Henri PoincareThinkers

The Cat is witty, he has nerve, he knows how to do precisely the right thing at the right moment.

The Exception is pernicious because it conceals laws.

Geometry is not true, it is advantageous.

Harmony is a discloser of both part and whole — it is the harmony of the diverse parts, their symmetry, their happy balance; in a word it is all that introduces order, all that gives unity, that permits us to see clearly and to comprehend at once both the ensemble and the details.

Invention is to discern, to choose.

Man is a tiny dot of light amidst the blind fury of the elements.

Mathematics is the art of giving the same name to different things.

Obscenity is to be found nowhere but in a lack of talent — an obscene book is simply a book which is badly written. Talent is never obscene.

Resignation is the end of all thought.

Science is a house.

Science is a particular organization of facts — it is built up of facts, as a house is built of stones; but an accumulation of facts is no more a science than a heap of stones is a house.