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 truth is so obscure in these times, and falsehood so established, that, unless we love the truth, we cannot know it.
Nature proceeds by unknown gradations, and consequently cannot wholly lend herself to these divisions.
The horse is the noblest conquest man has ever made.
Man, in his present state, appears to be the masterpiece of creation.
Time is the greatest innovator.
The ape, which resembles man so much in the organization of its body, is still more like him in the organization of its mind.
Nothing exists without a cause; and the cause of all is the Supreme Being.
The cat is the only animal which accepts the comforts but rejects the bondage of domesticity.
The lion is not as brave as he is painted; the tiger is more terrible, the rhinoceros more formidable.
The elephant is the most respectable animal in the world.
The dog is the only being on earth that loves you more than he loves himself.
The wolf is the common enemy of all the animals he can master.
The study of nature is an endless task.
Chance favors only the prepared mind.
The most brilliant discoveries are often the simplest.
To write well is to think well, to feel well, and to render well one's thoughts and feelings.
The first step into knowledge is the recognition of our own ignorance.
The universe is but a vast assemblage of phenomena which we observe and of which we seek to discover the causes.
All the arts are brothers; each one is a light to the others.
The true method of knowledge is experiment.
Contemporaries of Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon
Other Biologys born within 50 years of Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon (1707–1788).