Not a few other very eminent and scholarly men made the same request, urging that I should no longer through fear refuse to give out my work for the common benefit of students of Mathematics. – Nicolaus Copernicus
For it is the duty of an astronomer to compose the history of the celestial motions through careful and expert study. – Nicolaus Copernicus
I am aware that a philosophers ideas are not subject to the judgment of ordinary persons, because it is his endeavour to seek the truth in all things, to the extent permitted to human reason by God. – Nicolaus Copernicus
Therefore, when I considered this carefully, the contempt which I had to fear because of the novelty and apparent absurdity of my view, nearly induced me to abandon utterly the work I had begun. – Nicolaus Copernicus