Michael Faraday
Discovered electromagnetic induction and electrolysis laws
Most quoted
"The world little knows how many of the thoughts and theories which have passed through the mind of a scientific investigator have been crushed in silence and secrecy by his own severe criticism and negative examination; that in the most seemingly arrogant, the most regular and self-sustained investigator, the most patient and laborious inquirer, there is often a feeling of powerlessness and despair."
— from On the Various Forces of Nature, 1849
"I am no longer my own, but thine. Put me to what thou wilt, rank me with whom thou wilt. Put me to doing, put me to suffering. Let me be employed for thee or laid aside for thee, exalted for thee or brought low for thee. Let me be full, let me be empty. Let me have all things, let me have nothing. I freely and heartily yield all things to thy pleasure and disposal."
— from Personal prayer/meditation
"I will simply express my strong belief, that that point of self-education which consists in teaching the mind to resist its desires and inclinations, until they are proved to be right, is the most important of all, not only in things of natural philosophy, but in every department of daily life."
— from Lecture on Mental Education, 1854
All quotes by Michael Faraday (646)
The laws of nature are as immutable as the laws of God.
Experiment is the interpreter of nature.
I purpose to write a paper on the action of gravity on light.
The simplicity and beauty of nature constitute its highest lesson.
Occasions are rare when we are called upon to speak of the dead.
The love of nature is the beginning of wisdom.
In science, the credit goes to the man who convinces the world, not to the man to whom the idea first occurs.
The duty we owe to our profession is to keep it pure.
Light very commonly and perhaps universally excites a magnetic action in the matter which surrounds it.
I have no satisfaction in believing that which is contrary to fact.
The forces of nature are never more beautiful than when they are shown in action.
My dear children, I have been a wanderer for many years.
The advancement of science is the noblest occupation of the human mind.
Electricity and magnetism are one and the same force.
I was at first almost in despair of being able to give any explanation.
The book of nature is always open.
Humility is the true key to scientific progress.
The phenomena of nature are to be studied in their natural order.
I am sure there is a right way of reading mathematics.
Nature is a mutable cloud which is always and never the same.
Contemporaries of Michael Faraday
Other Physicss born within 50 years of Michael Faraday (1791–1867).