I had no need of sails to drive me, nor oars nor wheels to push me, nor rails to give me a faster road. Air is what I wanted, that was all. Air surrounds me as water surrounds the submarine boat, and in it my propellers act like the screws of a steamer. That is how I solved the problem of aviation. That is what a balloon will never do, nor will any machine that is lighter than air.

Wherever he saw a hole he always wanted to know the depth of it. To him this was important.

The wisest man may be a blind father.

A scholar has to know a little of everything.

The Nautilus was piercing the water with its sharp spur, after having accomplished nearly ten thousand leagues in three months and a half, a distance greater than the great circle of the earth. Where were we going now, and what was reserved for the future?

The sea is the vast reservoir of Nature. The globe began with sea, so to speak; and who knows if it will not end with it?

What pen can describe this scene of marvellous horror; what pencil can portray it?