François Arago Quotes

Dominique François Jean Arago , known simply as François Arago , was a French mathematician, physicist, astronomer, freemason, supporter of the carbonari and politician. Wikipedia  

✵ 26. February 1786 – 2. October 1853
François Arago photo
François Arago: 8   quotes 1   like

Famous François Arago Quotes

“I have discovered, in fact, that a man, whatever may have been his origin, his education, and his habits, is governed, under certain circumstances, much more by his stomach than by his intelligence and his heart.”

"The History of My Youth", p. 55.
Biographies of Distinguished Scientific Men (1859)
Context: I was often humiliated to see men disputing for a piece of bread, just as animals might have done. My feelings on this subject have very much altered since I have been personally exposed to the tortures of hunger. I have discovered, in fact, that a man, whatever may have been his origin, his education, and his habits, is governed, under certain circumstances, much more by his stomach than by his intelligence and his heart.

“I was often humiliated to see men disputing for a piece of bread, just as animals might have done.”

"The History of My Youth", p. 55.
Biographies of Distinguished Scientific Men (1859)
Context: I was often humiliated to see men disputing for a piece of bread, just as animals might have done. My feelings on this subject have very much altered since I have been personally exposed to the tortures of hunger. I have discovered, in fact, that a man, whatever may have been his origin, his education, and his habits, is governed, under certain circumstances, much more by his stomach than by his intelligence and his heart.

“The lapse of ages has not rendered us wiser in this respect. In our own time the public delight in blending fable with history.”

Joseph Fourier, p. 408.
Biographies of Distinguished Scientific Men (1859)
Context: The ancients had a taste, let us say rather a passion, for the marvellous, which caused them to forget even the sacred duties of gratitude. Observe them, for example, grouping together the lofty deeds of a great number of heroes, whose names they have not even deigned to preserve, and investing the single personage of Hercules with them. The lapse of ages has not rendered us wiser in this respect. In our own time the public delight in blending fable with history. In every career of life, in the pursuit of science especially, they enjoy a pleasure in creating Herculeses.

“In the experimental sciences, the epochs of the most brilliant progress are almost always separated by long intervals of almost absolute repose.”

Joseph Fourier, p. 411.
Biographies of Distinguished Scientific Men (1859)

“Such is the privilege of genius; it perceives, it seizes relations where vulgar eyes see only isolated facts.”

Tel est le privilége du génie : il aperçoit, il saisit des rapports, là où des yeux vulgaires lie voient que des faits isolés.
Joseph Fourier, p. 412.
Biographies of Distinguished Scientific Men (1859)

Similar authors

Pierre Curie photo
Pierre Curie 1
French physicist
François-René de Chateaubriand photo
François-René de Chateaubriand 28
French writer, politician, diplomat and historian
Wilhelm Röntgen photo
Wilhelm Röntgen 6
German physicist
Pierre Joseph Proudhon photo
Pierre Joseph Proudhon 40
French politician, mutualist philosopher, economist, and so…
Victor Hugo photo
Victor Hugo 308
French poet, novelist, and dramatist
Anatole France photo
Anatole France 122
French writer
Honoré de Balzac photo
Honoré de Balzac 157
French writer
Sarah Bernhardt photo
Sarah Bernhardt 11
French actress
Alfred de Musset photo
Alfred de Musset 4
French writer