"The chemist, like the artist, must have a vivid imagination, but it must be controlled by reason."

"Languages are true analytical methods; algebra, which is adapted to its purpose in every species of expression, in the most simple, most exact, and best manner possible, is at the same time a language…"

"It is not the number of experiments, but their accuracy, that matters."

"The success of charlatans, sorcerors, and alchemists—and all those who abuse public credulity—is founded on errors in this type of calculation."

"I consider nature a vast chemical laboratory, in which all sorts of combinations and decompositions are continually taking place."