Alfred Nobel

A recluse without books and ink is already in life a dead man.

Justice is to be found only in the imagination.

Second to agriculture, humbug is the biggest industry of our age.

The savants will write excellent volumes. There will be laureates. But wars will continue just the same until the forces of the circumstances render them impossible.

I regard large inherited wealth as a misfortune, which merely serves to dull men's faculties. A man who possesses great wealth should, therefore, allow only a small portion to descend to his relatives. Even if he has children, I consider it a mistake to hand over to them considerable sums of money beyond what is necessary for their education. To do so merely encourages laziness and impedes the healthy development of the individual's capacity to make an independent position for himself.

A heart can no more be forced to love than a stomach can be forced to digest food by persuasion.

I intend to leave after my death a large fund for the promotion of the peace idea, but I am skeptical as to its results.

One can state, without exaggeration, that the observation of and the search for similarities and differences are the basis of all human knowledge.

It is not sufficient to be worthy of respect in order to be respected.

If I have a thousand ideas and only one turns out to be good, I am satisfied.