The significant problems we have cannot be solved at the same level of thinking with which we created them.
Of every four words I write, I strike out three.
Whatever we conceive well we express clearly, and words flow with ease. [Fr. , Ce que l'on concoit bien s'enonce clairement, Et les mots pour le dire arrivent aisement. ]
Of all the animals which fly in the air, walk on the land, or swim in the sea, from Paris to Peru, from Japan to Rome, the most foolish animal in my opinion is man.
A fool always finds one still more foolish to admire him. [Fr. , Un sot trouve toujours un plus sot qui l'admire. ]
Hasten slowly, and without losing heart, put your work twenty times upon the anvil. [Fr. , Hatez-vous lentement; et, sans perdre courage, Vingt fois sur le metier remettez votre ouvrage. ]
In spite of every sage whom Greece can show, Unerring wisdom never dwelt below; Folly in all of every age we see, The only difference lies in the degree.
The biggest teenage taboo is being strait-laced. It's easy to tell a researcher you went to a house party that turned into an orgy. It's less easy to say you like eating toast and watching QI.
Oh happy he who still can hope in our day to breathe the truth while plunged in seas of error! What we don't know is really what we need, and what we know is of no use to us whatever!
He knows that he must act, but he must allow room for the Universe to act too.
Or perhaps it is just that desire lies at the heart of human existence. When we turn away from one desire, we must find another to cleave to with all our strength --or else we die.