Whether man is disposed to yield to nature or to oppose her, he cannot do without a correct understanding of her language
Interpretation
Understanding nature's language is essential for coexistence and respect towards it.
This quote emphasizes the importance of comprehending the natural world's laws and principles, suggesting that whether one chooses to embrace or challenge nature, a deep understanding of its 'language' is crucial. Jean Rostand highlights that our relationship with nature is complex and requires learning and adaptation to ensure harmony and sustainability.
In practice
During a speech on environmental conservation, one might quote this to emphasize the importance of understanding natural ecosystems.
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.
Of all the grief's that harass the distressed; sure the most bitter is a scornful jest.
It isn't necessary to imagine the world ending in fire or ice. There are two other possibilities: one is paperwork, and the other is nostalgia. Eventually within the next quarter of a century, the nostalgia cycles will be so close together that people will not be able to take a step without being nostalgic for the one they just took. At that point, everything stops. Death by Nostalgia.
Man is firmly convinced that he is awake; in reality he is caught in a net of sleep and dreams which he has unconsciously woven himself.
This is the 21st-century paradox: Even as political democracy has become the intellectual default mode for much of the world, the private sector usually trumps the public one when it comes to accommodating consumer choice.
Who are the militia? They consist now of the whole people, except a few public officers. But I cannot say who will be the militia of the future day. If that paper on the table [the Constitution] gets no alteration, the militia of the future day may not consist of all classes, high and low, and rich and poor.
Nurturing and cherishing creation is a command God gives not only at the beginning of history, but to each of us. It is part of his plan; it means causing the world to grow responsibly, transforming it so that it may be a garden, a habitable place for everyone.
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