Alexander von Humboldt

The world is a grand experiment, and we are all its eager, if sometimes clumsy, participants.

If you wish to understand the world, do not merely read about it; go out and touch it.

The greatest luxury is the freedom to explore.

One cannot truly appreciate the light without having experienced the shadow.

My laboratory is the world, and my instruments are my senses.

The pursuit of knowledge is a journey without end, and that is its greatest charm.

To be truly alive is to be perpetually astonished.

The more I travel, the more I realize that humanity is a single, interconnected tapestry.

A true scientist is never satisfied with the answer, only with the next question.

Nature is a unity in diversity of forms; a union of the organic and the inorganic; the raw and the refined; the living and the dead.

The grandest and most important results of scientific research are those which reveal the unity of nature.

Everywhere, the human mind is drawn to the contemplation of the universe, and seeks to discover the laws which govern its phenomena.

The highest object of physical science is to discover the laws of nature, and to trace them back to their ultimate causes.

The contemplation of nature is a source of inexhaustible delight, and a constant stimulus to the human mind.

The true wealth of a nation consists not in the abundance of its gold and silver, but in the intelligence and virtue of its citizens.

The most important discoveries are those which reveal the connection between apparently disparate phenomena.

The human mind is a mirror, reflecting the universe in its own image.

Nature is a temple, in which living pillars sometimes breathe confused words.

The greatest pleasure in life is to discover something new.

The universe is a vast and mysterious book, which we are constantly striving to read.