I had rather be Mercury, the smallest among seven [planets], revolving round the sun, than the first among five [moons] revolving round Saturn.

Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Willing is not enough; we must do.

It matters little whether a man be mathematically or philologically or artistically cultivated, so he be but cultivated.

Science and art belong to the whole world, and before them vanish the barriers of nationality.

The force of a language does not consist of rejecting what is foreign but of swallowing it.

I am a part of the part that at first was all, part of the darkness that gave birth to the light, that supercilious light which now disputes with Mother Night her ancient rank and space, and yet cannot succeed; no matter how it struggles, it sticks to matter and can't get free. Light flows from substance, makes it beautiful.

If you want to reach the infinite, then explore every aspect of the finite.