Friedrich Wilhelm Heinrich Alexander Freiherr von Humbolt. 1769 – 1859. German polymath, physicist, meteorologist, geographer, botanist, zoologist and traveler. Fellow of the Berlin, Prussian and Bavarian Academies of Sciences. Honorary fellow of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences.
Quotes:
1. The man must wish what is good and great.
2. Every truth goes through three stages in the human mind: at first, what a nonsense!; then, there is something in that; finally, is there anyone who doesn’t know it?
3. In my opinion, given the present state of our empirical knowledge it is impossible to embrace the diversity of the phenomena of Cosmos with a single thought, in the form of a purely rational, thinking connection.
4. Knowledge and study are the joy and the right of humankind; they are essentially a part of shared wealth and often the replacement of goods too sparingly distributed by nature.
5. Experimental sciences are never complete, the abundance of sensual observations is inexhaustible; no generation will be able to credit itself for seeing the whole r of phenomena.
6. The man cannot influence nature, cannot take possession of any of its forces, if he does not know the laws of nature, does not know how to measure and calculate them.
7. Cruelty towards animals cannot exist where humans are truly educated or where true science reigns.
8. Our happiness depends more on how we meet the events of our lives than on the nature of the events themselves.
9. Dreams provide consolation in times of grief and distress.
10. Everyone must have the courage to defend their beliefs.
