Top 5 Quotes & Sayings by Joseph LeConte

Is it not demonstrated that a true flying machine, self-raising, self-sustaining, self-propelling, is physically impossible?

There is nothing which Nature so clearly reveals, and upon which science so strongly insists, as the universal reign of law, absolute, universal, invariable law... Not one jot or tittle of the laws of Nature are unfulfilled. I do not believe it is possible to state this fact too strongly... Everything happens according to law, and, since law is the expression of Divine will, everything happens according to Divine will, i.e. is in some sense ordained, decreed.

One: There is a low limit of weight [of about] 50 pounds beyond which it is impossible for an animal to fly. Two: The animal machine is far more effective than any we can hope to make. Three: The weight of any machine constructed for flying, including fuel and engineer, cannot be less than three or four hundred pounds. Is it not demonstrated that a true flying machine, self-raising, self-sustaining, self-propelling, is physically impossible?

The essential thing is not knowledge, but character.

It is true that the trees are for human use. But these are aesthetic uses as well as commercial uses-uses for the spiritual wealth of all, as well as the material wealth of some.