The besetting evil of our age is the temptation to squander and dilute thought on a thousand different lines of inquiry. — John Herschel Copy Share Image
Speculations apparently the most unprofitable have almost invariably been those from which the greatest practical applications have emanated. — John Herschel Copy Share Image
[When nature appears complicated:] The moment we contemplate it as it is, and attain a position from which we can take a commanding view,… — John Herschel Copy Share Image
Music and dancing (the more the pity) have become so closely associated with ideas of riot and debauchery among the less cultivated classes, that… — John Herschel Copy Share Image
Music and dancing (the more the pity) have become so closely associated with ideas of riot and debauchery among the less cultivated classes, that… — John Herschel Copy Share Image
The novel, in its best form, I regard as one of the most powerful engines of civilization ever invented. — John Herschel Copy Share Image
No doubt the testimony of natural reason, on whatever exercised, must, of necessity, stop short of those truths which it is the object of… — John Herschel Copy Share Image
The end of the eighteenth and the beginning of the nineteenth century were remarkable for the small amount of scientific movement going on in… — John Herschel Copy Share Image
Occurrences which according to received theories ought not to happen, are the facts which serve as clues to new discoveries — John Herschel Copy Share Image
Almost all the greatest discoveries in astronomy have resulted from what we have elsewhere termed Residual Phenomena, of a qualitative or numerical kind, of… — John Herschel Copy Share Image
Accustomed to trace the operation of general causes, and the exemplification of general laws, in circumstances where the uninformed and unenquiring eye perceives neither… — John Herschel Copy Share Image
Geology, in the magnitude and sublimity of the objects of which it treats, undoubtedly ranks, in the scale of the sciences, next to astronomy. — John Herschel Copy Share Image
Were I to pray for a taste which should stand me in good stead under every variety of circumstances and be a source of… — John Herschel Copy Share Image
![“[When nature appears complicated:] The moment we contemplate it as it is, and attain a position from which we can take a commanding view, though but of a small part of its plan, we never fail to recognize that sublime simplicity on which the mind rests satisfied that it has attained the truth.” quote by John Herschel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/c0b/john-herschel-18983_complicated_when-nature-appears-complicated-the-mome_203650.jpg)
![“Accustomed to trace the operation of general causes, and the exemplification of general laws, in circumstances where the uninformed and unenquiring eye perceives neither novelty nor beauty, [the scientist and natural philosopher] walks in the midst of wonders.” quote by John Herschel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/91d/john-herschel-18983_accustomed_accustomed-to-trace-the-operation-of-gen_1136585.jpg)
