To see what is general in what is particular, and what is permanent in what is transitory, is the aim of scientific thought.

Fertilization of the soul is the reason for the necessity of art.

No one who achieves success does so without acknowledging the help of others. The wise and confident acknowledge this help with gratitude.

Civilization advances by extending the number of important operations which we can perform without thinking about them. Operations of thought are cavalry charges in a battle - they are limited in number, they require fresh horses, and must only be made at decisive moments.

[In many circumstances,] the most important thing about a proposition is not that it be true, but that it be interesting.

The importance of an individual thinker owes something to chance. For it depends upon the fate of his ideas in the minds of his successors.

People make the mistake of talking about 'natural laws.' There are no natural laws. There are only temporary habits of nature.