"I perceived it was possible to arrive at knowledge highly useful in life; and that, instead of the speculative philosophy usually taught in the Schools, we might find a practical, by means of which, k…"

"For it is not enough to have a good mind, but rather it is necessary to apply it well."

"The power of judging well and of distinguishing the true from the false, which is properly what is called good sense or reason, is by nature equal in all men."

"I have always taken the greatest pleasure in mathematics."

"I found myself constrained to believe that there are certain principles which the human mind spontaneously accepts as true."