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)
There is no more open door by which you can enter into the study of natural philosophy, than by considering the phenomena of a candle.
The human mind is not a vessel to be filled, but a fire to be kindled.
I have always felt that the true spirit of science is to be found in the pursuit of truth, without any regard to personal advantage or popular applause.
The beauty of electricity is not that the electric fluid is a fluid, but that it is a force.
The more we study the works of nature, the more we are struck with the simplicity of the means by which the most wonderful effects are produced.
The only way to learn is to do.
I am not afraid of the word 'ether,' but I am afraid of the thing it represents.
The most important thing is to never stop questioning.
The physicist, in his search for truth, must be prepared to abandon his most cherished theories, if they are found to be inconsistent with the facts.
The true philosopher is a man who is always learning, and who is never satisfied with what he knows.
I have been accustomed to expect that whenever I have found a fact, it would be found to be consistent with all other facts.
The true use of science is not to make things easy, but to make them possible.
The universe is not a machine, but a living organism.
I have always been a lover of nature, and I have always found in her a source of inexhaustible delight.
The scientist should be a man of faith, but his faith should be in the truth, and not in any particular theory.
The greatest discovery of all is the discovery of the laws of nature.
I have always been more interested in the why than in the how.
The true value of a scientific discovery is not to be measured by its immediate practical application, but by its contribution to our understanding of the universe.
I am not a believer in the atomic theory, in the sense that I believe in the existence of indivisible particles.
The force of gravity is not a property of matter, but a property of space.
Contemporaries of Michael Faraday
Other Physicss born within 50 years of Michael Faraday (1791–1867).