When, according to habit, I was contemplating the stars in a clear sky, I noticed a new and unusual star, surpassing the other stars in brilliancy . . . . There had never before been any star in that place in the sky.

And when statesman or others worry [the scientist] too much, then he should leave with his possessions.

There is something eccentric in the orbit of Mars.

Behold, directly overhead, a certain strange star was suddenly seen . . . Amazed, and as if astonished and stupified, I stood still

It was not just the Church that resisted the heliocentrism of Copernicus.

May I not seem to have lived in vain.

An astronomer must be cosmopolitan, because ignorant statesmen cannot be expected to value their services