The human mind cannot create anything. It produces nothing until having been fertilized by experience and meditation; its acquisitions are the germs of its production. Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon More Quotes by Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon More Quotes From Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon Hold on; hold fast; hold out. Patience is genius. Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon perseverance genius patience He [man] abuses equally other animals and his own species, the rest of whom live in famine, languish in misery, and work only to satisfy the immoderate appetite and the still more insatiable vanity of this human being who, destroying others by want, destroys himself by excess. Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon vanity animal men Only those works which are well-written will pass to posterity: the amount of knowledge, the uniqueness of the facts, even the novelty of the discoveries are no guarantees of immortality ... These things are exterior to a man but style is the man himself. Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon science book knowledge Writing well is at one and the same time good thinking, good feeling, and good expression; it is having wit, soul, and taste, all together. Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon expression writing thinking There is nothing good in love but the physical part. Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon love Style is the essence of man Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon style essence men Genius is only a greater aptitude for patience. Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon design patience inspirational Only well-written works will descend to posterity. Fulness of knowledge, interesting facts, even useful inventions, are no pledge of immortality, for they may be employed by more skilful hands; they are outside the man; the style is the man himself. Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon men hands interesting In Ireland, there are the same fossils, the same shells and the same sea bodies, as appear in America, and some of them are found in no other part of Europe. Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon sea europe america The discoveries that one can make with the microscope amount to very little, for one sees with the mind's eye and without the microscope the real existence of all these little beings. Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon eye real discovery Genius is simply patience carried to the extreme. Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon extremes genius business The cat is the only animal which accepts the comforts but rejects the bondage of domesticity. Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon cat humanity animal Those who write as they speak, even though they speak well, write badly. Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon wells speak writing Nature is the system of laws established by the Creator for the existence of things and for the succession of creatures. Nature is not a thing, because this thing would be everything. Nature is not a creature, because this creature would be God. But one can consider it as an immense vital power, which encompasses all, which animates all, and which, subordinated to the power of the first Being, has begun to act only by his order, and still acts only by his concourse or consent ... Time, space and matter are its means, the universe its object, motion and life its goal. Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon nature god mean For the little that one has reflected on the origin of our knowledge, it is easy to perceive that we can acquire it only by means of comparison. That which is absolutely incomparable is wholly incomprehensible. God is the only example that we could give here. He cannot be comprehended, because he cannot be compared. But all which is susceptible of comparison, everything that we can perceive by different aspects, all that we can consider relatively, can always be judged according to our knowledge. Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon god mean knowledge Let us suppose, that the Old and New worlds were formerly but one continent, and that, by a violent earthquake, the ancient Atalantis [sic] of Plato was sunk ... The sea would necessarily rush in from all quarters, and form what is now called the Atlantic ocean. Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon ocean plato sea Time is the great workman of Nature. Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon nature time science The greatest marvel is not in the individual. It is in the succession, in the renewal and in the duration of the species that Nature would seem quite inconceivable. This power of producing its likeness that resides in animals and plants, this form of unity, always subsisting and appearing eternal, this procreative virtue which is perpetually expressed without ever being destroyed, is for us a mystery which, it seems, we will never be able to fathom. Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon nature animal science One can descend by imperceptible degree from the most perfect creature to the most shapeless matter, from the best-organised animal to the roughest mineral. Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon nature animal science Rassemblons des faits pour nous donner des idées. Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon order facts thinking
