Mathematicians are like lovers. Grant a mathematician the least principle, and he will draw from it a consequence which you must also grant him, and from this consequence another.
BERNARD LE BOVIER DE FONTENELLEWomen react differently: a French woman who sees herself betrayed by her husband will kill his mistress; an Italian will kill her husband; a Spaniard will kill both; and a German will kill herself.
More Bernard le Bovier de Fontenelle Quotes
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I hate war, for it spoils conversation.
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It takes time to ruin a world, but time is all it takes.
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I have lived one hundred years; and I die with the consolation of never having thrown the slightest ridicule upon the smallest virtue.
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A philosopher will not believe what he sees because he is too busy speculating about what he does not see.
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In vain we shall penetrate more and more deeply the secrets of the structure of the human body, we shall not dupe nature; we shall die as usual.
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A true philosopher is like an elephant; he never puts the second foot down until the first one is solidly in place.
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There are three things I have loved but never understood. Art, music and women.
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The judgment may be compared to a clock or watch, where the most ordinary machine is sufficient to tell the hours; but the most elaborate alone can point out the minutes and seconds, and distinguish the smallest differences of time.
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An educated mind is, as it were, composed of all the minds of preceding ages.
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Neatness is a crowning grace of womanhood.
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If I had my hand full of truth, I would take good care how I opened it.
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A man finds no sweeter voice in all the world than that which chants his praise.
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Since the princes take the Earth for their own, it’s fair that the philosophers reserve the sky for themselves and rule there, but they should never permit the entry of others.
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It is beauty that begins to please, and tenderness that completes the cbarm.
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Behold a universe so immense that I am lost in it. I no longer know where I am. I am just nothing at all. Our world is terrifying in its insignificance.
BERNARD LE BOVIER DE FONTENELLE