Charles Robert Darwin, 1809 - 1882

The plow is one of the most ancient and most valuable of man's inventions; but long before he existed the land was in fact regularly plowed, and still continues to be thus plowed by earthworms. It may be doubted whether there are many other animals which have played so important a part in the history of the world, as have these lowly organized creatures.

Charles Robert Darwin, The Formation of Vegetable Mold Through the Action of Worms [1881], ch. 7

Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1803 - 1882

When you strike at a king, you must kill him.

Ralph Waldo Emerson, Recollected by OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES, JR. From MAX LERNER, The Mind and Faith of Justice Holmes [1943]

Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1803 - 1882

'Tis the good reader that makes the good book; in every book he finds passages which seem confidences or asides hidden from all else and unmistakably meant for his ear; the profit of books is according to the sensibility of the reader; the profoundest thought or passion sleeps as in a mine, until it is discovered by an equal mind and heart.

Ralph Waldo Emerson, Society and Solitude [1870]. Success

Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1803 - 1882

Hitch your wagon to a star.

Ralph Waldo Emerson, Society and Solitude [1870]. Civilization

Victor Hugo, 1802 - 1885

An invasion of armies can be resisted, but not an idea whose time has come.

Victor Hugo, Histoire d'un Crime [written 1852], conclusion.

Brigham Young, 1801 - 1877

This is the place!

Brigham Young, On first seeing the valley of the Great Salt Lake [July 24, 1847]

Helmuth von Moltke, 1800 - 1891

Erst wägen, dann wagen.
(First ponder, then dare.)

Helmuth von Moltke, Attributed.

Horace Mann, 1796 - 1859

Lost, yesterday, somewhere between sunrise and sunset, two golden hours, each set with sixty diamond minutes, No reward is offered, for they are gone forever.

Horace Mann, Aphorism.

Carl Friedrich Gauss, 1777 - 1855

Mathematics is the queen of the sciences.

Carl Friedrich Gauss, From SARTORIOUS VON WALTERS-HAUSEN, Gauss zum Gedachtniss [1856]

Sydney Smith, 1771 - 1845

Thank God for tea! What would the world do without tea? - how did it exist? I am glad I was not born before tea.

Sydney Smith, Lady Holland's Memoir [1855], vol. 1, ch. 11

Sir Walter Scott, 1771 - 1832

Sea of upturned faces.

Sir Walter Scott, Rob Roy [1817], ch. 20

Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington, 1769 - 1852

Publish and be damned.

Arthur Wellesley, Attributed; when the courtesan Harriette Wilson threatened to publish her memoirs and his letters.

Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington, 1769 - 1852

The battle of Waterloo was won on the playing fields of Eton.

Arthur Wellesley, From SIR WILLIAM FRASER, Words on Wellington [1889]

Napoleon I [Napoleon Bonaparte], 1769 - 1821

An army marches on its stomach.

Napoleon I, Attributed.

Napoleon I [Napoleon Bonaparte], 1769 - 1821

Go, sir, gallop, and don't forget that the world was made in six days. You can ask me for anything you like, except time.

Napoleon I, To an aide [1803]. From R. M. JOHNSTON, The Corsican.

John Heath, 1758 - 1810

Philosophia Biou Kybernetes.
(Love of wisdom [philosophy] the guide of life.)

John Heath, Greek phrase for Phi Beta Kappa, society founded at the College of William and Mary [December 5, 1776]

(The name Phi Beta Kappa is from the Green initial letters in the phrase.)

Louis XVIII, 1755 - 1824

L'exactitude est la politesse des rois.
(Punctuality is the politeness of kings.)

Louis XVIII, A favorite saying

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, 1749 - 1832

Ich die Baukunst eine erstarrte Music nenne.
(I call architecture frozen music.)

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Letter to Eckermann [March 23, 1829]

Abigail Adams, 1744 - 1818

Learning is not attained by chance, it must be sought for with ardor and attended to with diligence.

Abigail Adams, Letter to John Quincy Adams [ May 8, 1780 ]

Johann Kaspar Lavater, 1741 - 1801

If you mean to know yourself, interline such of these aphorisms as affect you agreeably in reading, and set a mark to such as left a sense of uneasiness with you; and then show your copy to whom you please.

Johann Kaspar Lavater, Aphorisms on Man [c. 1788], no. 643.

Edward Gibbon, 1737 - 1794

The various modes of worship, which prevailed in the Roman world, were all considered by the people, as equally true; by the philosopher, as equally false; and by the magistrate, as equally useful.

Edward Gibbon, Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire [1776 - 1788], ch. 2

John Adams, 1735 - 1826

I must study politics and war that my sons may have liberty to study mathematics and philosophy. My sons ought to study mathematics and philosophy, geography, natural history, naval architecture, navigation, commerce, and agriculture, in order to give their children a right to study painting, poetry, music, architecture, statuary, tapestry and porcelain.

John Adams, Letter to Abigail Adams [May 12, 1780]

John Adams, 1735 - 1826

A pen is certainly an excellent instrument to fix a man's attention and to inflame his ambition.

John Adams, Diary [November 14, 1760]