It is a great misfortune to be alone, my friends; and it must be believed that solitude can quickly destroy reason.

....oysters are the only food that never causes indigestion. Indeed, a man would have to eat sixteen dozen of these acephalous molluscs in order to gain the 315 grammes of nitrogen he requires daily.

Science, my lad, has been built upon many errors; but they are errors which it was good to fall into, for they led to the truth.

Why lower oneself to taking pride from being American or British, when you can boast of being man!

It's really useful to travel, if you want to see new things.

I wanted to see what no one had yet observed, even if I had to pay for this curiosity with my life.

The colonists had no library at their disposal; but the engineer was a book which was always at hand, always open at the page which one wanted, a book which answered all their questions, and which they often consulted.