Everyone has a creative impulse, 

and has the right to create, 

and should.

I much prefer 

the sharpest criticism 

of a single intelligent man 

to the thoughtless approval 

of the masses.

It is proportion that beautifies everything, 

the whole universe consists of it, 

and music is measured by it.

To have the sense of creative activity 

is the great happiness 

and the great proof of being alive.

Without deviation progress is not possible.

Acting is the ability to dream on cue.

Life is made up, 

not of great sacrifices or duties, 

but of little things, 

in which smiles and kindness, 

and small obligations given habitually, 

are what preserve the heart 

and secure comfort.

It is characteristic of all deep human problems 

that they are not to be approached 

without some humour 

and some bewilderment.

He who will not reason, is a bigot; 

he who cannot is a fool; 

and he who dares not is a slave.

There are two objectionable types of believers: 

those who believe the incredible 

and those who believe that 'belief' must be discarded 

and replaced by 'the scientific method.

A good book is the precious lifeblood of a master spirit.

Contemplation and wisdom are highest achievements 

and man is not totally at home with them.

The uncertainty relation does not refer to the past; 

if the velocity of the electron is at first known 

and the position then exactly measured, 

the position for times previous to the measurement may be calculated.

Worship is transcendent wonder.

Grown men can learn from very little children 

for the hearts of little children are pure.

Literature adds to reality, 

it does not simply describe it. 

It enriches the necessary competencies 

that daily life requires and provides;

What is now proved was once only imagined.

In the fields I know best, 

among the life sciences, 

it is required 

that the most expert and sophisticated minds 

be capable of changing course 

— often with a great lurch — 

every few years.

The world would be happier 

if men had the same capacity to be silent 

that they have to speak.

Everything we see 

hides another thing, 

we always want to see 

what is hidden 

by what we see.

The history of astronomy is a history of receding horizons.

A single idea, 

if it is right, 

saves us the labour 

of an infinity of experiences.

The simplicities of natural laws arise 

through the complexities of the language we use for their expression.

All speech, written or spoken, is a dead language, 

until it finds a willing and prepared hearer.

Man is a microcosm, 

or a little world, 

because he is an extract 

from all the stars and planets 

of the whole firmament, 

from the earth and the elements; 

and so he is their quintessence.

The brain is like a muscle. 

When it is in use 

we feel very good. 

Understanding is joyous.

Without work, 

all life goes rotten. 

But when work is soulless, 

life stifles and dies.

All still lifes 

are actually 

paintings of the world 

on the sixth day of creation, 

when God and the world 

were alone together, 

without man!

Drawing is a way 

of coming upon the connection between things, 

just like metaphor in poetry 

reconnects what has become separated.

Don't let yesterday use up too much of today.

The universe is built on a plan 

the profound symmetry of which 

is somehow present 

in the inner structure of our intellect.

Art is the symbol of the two noblest human efforts: 

to construct and to refrain from destruction.

There are some people 

who live in a dream world, 

and there are some 

who face reality; 

and then there are those 

who turn one into the other.

Everything you can imagine is real.

You're only as young as the last time you changed your mind.

Genius is the recovery of childhood at will.

Think like a man of action, 

act like a man of thought.

No better way is there 

to learn to love Nature 

than to understand Art. 

It dignifies every flower of the field.

Love is blind; 

friendship closes its eyes.

The world is mud-luscious and puddle-wonderful.

One is and is not in the centre of the mælstrom of it all.

Going after the unknown 

is always fascinating, I think. 

It becomes part of your life, 

this desire to know.

The home should be the treasure chest of living.

Knowledge is the most democratic source of power.

Accuracy of observation is the equivalent of accuracy of thinking.

Heresy is another word for freedom of thought.

That which is false troubles the heart, 

but truth brings joyous tranquillity.

Truth will rise above falsehood 

as oil above water.

Genuine poetry can communicate before it is understood.