My pessimism extends to the point of even suspecting the sincerity of other pessimists.
JEAN ROSTAND, Journal of a Character
Far too often the choices reality proposes are such as to take away one's taste for choosing.
JEAN ROSTAND, The Substance of Man
One must either take an interest in the human situation or else parade before the void.
JEAN ROSTAND, The Substance of Man
Kill one man, and you are a murderer. Kill millions of men, and you are a conqueror. Kill them all, and you are a god.
JEAN ROSTAND, Thoughts of a Biologist
Science had better not free the minds of men too much, before it has tamed their instincts.
JEAN ROSTAND, The Substance of Men
Falsity cannot keep an idea from being beautiful; there are certain errors of such ingenuity that one could regret their not ranking among the achievements of the human mind.
JEAN ROSTAND, "A Biologist's Thoughts," The Substance of Man
I should have no use for a paradise in which I should be deprived of the right to prefer hell.
JEAN ROSTAND, "A Biologist's Thoughts," The Substance of Man
The obligation to endure gives us the right to know.
JEAN ROSTAND, attributed, The Essential Prose (Ghent & Maas, 1965)
Greatness, in order to gain recognition, must all too often consent to ape greatness.
JEAN ROSTAND, The Substance of Man
Science has made us gods even before we are worthy of being men.
JEAN ROSTAND, Thoughts of a Biologist
Quotations--always inexact. I don't trust people who cannot even copy out.
JEAN ROSTAND, The Substance of Man
To divine is perhaps that quality in man which permits him to endure the lack of God.
JEAN ROSTAND, The Substance of Man
In order to remain true to oneself one ought to renounce one's party three times a day.
JEAN ROSTAND, "A Biologist's Thoughts," The Substance of Man
Certain brief sentences are peerless in their ability to give one the feeling that nothing remains to be said.
JEAN ROSTAND, The Substance of Man
There are some persons we could not cut down to size without diminishing ourselves as well.
JEAN ROSTAND, The Substance of Man
God, that checkroom of our dreams.
JEAN ROSTAND, The Substance of Man
It is sometimes important for science to know how to forget the things she is sure of.
JEAN ROSTAND, "A Biologist's Thoughts," The Substance of Man
One must credit an hypothesis with all that has had to be discovered in order to demolish it.
JEAN ROSTAND, "A Biologist's Thoughts," The Substance of Man
We are not naive enough to ask for pure men; we ask merely for men whose impurity does not conflict with the obligations of their job.
JEAN ROSTAND, The Substance of Man
Think? Why think! We have computers to do that for us.
JEAN ROSTAND, attributed, Philosophy: An Introduction to the Art of Wondering (Christian, 2008)
In politics, yesterday's lie is attacked only to flatter today's.
JEAN ROSTAND, The Substance of Man
To say of men that they are bad is to say they are worse than we think we are, or worse than the ideal man whose image we have built up on the basis of a certain few.
JEAN ROSTAND, The Substance of Man
Take heed of critics even when they are not fair; resist them even when they are.
JEAN ROSTAND, "A Biologist's Thoughts," The Substance of Man
I don't judge a regime by the damning criticism of the opposition, but by the ingenuous praise of the partisan.
JEAN ROSTAND, "A Biologist's Thoughts," The Substance of Man
Renown? I've already got more of it than those I respect, and will never have as much as those for whom I feel contempt.
JEAN ROSTAND, The Substance of Man
To be an adult is to be alone.
JEAN ROSTAND, Thoughts of a Biologist
The ideal, without doubt, varies, but its enemies, alas, are always the same.
JEAN ROSTAND, The Substance of Man
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