Quotes from Alexander von Humboldt

Our imagination is struck only by what is great; but the lover of natural philosophy should reflect equally on little things.

At no other time has Nature concentrated such a wealth of valuable nourishment into such a small space as in the cocoa bean.

There are three stages of scientific discovery: first people deny it is true; then they deny it is important; finally they credit the wrong person.

Die gefährlichste Weltanschauung ist die Weltanschauung derer, die die Welt nie angeschaut haben. (The most dangerous worldview is the worldview of those who have not viewed the world)

The most dangerous worldviews are the worldviews of those who have never viewed the world.

The most dangerous worldview is the worldview of those have not viewed the world.

While we maintain the unity of the human species, we at the same time repel the depressing assumption of superior and inferior races of men. There are nations more susceptible of cultivation, more highly civilized, more ennobled by mental cultivation than others—but none in themselves nobler than others.

What speaks to the soul, escapes our measurements.

This view of a living nature where man is nothing is both odd and sad. Here, in a fertile land, in an eternal greenness, you search in vain for traces of man; you feel you are carried into a different world from the one you were born into.

I saw with regret, (and all scientific men have shared this feeling) that whilst the number of accurate instruments was daily increasing, we were still ignorant

With most animals, as with man, the alertness of the senses diminishes after years of work, after domestic habits and progress of culture.

In considering the study of physical phenomena, not merely in its bearings on the material wants of life, but in its general influence on the intellectual advancement of mankind, we find its noblest and most important result to be a knowledge of the chain of connection, by which all natural forces are linked together, and made mutually dependent upon each other; and it is the perception of these relations that exalts our views and ennobles our enjoyments.

Our imagination is struck only by what is great; but the lover of natural philosophy should reflect equally on little things.

Kühner, als das Unbekannte zu erforschen, kann es sein, das Bekannte zu bezweifeln.

The expression of vanity and self-love becomes less offensive, when it retains something of simplicity and frankness.

What we glean from travellers' vivid descriptions has a special charm; whatever is far off and suggestive excites our imagination; such pleasures tempt us far more than anything we may daily experience in the narrow circle of sedentary life.

Die gefährlichste aller Weltanschauungen ist die Weltanschauung der Leute, welche die Welt nicht angeschaut haben.

It is far more difficult to observe correctly than most men imagine; to behold is not necessarily to observe, and the power of comparing and combining is only to be obtained by education. It is much to be regretted that habits of exact observation are not cultivated in our schools; to this deficiency may be traced much of the fallacious reasoning, the false philosophy which prevails.

The government is best which makes itself unnecessary.

Alle Widerstände lassen sich durch Energie besiegen.

It is easier to find courage for the daring act of a moment, and it requires less inner strength, than does the long patience of enduring physical suffering, deeply driven by a spiritual interest to move forward, disregarding the certainty of encountering again, but with weakened faculties, the same deprivations on the return trip.

Nature has the appearance of greatness to man in proportion as she is veiled in mystery; and the ignorant are prone to put faith in everything that borders on the marvellous.

At no other time has Nature concentrated such a wealth of valuable nourishment into such a small space as in the cocoa bean.

The expression of vanity and self-love becomes less offensive, when it retains something of simplicity and frankness.