How gloriously legible are the constellations of the heavens!

Most new discoveries are suddenly-seen things that were always there.

The unknown is the largest need of the intellect.

New things are always ugly.

One sees great things from the valley; only small things from the peak.

There are truths that prove their discoverers witless.

Appearances are a glimpse of the obscure.

A man of genius makes no mistakes. His errors are volitional and are the portals of discovery.

The eternal mystery of the world is its comprehensibility.

True originality consists not in a new manner but in a new vision.

The discovery of a new dish does more for human happiness than the discovery of a star.

I am tormented with an everlasting itch for things remote. I love to sail forbidden seas and land on barbarous coasts.

One doesn’t discover new lands without consenting to lose sight of the shore for a very long time.