Every student who enters upon a scientific pursuit, especially if at a somewhat advanced period of life, will find not only that he has much to learn, but much also to unlearn.

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

There is a pinciple in the heart of music which has yet to be discovered.

All human discoveries seem to be made only for the purpose of confirming more strongly the truths come from on high, and contained in the sacred writings.

The novel, in its best form, I regard as one of the most powerful engines of civilization ever invented.

Man is constituted as a speculative being; he contemplates the world, and the objects around him, not with a passive indifferent eye, but as a system disposed with order and design.

To the natural philosopher, there is no natural object unimportant or trifling. From the least of Nature's works he may learn the greatest lessons.