--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Speaking one day to Monsieur de Buffon…" description: "\"Speaking one day to Monsieur de Buffon, on the present ardor of chemical inquiry, he affected to consider chemistry but as cookery, and to place the to..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b1a/thomas-jefferson-43_bigs_speaking-one-day-to-monsieur-de-buffon-o_711804.jpg" --- # Speaking one day to Monsieur de Buffon, on the present… ![“Speaking one day to Monsieur de Buffon, on the present ardor of chemical inquiry, he affected to consider chemistry but as cookery, and to place the toils of the laboratory on the footing with those of the kitchen. I think it, on the contrary, among the most useful of sciences, and big with future…” quote by Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b1a/thomas-jefferson-43_bigs_speaking-one-day-to-monsieur-de-buffon-o_711804.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b1a/thomas-jefferson-43_bigs_speaking-one-day-to-monsieur-de-buffon-o_711804.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b1a/thomas-jefferson-43_bigs_speaking-one-day-to-monsieur-de-buffon-o_711804.jpg) > “Speaking one day to Monsieur de Buffon, on the present ardor of chemical inquiry, he affected to consider chemistry but as cookery, and to place the toils of the laboratory on the footing with those of the kitchen. I think it, on the contrary, among the most useful of sciences, and big with future discoveries for the utility and safety of the human race.” [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Jefferson argues chemistry is as practical as cooking, essential for future scientific and safety advances. **In simple terms:** Chemistry is useful and vital for humanity’s future. Key Takeaway Support scientific research for societal benefit. Themes science utility future safety Mood inspirational forward‑looking Type scientific philosophical When to use this quote - laboratory work - policy making - education curricula Key Concepts chemical innovation public health Questions to Reflect On - What scientific discoveries could improve safety? - How can we better integrate science into daily life? A Different Perspective Practical applications may be limited by funding. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Bigs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bigs/) [Buffon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/buffon/) [Chemical Inquiry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/chemical-inquiry-5612855/) [Chemicals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/chemicals/) [Chemistry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/chemistry/) [Chemistry Cookery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/chemistry-cookery-5612853/) [Consider Chemistry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/consider-chemistry-5612854/) [Cookery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cookery/) [Discovery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/discovery/) [Future Discoveries](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/future-discoveries-3911769/) [Human race](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-race/) [Humans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humans/) [Inquiry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inquiry/) [Kitchen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/kitchen/) [Laboratory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/laboratory/) [Monsieur Buffon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/monsieur-buffon-5612856/) [One day](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/one-day/) [Race](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/race/) [Research](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/research/) [Safety](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/safety/) [Science](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Toil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/toil/) [Utility](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/utility/) ## Related quotes > [We do not have to wait for future discoveries in connection with the powers of the human mind for evidence that the mind is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/napoleon-hill/we-do-not-have-to-wait-for-future-discoveries-in-connection-with-the/) [Napoleon Hill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/napoleon-hill/) > [“Many past mistakes paves the road to future discoveries.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-magee/many-past-mistakes-paves-the-road-to-future-discoveries/) [Steven Magee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-magee/) > [My father... never required me to study anything, but he knew how to inspire in me a great desire for knowledge. 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Is it Aristotle?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-jacques-rousseau/there-exists-one-book-which-to-my-taste-furnishes-the-happiest/) [Jean-Jacques Rousseau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-jacques-rousseau/) > [Buffon is a gentleman thinking only of the ball \[after Gianluigi Buffon's strong tackle on Andy Carroll during a friendly with Newcastle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claudio-ranieri/buffon-is-a-gentleman-thinking-only-of-the-ball-after-gianluigi/) [Claudio Ranieri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claudio-ranieri/) > [“The careful observations and the acute reasonings of the Italian geologists of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries; the speculations of Leibnitz in the 'Protogaea'…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-henry-huxley/the-careful-observations-and-the-acute-reasonings-of-the-italian/) [Thomas Henry Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-henry-huxley/) > [“{ On to contributions to evolutionary biology of 18th century French scientist, Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon } He was not an evolutionary biologist,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernst-mayr/on-to-contributions-to-evolutionary-biology-of-18th-century-french/) [Ernst Mayr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernst-mayr/) > ["Genius is just enduring patience," said Buffon. This is far from complete. Genius is impatience in ideas and patience with the facts: a lively…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-errera/genius-is-just-enduring-patience-said-buffon-this-is-far-from/) [Leo Errera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-errera/) > [Buffon said unreservedly, "Genius is simply patience carried to the extreme." To those who asked how he achieved fame he replied: "By spending forty…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/santiago-ramon-y-cajal/buffon-said-unreservedly-genius-is-simply-patience-carried-to-the/) [Santiago Ramon y Cajal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/santiago-ramon-y-cajal/) > [We may affirm of Mr. Buffon, that which has been said of the chemists of old; though he may have failed in attaining his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-goldsmith/we-may-affirm-of-mr-buffon-that-which-has-been-said-of-the-chemists/) [Oliver Goldsmith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-goldsmith/) > [Buffon, who, with all his theoretical ingenuity and extraordinary eloquence, I suspect had little actual information in the science on which he wrote so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-boswell/buffon-who-with-all-his-theoretical-ingenuity-and-extraordinary/) [James Boswell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-boswell/) > ["Le génie n'est qu'une longue patience", a dit Buffon. Cela est bien incomplet. Le génie, c'est l'impatience dans les idées et la patience dans…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-errera/le-g-nie-n-est-qu-une-longue-patience-a-dit-buffon-cela-est-bien/) [Leo Errera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-errera/) > [“I had artistic classical training, and when you learn the classics for so many years, you might gain audacity, power and confidence to subvert…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nuno-roque/i-had-artistic-classical-training-and-when-you-learn-the-classics-for/) [Nuno Roque](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nuno-roque/) ## More by Thomas Jefferson > [A man has a right to use a saw, an axe, a plane, separately; may he not combine their uses on the same piece…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/a-man-has-a-right-to-use-a-saw-an-axe-a-plane-separately-may-he-not/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between man and his God, that he owes account to none other for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/believing-with-you-that-religion-is-a-matter-which-lies-solely/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [ \[States and the Federal government are\] coordinate departments of one simple and integral whole... 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