"I was born to be a botanist, and I have never regretted my choice."

"I have done more for the advancement of natural history than anyone else."

"The species are as numerous as the different forms which the Infinite Being produced in the beginning."

"My life has been dedicated to the service of nature."

"It is not wealth or ancestry, but rather the spirit of the age, which has raised me to the highest pinnacle of fame."