Jean Rostand

If a given scientist had not made a given discovery, someone else would have done so a little later. Johann Mendel dies unknown after having discovered the laws of heredity: thirty-five years later, three men rediscover them. But the book that is not written will never be written. The premature death of a great scientist delays humanity; that of a great writer deprives it.

Certain brief sentences are peerless in their ability to give one the feeling that nothing remains to be said.

My pessimism extends to the point of even suspecting the sincerity of other pessimists.

We spend our time envying people whom we wouldn't wish to be.

Stupidity, outrage, vanity, cruelty, iniquity, bad faith, falsehood - we fail to see the whole array when it is facing in the same direction as we.

When a scientist is ahead of his times, it is often through misunderstanding of current, rather than intuition of future truth. In science there is never any error so gross that it won't one day, from some perspective, appear prophetic.

A few great minds are enough to endow humanity with monstrous power, but a few great hearts are not enough to make us worthy of using it.

Whether man is disposed to yield to nature or to oppose her, he cannot do without a correct understanding of her language

In order to remain true to oneself one ought to renounce one's party three times a day.

Take heed of critics even when they are not fair; resist them even when they are.

It is sometimes important for science to know how to forget the things she is surest of.

On tue un homme, on est un assassin. On tue des millions d'hommes, on est un conquérant. On les tue tous, on est un dieu._x000D_ _x000D_ Kill a man, and you are an assassin. Kill millions of men and you are a conqueror. Kill everyone, and you are a god.

A man is not old as long as he is seeking something.