Quote by Denis Diderot (1713-1784)

• There are three principal means of acquiring knowledge. . . observation of nature, reflection, and experimentation. Observation collects facts; reflection combines them; experimentation verifies the result of that combination.

• There is no moral precept that does not have something inconvenient about it.

• All children are essentially criminal.

• I can be expected to look for truth but not to find it.

• Our observation of nature must be diligent, our reflection profound, and our experiments exact. We rarely see these three means combined; and for this reason, creative geniuses are not common.

• Watch out for the fellow who talks about putting things in order! Putting things in order always means getting other people under your control.