Claude Bernard Quotes

A great discovery is a fact whose appearance in science gives rise to shining ideas, whose light dispels many obscurities and shows us new paths.

Well-observed facts, though brought to light by passing theories, will never die; they are the material on which alone the house of science will at last be built.

A discovery is generally an unforeseen relation not included in theory.

Particular facts are never scientific; only generalization can establish science.

Men who believe too firmly in their theories, do not believe enough in the theories of others. So these despisers of their fellows make experiments only to destroy a theory, instead of to seek the truth.

The mental never influences the physical. It is always the physical that modifies the mental, and when we think that the mind is diseased, it is always an illusion.

The true worth of an experimenter consists in his pursuing not only what he seeks in his experiment, but also what he did not seek.

The terrain is everything; the germ is nothing.

When we meet a fact which contradicts a prevailing theory, we must accept the fact and abandon the theory, even when the theory is supported by great names and generally accepted.

Science increases our power in proportion as it lowers our pride.