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)
Genius is only a greater aptitude for patience.
The true method of natural history is to describe and compare.
The more we study nature, the more we admire its author.
The universe is a machine, of which God is the first mover.
Man is the only animal that laughs and weeps.
The most beautiful object in the world is a beautiful woman.
Happiness is a state of mind, not a condition of circumstances.
The human mind is a tabula rasa, a blank slate, upon which experience writes.
Nature is a book, and the language in which it is written is mathematics.
The true philosopher is he who can doubt everything.
The most dangerous of all errors is to believe that there is only one truth.
The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge.
The Earth is not a perfect sphere, but an oblate spheroid.
The internal heat of the Earth is the cause of volcanoes and earthquakes.
The fossil record provides evidence of past life forms that no longer exist.
The variations within a species are due to the influence of the environment.
The concept of 'fixed species' is an illusion; nature is in a constant state of flux.
The human races are not distinct species, but varieties of a single species.
The greatest discoveries have come from people who have looked at a standard situation and seen it differently.
In order to judge well, one must first be well informed.
Contemporaries of Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon
Other Biologys born within 50 years of Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon (1707–1788).