William Harvey

The circulation of the blood is a truth which will be received with applause by all who are capable of judging.

I have not been afraid to deviate from the beaten path, when I have seen a more direct way to truth.

The heart is the primum movens, the first mover, of the blood.

I have not been desirous of making a great name, but of doing a great work.

The circulation of the blood is a truth which will endure as long as the world endures.

I have not been afraid to encounter opposition, being confident that truth will ultimately prevail.

The heart is the engine of life, and the blood is its fuel.

I have not been ashamed to learn from the meanest of creatures, for nature is everywhere admirable.

I have often wondered, and indeed not without reason, why the heart, which is the first part to live, should be the last to die.

And so, in truth, the heart is the beginning of life; the sun of the microcosm, even as the sun of the world; with all the perfection of power, and all the beauty of form.

I found the task so arduous, and the matter so obscure, that I almost despaired of ever comprehending it.

For it is a thing of no small moment, that the motion of the blood should be understood.

I do not profess to teach, but to demonstrate.

It is not enough to see, but to observe; and not enough to observe, but to understand.

The circulation of the blood is a motion, as it were, in a circle.

Nature is nowhere accustomed to more open dealing than in the first concoction of the food.

I have often wondered why the heart, which is the first part to live, should be the last to die.

I have not been ashamed to learn from the meanest of creatures, and to confess my ignorance.

It is a thing of no small moment, that the motion of the blood should be understood.

I do not profess to teach, but to demonstrate; not to write, but to show.