Explore Quotes by Jean Rostand

We give others praise which we ourselves don't believe, as long as they respond with praise we can believe.

The books one has written in the past have two surprises in store: one couldn't write them again, and wouldn't want to.

There are certain moments when we might wish the future were built by men of the past.

God, that checkroom of our dreams.

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

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

To say of men that they are bad is to say they are worse than we think we are, or worse than the ideal man whose image we have built up on the basis of a certain few.

Being right is less important to us than the freedom to be wrong.

We are not naïve enough to ask for pure men; we ask merely for men whose impurity does not conflict with the obligations of their job.

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

There are moments when very little truth would be enough to shape opinion. One might be hated at extremely low cost.

There are big and little truths, but all belong to the same race.

Nothing leads the scientist so astray as a premature truth.

It is sometimes well for a blatant error to draw attention to overmodest truths.

Le biologiste passe, la grenouille reste._x000D__x000D_The biologist passes, the frog remains.

What scientist would not long to go on living, if only to see how the little truths he has brought to light will grow up?

Science had better not free the minds of men too much, before it has tamed their instincts.

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.

I prefer the honest jargon of reality to the outright lies of books.

Kill one man, and you are a murderer. Kill millions of men, and you are a conqueror. Kill them all, and you are a god.