Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon
A prominent naturalist who authored the monumental 'Histoire Naturelle', a 36-volume encyclopedia that influenced generations of naturalists.
Most quoted
"The first truth that results from this examination is that the Earth is a planet, a star, which has its own movement, which turns around the Sun, and which, consequently, is subject to the same laws as all the other planets."
— from Histoire Naturelle, générale et particulière, 1749
"Man is the only animal that can laugh and weep; for he is the only animal that is struck with the difference between what things are, and what they ought to be."
— from Attributed
"Man is the only animal that laughs and weeps; for he is the only animal that is struck with the difference between what things are and what they ought to be."
— from Histoire Naturelle, générale et particulière, 1749
All quotes by Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon (406)
The Negro is a man, but a man of a different species.
The differences between races are due to climate, food, and way of life.
The Earth is not 6,000 years old, but much, much older.
The Earth was formed by the collision of a comet with the Sun.
Life originated spontaneously from inorganic matter.
The elephant is the most intelligent of all animals, after man.
The orangutan is a degenerate man.
The lion is the king of animals, but he is a tyrant.
The wolf is a cruel and cowardly animal.
The dog is the most faithful and devoted of all animals.
The cat is a perfidious and ungrateful animal.
The horse is the noblest conquest that man has ever made.
The Earth is a living being, which breathes and has its own life.
The mountains are the wrinkles of the Earth.
The sea is the cradle of life.
The air is a fluid, elastic, and transparent body, which surrounds the Earth.
Fire is a subtle and active fluid, which penetrates all bodies.
Water is a simple, fluid, and transparent body, which is essential to life.
The Earth is a vast laboratory, where nature performs its experiments.
The history of nature is the history of the world.
Contemporaries of Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon
Other Biologys born within 50 years of Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon (1707–1788).