“All substances are poisons; there is none which is not a poison. The right dose differentiates a poison and a remedy.”

—  Paracelsus

Paracelsus - Doctor of our Time (1992)

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Paracelsus photo
Paracelsus 24
Swiss physician and alchemist 1493–1541

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“Poisons and medicine are oftentimes the same substance given with different intents.”

Peter Mere Latham (1789–1875) English physician and educator

Desk Reference of Clinical Pharmacology - Page 1 by Manuchair S. Ebadi - Medical - 2008.
Collected Works

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“Science, all by itself, has no moral dimension. The same poison-containing drug which cures when taken in small doses, may kill when taken in excess.”

Wernher von Braun (1912–1977) German, later an American, aerospace engineer and space architect

Comparable to remarks of William Masters, in "Two Sex Researchers on the Firing Line" LIFE magazine (24 June 1966), p. 49: "Science by itself has no moral dimension. But it does seek to establish truth. And upon this truth morality can be built."
Variants:
Science does not have a moral dimension. It is like a knife. If you give it to a surgeon or a murderer, each will use it differently.
As quoted in Futurehype: The Myths of Technology Change (2009) by Robert B. Seidensticker
Science does not have a moral dimension. It is like a knife. If you give it to a surgeon or a murderer, each will use it differently. Should the knife have not been developed?
As quoted in Science & Society (2012) by Peter Daempfle, Ch. 6, p. 97<!-- also in Good Science, Bad Science, Pseudoscience, and Just Plain Bunk: How to Tell the Difference (2013) by Peter Daempfle, Ch. 9, p. 166 -->
Responsible Scientific Investigation and Application (1976)
Context: One of the most disconcerting issues of our time lies in the fact that modern science, along with miracle drugs and communications satellites, has also produced nuclear bombs. What makes it even worse, science has utterly failed to provide an answer on how to cope with them. As a result, science and scientists have often been blamed for the desperate dilemma in which mankind finds itself today.
Science, all by itself, has no moral dimension. The same poison-containing drug which cures when taken in small doses, may kill when taken in excess. The same nuclear chain reaction that produces badly needed electrical energy when harnessed in a reactor, may kill thousands when abruptly released in an atomic bomb. Thus it does not make sense to ask a biochemist or a nuclear physicist whether his research in the field of toxic substances or nuclear processes is good or bad for mankind. In most cases the scientist will be fully aware of the possibility of an abuse of his discoveries, but aside from his innate scientific curiosity he will be motivated by a deep-seated hope and belief that something of value for his fellow man may emerge from his labors.
The same applies to technology, through which most advances in the natural sciences are put to practical use.

Mao Zedong photo

“What is needed is scientific analysis and convincing argument. Dogmatic criticism settles nothing. We are against poisonous weeds of all kinds, but we must carefully distinguish between what is really a poisonous weed and what is really a fragrant flower. Together with the masses of the people, we must learn to differentiate carefully between the two and to use correct methods to fight the poisonous weeds.”

Mao Zedong (1893–1976) Chairman of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China

VII: On "Let a Hundred Flowers Blossom Let a Hundred Schools of Thought Content" and "Long Term Coexistence and Mutual Supervision"
On the Correct Handling of Contradictions Among the People

August Strindberg photo

“There are poisons that blind you, and poisons that open your eyes.”

August Strindberg (1849–1912) Swedish playwright, novelist, poet, essayist and painter
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“Better be poisoned in one's own blood then to be poisoned in one's principle.”

Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan (1890–1988) Indian independence activist

As quoted by Governor Barnett's Declaration to the Profile of Mississippi Broadcast via TV and Radio. Sep. 13, 1962 http://microsites.jfklibrary.org/olemiss/controversy/doc2.html without citation and in An unknown legend of India: A bharat ratna By Gaurav Pundeer https://books.google.com/books?isbn=3736889569
Famous speeches

Jean-Louis Guez de Balzac photo

“Poison cures in certain contingencies, and in those cases poison is not an evil thing.”

Jean-Louis Guez de Balzac (1597–1654) French author, best known for his epistolary essays

Le venin guerit en quelque rencontre, et, ce cas-là, le venin n'est pas mauvais.
Aristippe, ou De la cour (1658), Discours VI.
Translation reported in Harbottle's Dictionary of quotations French and Italian (1904), p. 139.

Seneca the Younger photo

“My master Attalus used to say: "Evil herself drinks the largest portion of her own poison." The poison which serpents carry for the destruction of others, and secrete without harm to themselves, is not like this poison; for this sort is ruinous to the possessor.”
Quemadmodum Attalus noster dicere solebat, 'malitia ipsa maximam partem veneni sui bibit'. Illud venenum quod serpentes in alienam perniciem proferunt, sine sua continent, non est huic simile: hoc habentibus pessimum est.

Seneca the Younger (-4–65 BC) Roman Stoic philosopher, statesman, and dramatist

Quemadmodum Attalus noster dicere solebat, 'malitia ipsa maximam partem veneni sui bibit'.
Illud venenum quod serpentes in alienam perniciem proferunt, sine sua continent, non est huic simile: hoc habentibus pessimum est.
Source: Epistulae Morales ad Lucilium (Moral Letters to Lucilius), Letter LXXXI: On benefits, Line 22

“Remember my titles? I don't get poisoned, I do the poisoning. I'm the Princess of it”

Kresley Cole American writer

Source: Poison Princess

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