If an angel were to tell us about his philosophy, I believe many of his statements might well sound like '2 x 2= 13'.

There is no greater impediment to progress in the sciences than the desire to see it take place too quickly.

It is almost impossible to carry the torch of truth through a crowd without singeing somebody's beard.

Be attentive, feel nothing in vain, measure and compare: this is the whole law of philosophy.

It is a great shame; most of our words are misused tools / which often still smell of the mud in which previous owners / desecrated them.

The American who first discovered Columbus made a bad discovery.

People who have read a good deal rarely make great discoveries. I do not say this in excuse of laziness, but because invention presupposes an extensive independent contemplation of things.