The whole is more than the sum of its parts.

But although all our knowledge begins with experience, 

it does not follow that it arises from experience.

The meeting of two personalities 

is like the contact of two chemical substances: 

if there is any reaction, 

both are transformed.

The words printed here are concepts. 

You must go through the experiences.

The job of a citizen 

is to keep his mouth 

open.

Intelligence is not to make no mistakes, 

but quickly to see how to make them good.

The limits of my language 

means 

the limits of my world.

I hate war 

as only a soldier who has lived it can, 

only as one who has seen 

its brutality, 

its futility, 

its stupidity.

As a single footstep will not make a path on the earth, 

so a single thought will not make a pathway in the mind. 

To make a deep physical path, 

we walk again and again. 

To make a deep mental path, 

we must think over and over 

the kind of thoughts 

we wish to dominate our lives.

Metaphor is embodied in language.

A human being has so many skins inside, 

covering the depths of the heart.

Language is not only the vehicle of thought, 

it is a great and efficient instrument in thinking.

Dissent is the native activity of the scientist, 

and it has got him into a good deal of trouble in the last years. 

But if that is cut off, 

what is left will not be a scientist.

In solitude 

the mind gains strength 

and learns to lean upon itself.

We don't receive wisdom; 

we must discover it for ourselves 

after a journey 

that no one can take for us 

or spare us.

A fool sees not the same tree 

that a wise man sees.

I would rather excel 

in the knowledge 

of what is excellent, 

than in the extent 

of my power and possessions.

It is not in the stars 

to hold our destiny 

but in ourselves.

Do not dwell in the past, 

do not dream of the future, 

concentrate the mind on the present moment.

A child-like man is not a man
whose development has been arrested; 

on the contrary, 

he is a man
who has given himself a chance
of continuing to develop 

long after most adults have muffled themselves 

in the cocoon of middle-aged habit and convention.

Next to excellence is the appreciation of it.

But climb on your tears and be silent 

Like a rose on its ladder of thorns 

... 

Then lay your rose on the fire 

The fire give up to the sun

Appreciation is a wonderful thing: 

It makes what is excellent in others 

belong to us as well.

The art of being wise is the art of knowing what to overlook.

Poets are the sense, 

philosophers the intelligence 

of humanity.

And my error has been a good lesson to me

 never to trust in science 

to the principle of exclusion.

Have you seen the land living by the breeze

 Can you understand a light among the trees

In all things of nature 

there is something of the marvellous.

I hold that the mark of a genuine idea 

is that its possibility can be proved, 

either a priori 

by conceiving its cause or reason, 

or a posteriori 

when experience teaches us 

that it is in fact in nature.

To the mind that is still, 

the whole universe surrenders.

Begin at the beginning 

and go on till you come to the end; 

then stop.

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.