“After all, science is essentially international, and it is only through lack of the historical sense that national qualities have been attributed to it”

“You should trust any man in his own art provided he is skilled in it.”

“One never notices what has been done; one can only see what remains to be done”

“In science, we must be interested in things, not in persons”

“We gain nothing by being with such as ourselves. We encourage one another in mediocrity. I am always longing to be with men more excellent than myself”

“To be content with life, or to live merrily, rather, all that is required is that we bestow on all things only a fleeting, superficial glance; the more thoughtful we become the more earnest we grow”