“From the remotest nebulæ and from the revolving double stars, we have descended to the minutest organisms of animal creation, whether manifested in the depths of ocean or on the surface of our globe, and to the delicate vegetable germs which clothe the naked declivity of the ice-crowned mountain summit; and here we have been able to arrange these phenomena according to partially known laws; but other laws of a more mysterious nature rule the higher spheres of the organic world, in which is comprised the human species in all its varied conformation, its creative intellectual power, and the languages to which it has given existence. A physical delineation of nature terminates at the point where the sphere of intellect begins, and a new world of mind is opened to our view. It marks the limit, but does not pass it.”
“Only what we have wrought into our character during life can we take away with us.”
Alexander von Humboldt
“Devoted from my earliest youth to the study of nature, feeling with enthusiasm the wild beauties of a country guarded by mountains and shaded by ancient forests, I experienced in my travels, enjoyment...”
Alexander von Humboldt
“One of the noblest characteristics which distinguish modern civilization from that of remoter times is, that it has enlarged the mass of our conceptions, rendered us more capable of perceiving the con...”
Alexander von Humboldt
“The expression of vanity and self-love becomes less offensive, when it retains something of simplicity and frankness.”
Alexander von Humboldt
“Our imagination is struck only by what is great; but the lover of natural philosophy should reflect equally on little things.”
Alexander von Humboldt