Intellect distinguishes between the possible and the impossible; 

reason distinguishes between the sensible and the senseless. 

Even the possible can be senseless.

Keep me away from the wisdom which does not cry, 

the philosophy which does not laugh 

and the greatness which does not bow before children.

Poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings: 

it takes its origin from emotion 

recollected in tranquility.

Humans are nervous, touchy creatures 

and can be easily offended. 

Many are deeply insecure. 

They become focused and energised by taking offence; 

it makes them feel meaningful and alive.

Words are all we have.

The most important kind of freedom 

is to be what you really are. 

You trade in your reality for a rôle. 

You give up your ability to feel, 

and in exchange, 

put on a mask.

To be without some of the things you want 

is an indispensable part of happiness.

We must learn to value the acquisition of knowledge,

for its own sake,

and not just because it grows our economy

or allows us to build better bombs.

We must also learn to value the human race

and take responsibility for our own survival;

because there's nobody else out there to value us

or to look after us.

And finally, most important of all,

we must educate the next generation

in the great discoveries of science

and we must teach them to use the light of reason

to banish the darkness of superstition.

The ultimate value of life 

depends upon awareness 

and the power of contemplation 

rather than upon mere survival.

A man may imagine things that are false, 

but he can only understand things that are true, 

for if the things be false, 

the apprehension of them is not understanding.

Talent hits a target no one else can hit; 

Genius hits a target no one else can see.

It does not matter how slowly you go 

as long as you do not stop.

Scientific discovery and scientific knowledge 

have been achieved 

only by those 

who have gone in pursuit of it 

without any practical purpose 

whatsoever 

in view.

Our life is what our thoughts make it.

No phenomenon is a real phenomenon 

until it is an observed phenomenon.

For me, it is far better 

to grasp the Universe as it really is 

than to persist in delusion, 

however satisfying and reassuring.

Beauty itself is but the sensible image of the Infinite.

The principal mark of genius 

is not perfection 

but originality, 

the opening of new frontiers.

Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, 

the heart of a heartless world, 

and the soul of soulless conditions. 

It is the opium of the people.

Ships that pass in the night, 

and speak each other in passing, 

only a signal shown, 

and a distant voice in the darkness; 

So on the ocean of life, 

we pass and speak one another, 

only a look and a voice, 

then darkness again and a silence.

The sole art 

that suits me 

is that which, 

rising from unrest, 

tends toward serenity.

If wrinkles must be written upon our brows, 

let them not be written upon the heart. 

The spirit should never grow old.

The prospect of success 

in achieving our most cherished dream 

is not without its terrors. 

Who is more deprived and alone 

than the man who has achieved his dream?

Try to learn something about everything 

and everything about something.

If the doors of perception were cleansed 

everything would appear to man as it is, 

infinite.

Nature will bear the closest inspection. 

She invites us to lay our eye 

level with her smallest leaf, 

and take an insect view of its plain.

You do not need to leave your room. 

Remain sitting at your table and listen. 

Do not even listen, 

simply wait, 

be quiet, still and solitary. 

The world will freely offer itself to you to be unmasked, 

it has no choice, 

it will roll in ecstasy at your feet.

The reading of all good books 

is like a conversation 

with the finest minds 

of past centuries.

Words, 

like nature, 

half reveal 

and half conceal 

the soul within.

Philosophy is like trying to open a safe with a combination lock: 

each little adjustment of the dials
seems to achieve nothing, 

only when everything is in place
does the door open.

Nature is relentless and unchangeable, 

and it is indifferent as to whether 

its hidden reasons and actions 

are understandable to man or not.

To be conscious means not simply to be, 

but to be reported, known, 

to have awareness of one's being 

added to that being.

Life can only be understood backwards; 

but it must be lived forwards.

And now we welcome the new year. 

Full of things that have never been.

What we achieve inwardly 

will change outer reality.

Death does not concern us, 

because as long as we exist, 

death is not here. 

And when it does come, 

we no longer exist.

The key to growth is the introduction 

of higher dimensions of consciousness 

into our awareness.

Common sense and a sense of humour are the same thing, 

moving at different speeds. 

A sense of humour is just common sense, 

dancing.

Human life 

is as evanescent 

as the morning dew 

or a flash of lightning.

You took my dreams from me

When I first found you

I kept them with me babe

I put them with my own

Can't make it all alone

I've built my dreams around you

We are driven by the usual insatiable curiosity of the scientist, 

and our work is a delightful game.

The things that we love 

tell us what we are.

I love to doubt 

as well as know.

Scientific views end in awe and mystery, 

lost at the edge in uncertainty, 

but they appear to be so deep and so impressive 

that the theory that it is all arranged as a stage 

for God to watch man's struggle for good and evil 

seems inadequate.

The superior man acquaints himself
with many sayings of antiquity 

and many deeds of the past, 

in order to strengthen his character thereby.

We are born at a given moment, 

in a given place 

and, like vintage years of wine, 

we have the qualities 

of the year 

and of the season 

of which we are born.

The future enters into us, 

in order to transform itself in us, 

long before it happens.

This preservation of favourable variations 

and the rejection of injurious variations, 

I call Natural Selection. 

Variations neither useful nor injurious 

would not be affected by natural selection, 

and would be left a fluctuating element…

Why are there beings at all, 

instead of Nothing?