.

A mind cannot be independent of culture.

Reality simply consists of different points of view.

The facts of science are real enough, 

and so are the techniques that scientists use, 

and so are the technologies based on them. 

But the belief system 

that governs conventional scientific thinking 

is an act of faith.

It is not so much for its beauty 

that the forest makes a claim upon men's hearts, 

as for that subtle something, 

that quality of air that emanation from old trees, 

that so wonderfully changes and renews a weary spirit.

New knowledge is the most valuable commodity on earth. 

The more truth we have to work with, 

the richer we become.

The hours we pass with happy prospects in view 

are more pleasing than 

those crowded with fruition.

An intellectual is someone whose mind watches itself.

And if we must educate our poets and artists in science, 

we must educate our masters, 

labour and capital, 

in art.

All moral laws are merely statements that certain kinds of actions will have good effects.

To unfold the secret laws and relations 

of those high faculties of thought 

by which all beyond the merely perceptive knowledge

 of the world and of ourselves 

is attained or matured, 

is an object which does not stand in need of commendation 

to a rational mind.