To make converts is the natural ambition of everyone.

We who didn't inherit political power nor are made to acquire riches like nothing better than that which expands and solidifies the power of the spirit.

It has been said that figures rule the world. Maybe. But I am sure that figures show us whether it is being ruled well or badly.

I can promise to be sincere, but I cannot promise to be impartial.

The sun had, in the meanwhile, sunk behind the Ettersberg. We felt in the wood the chill of the evening, and drove all the quicker to Wiemar, and to Goethe's house. Goethe urged me to go in with him for a while, and I did so. He was in an extremely engaging mood. He talked a great deal about his theory of colors, and of his obstinate opponents; remarking that he was sure that he had done something in this science.

Science has been seriously retarded by the study of what is not worth knowing and of what is not knowable.

The day is committed to error and floundering; success and achievement are matters of long range.