Humphry Davy

The human mind delights in grand conceptions of sublime things.

The phenomena of combustion, of respiration, and of the composition of water, are now so well understood, that they may be considered as the foundation of chemical philosophy.

The more we know, the more we feel our ignorance; the more we feel how much remains unknown.

The sun is the source of all motion and life; and the planets are the instruments of his power.

The art of chemistry is the art of separating, combining, and transforming substances.

The love of knowledge is the characteristic of the philosopher; and the love of glory, that of the hero.

The history of science is the history of the human mind.

The air is the common reservoir upon which all animals draw for the support of life.

The most sublime speculations may be brought within the grasp of the simplest minds, if they are presented in a familiar and tangible form.

I have been a very lucky man. I have had a great deal of happiness in my life, and I have had a great deal of misery; but I have never been unhappy.

The true philosopher is he who is willing to receive every new light, and to reject every old error.

The progress of science is the work of many minds, and the discoveries of one age are the inheritance of all.

The study of nature is the most proper occupation of the human mind.

The powers of the mind, like the powers of the body, are increased by exercise.

The only use of an old fact is to help us to discover a new one.

The language of nature is a mathematical language.

The great object of chemical philosophy is to determine the laws which govern the combination of the elements.

The world is a great laboratory, in which nature is perpetually carrying on experiments.

The man of science is a bad philosopher if he is nothing else.

The imagination is the most powerful instrument of the physical discoverer.