A man cannot well stand by himself, and so he is glad to join a party; because if he does not find rest there, he at any rate finds quiet and safety.

It is difficult to know how to treat the errors of the age.  If a man oppose them, he stands alone; if he surrender to them, they bring him neither joy nor credit.

There are some hundred Christian sects, every one of them acknowledging God and the Lord in its own way, without troubling themselves further about one another.  In the study of nature, nay, in every study, things must of necessity come to the same pass.  For what is the meaning of every one speaking of toleration, and trying to prevent others from thinking and expressing themselves after their own fashion?

We more readily confess to errors, mistakes and short-comings in our conduct than in our thought.  And the reason of it is that the conscience is humble and even takes a pleasure in being ashamed.  But the intellect is proud, and if forced to recant is driven to despair. * * *

This also explains how it is that truths which have been recognized are at first tacitly admitted, and then gradually spread, so that the very thing which was obstinately denied appears at last as something quite natural.

Ignorant people raise questions which were answered by the wise thousands of years ago.

Our advice is that every man should remain in the path he has struck out for himself, and refuse to be overawed by authority, hampered by prevalent opinion, or carried away by fashion.

Every investigator must, before all things, look upon himself as one who is summoned to serve on a jury.  He has only to consider how far the statement of the case is complete and clearly set forth by the evidence.  Then he draws his conclusion and gives his vote, whether it be that his opinion coincides with that of the foreman or not.

The history of philosophy, of science, of religion, all shows that opinions spread in masses, but that that always comes to the front which is more easily grasped, that is to say, is most suited and agreeable to the human mind in its ordinary condition.  Nay, he who has practised self-culture in the higher sense may always reckon upon meeting an adverse majority.

What is a musical string, and all its mechanical division, in comparison with the musician’s ear?  May we not also say, what are the elementary phenomena of nature itself compared with man, who must control and modify them all before he can in any way assimilate them to himself?

Everything that we call Invention or Discovery in the higher sense of the word is the serious exercise and activity of an original feeling for truth, which, after a long course of silent cultivation, suddenly flashes out into fruitful knowledge.  It is a revelation working from within on the outer world, and lets a man feel that he is made in the image of God.  It is a synthesis of World and Mind, giving the most blessed assurance of the eternal harmony of things.