The best live among us in disguise.

The essence of the beautiful is unity in variety.

Irresponsibility is part of the pleasure of all art; 

it is the part the schools cannot recognise.

I try to decorate my imagination as much as I can.

The World is my country, 

all mankind are my brethren, 

and to do good is my religion.

It is quite an illusion to imagine 

that one adjusts to reality 

essentially without the use of language 

and that language is merely an incidental means 

of solving specific problems of communication or reflection.

No, 

I'm no enemy to learning; 

it hurts not me.

I only go out to get me a fresh appetite for being alone.

Reading maketh a full man; 

conference a ready man; 

and writing an exact man.

That is the essence of science: 

ask an impertinent question, 

and you are on the way to a pertinent answer.

As we must account for every idle word, 

so must we account for every idle silence.

Be daring, 

be different, 

be impractical, 

be anything that will assert
integrity of purpose
and imaginative vision 

against the play-it-safers, 

the creatures of the commonplace, 

the slaves of the ordinary.

We are what our thoughts have made us; 

so take care about what you think.

Since new developments are the products of a creative mind, 

we must therefore stimulate and encourage that type of mind 

in every way possible.

If this is not done, 

future ages will certainly look back upon us 

as a people so immersed in the pursuit of wealth 

as to be blind to higher considerations.

He who does not bellow the truth 

when he knows the truth 

makes himself the accomplice 

of liars and forgers.

The secret of happiness is to admire without desiring.

Self-education is, 

I firmly believe, 

the only kind of education there is.

Derive happiness in oneself 

from a good day's work, 

from illuminating the fog 

that surrounds us.

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.