“She was as good as she was beautiful and as intelligent as she was good.”

“One of the commonest weaknesses of human intelligence is the wish to reconcile opposing principles and to purchase harmony at the expense of logic.”

“Shall I think that the Creator has made man so as to leave him to debate endlessly in the intellectual miseries that surround us? I cannot believe this: God prepares a firmer and calmer future for European societies; I am ignorant of his designs, but I will not cease to believe in them [merely] because I cannot penetrate them, and I would rather doubt my enlightenment than his justice.”

"Genius can write on the back of old envelopes but mere talent requires the finest stationery available."

"He is no wise man who will quit a certainty for an uncertainty."

"A pun is not bound by the laws which limit nicer wit. It is a pistol let off at the ear; not a feather to tickle the intellect."

"Knowledge is of two kinds: We know a subject ourselves, or we know where we can find information about it."

"[Alexander von Humboldt was the] greatest scientific traveller who ever lived."

"I have always maintained that, excepting fools, men did not differ much in intellect, only in zeal and hard work; and I still think there is an eminently important difference."

"He who understands baboons would do more towards metaphysics than Locke."

"No greater felicity can genius attain than that of having purified intellectual pleasure, separated mirth from indecency, and wit from licentiousness"

"There is nothing that exasperates people more than a display of superior ability or brilliance in conversation. They seem pleased at the time, but their envy makes them curse the conversationalist in their heart."

"Curiosity is one of the most permanent and certain characteristics of a vigorous intellect."

"The question of whether there exists a Creator and Ruler of the Universe has been answered in the affirmative by some of the highest intellects that have ever existed."

"...I feel most deeply that the whole subject is too profound for the human intellect. A dog might as well speculate on the mind of Newton.— Let each man hope & believe what he can.—"

"What we ever hope to do with ease, we must first learn to do with diligence."

"It is not the strongest of the species that survives, not the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change."

"The mystery of the beginning of all things is insoluble by us; and I for one must be content to remain an agnostic."

"Some lose all mind and become soul,insane. some lose all soul and become mind, intellectual. some lose both and become accepted"

"An intellectual says a simple thing in a hard way. An artist says a hard thing in a simple way."

"The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence."

"I don't know if I have a favorite color."

"People expect a lot more from someone they think looks interesting. It's a burden."

"A woman has to be intelligent, have charm, a sense of humor, and be kind. It's the same qualities I require from a man."