“To him… who had examined the laws of light merely in a drop of water, the brilliant phenomenon of the rainbow would be totally unintelligible.”

— Adolphe Quetelet

Introductory
A Treatise on Man and the Development of His Faculties (1842)

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "To him… who had examined the laws of light merely in a drop of water, the brilliant phenomenon of the rainbow would be …" by Adolphe Quetelet?

Adolphe Quetelet 52

Belgian astronomer, mathematician, statistician and sociolo… 1796–1874

Related quotes

“Mister Teatime had a truly brilliant mind, but it was brilliant like a fractured mirror, all marvellous facets and rainbows but, ultimately, also something that was broken.”

Terry Pratchett book Hogfather

Source: Hogfather

“Owen meany who rarely wasted words and who had the conversation-stopping habit of dropping remarks like coins into a deep pool of water… remarks that sank, like truth, to the bottom of the pool where they would remain untouchable.”

John Irving book A Prayer for Owen Meany

Source: A Prayer for Owen Meany

“He felt like a man who, chasing rainbows, has had one of them suddenly turn and bite him in the leg.”

P.G. Wodehouse (1881–1975) English author

Eggs, Beans and Crumpets (1940)

“The soul would have no rainbow
Had the eyes no tears.”

John Vance Cheney (1848–1922) American writer

The Century Vol. 44, Issue 4 (August 1892)
Tears (1892)
Context: Not in the time of pleasure
Hope doth set her bow;
But in the sky of sorrow,
Over the vale of woe. Through gloom and shadow look we
On beyond the years!
The soul would have no rainbow
Had the eyes no tears.