The more experiences and experiments accumulate in the exploration of nature, the more precarious the theories become. But it is not always good to discard them immediately on this account. For every hypothesis which once was sound was useful for thinking of previous phenomena in the proper interrelations and for keeping them in context. We ought to set down contradictory experiences separately, until enough have accumulated to make building a new structure worthwhile.

Many a man who is willing to be shot for his belief in a miracle would have doubted, had he been present at the miracle itself.

The celebrated painter Gainsborough got as much pleasure from seeing violins as from hearing them.

Man is a masterpiece of creation . . .

As nations improve, so do their gods.

Most men of education are more superstitious than they admit - nay, than they think.

I forget most of what I read, just as I do most of what I have eaten, but I know that both contribute no less to the conservation of my mind and my body on that account.