The besetting evil of our age is the temptation to squander and dilute thought on a thousand different lines of inquiry.

Occurrences which according to received theories ought not to happen, are the facts which serve as clues to new discoveries

The besetting evil of our age is the temptation to squander and dilute thought on a thousand different lines of inquiry.

Speculations apparently the most unprofitable have almost invariably been those from which the greatest practical applications have emanated.

Almost all the greatest discoveries in astronomy have resulted from what we have elsewhere termed Residual Phenomena, of a qualitative or numerical kind, of such portions of the numerical or quantitative results of observation as remain outstanding and unaccounted for, after subducting and allowing for all that would result from the strict application of known principles.

There is a gentle, but perfectly irresistible coercion in a habit of reading well directed, over the whole tenor of a man's character and conduct, which is not the less effectual because it works insensibly, and because it is really the last thing he dreams of.

Were I to pray for a taste which should stand me in good stead under every variety of circumstances and be a source of happiness and a cheerfulness to me during life and a shield against its ills, however things might go amiss and the world frown upon me, it would be a taste for reading.