In order to shake a hypothesis, it is sometimes not necessary to do anything more than push it as far as it will go. – Denis Diderot
Doctors are always working to preserve our health and cooks to destroy it, but the latter are the more often successful. – Denis Diderot
Genius is present in every age, but the men carrying it within them remain benumbed unless extraordinary events occur to heat up and melt the mass so that it flows forth. – Denis Diderot
It is very important not to mistake hemlock for parsley, but to believe or not believe in God is not important at all. – Denis Diderot
The world can doubtless never be well known by theory: practice is absolutely necessary; but surely it is of great use to a young man, before he sets out for that country, full of mazes, windings, and turnings, to have at least a general map of it, made by some experienced traveler. – Lord Chesterfield