Nothing contributes so much to tranquilise the mind as a steady purpose

 — a point on which the soul may fix its intellectual eye.

Where all is but dream, 

reasoning and arguments are of no use, 

truth and knowledge nothing.

The intelligent man finds almost everything ridiculous, 

the sensible man hardly anything.

We ought, 

in every instance, 

to submit our reasoning 

to the test of experiment, 

and never to search for truth 

but by the natural road 

of experiment and observation.

No fine work can be done 

without concentration 

and self-sacrifice 

and toil 

and doubt.

Scientists have to have a metaphor. 

All scientists start with imagination.

Works of art make rules; 

rules do not make works of art.

We live on a placid island of ignorance 

in the midst of black seas of infinity.

We are here to laugh at the odds 

and live our lives so well 

that Death will tremble to take us.

All men who have turned out worth anything 

have had the chief hand 

in their own education.

The scientist only imposes two things, 

namely truth and sincerity, 

imposes them upon himself 

and upon other scientists.

In science one tries to tell people, 

in such a way as to be understood by everyone, 

something that no one ever knew before. 

But in poetry, it's the exact opposite.

Just as our eyes need light in order to see, 

our minds need ideas in order to conceive.

In a drama of the highest order 

there is little food for censure or hatred; 

it teaches rather self-knowledge and self-respect.

Knowledge once gained casts a light beyond its own immediate boundaries.

It is better to fail in originality 

than to succeed in imitation.