Jean-Henri Fabre Quotes & Sayings

Science too proceeds by lantern-flashes; it explores nature's inexhaustible mosiac piece by piece. Too often the wick lacks oil; the glass panes of the lantern may not be clean. No matter : his work is not in vain who first recognizes and shows to others one speck of the vast unknown. — Jean-Henri Fabre

We have within us, from the start, that which will distinguish us from the vulgar herd. — Jean-Henri Fabre

Let us turn elsewhere, to the wasps and bees, who unquestionably come first in the laying up of a heritage for their offspring. — Jean-Henri Fabre

You speak to me, in your own fashion, of a strange psychology which is able to reconcile the wonders of a master craftsmanship with aberrations due to unfathomable stupidity. — Jean-Henri Fabre

History celebrates the battlefields whereon we meet our death, but scorns to speak of the plowed fields whereby we thrive. It knows the names of the king's bastards but cannot tell us the origin of wheat. This is the way of human folly. — Jean-Henri Fabre

The common people have no history: persecuted by the present, they cannot think of preserving the memory of the past. — Jean-Henri Fabre

Permanence of instinct must go with permanence of form ... The history of the present must teach us the history of the past.
[Referring to studying fossil remains of the weevil, largely unchanged to the present day.] — Jean-Henri Fabre

In many cases, ignorance is a good thing : the mind retains its freedom of investigation and does not stray along roads that lead nowhither, suggested by one's reading. I have experienced this once again ... Yes, ignorance can have its advantages; the new is found far from the beaten track. — Jean-Henri Fabre

History records the names of royal bastards, but cannot tell us the origin of wheat. — Jean-Henri Fabre

So slow is moral progress. True, we have the bicycle, the motor-car, the dirigible airship and other marvellous means of breaking our bones; but our morality is not one rung the higher for it all. One would even say that, the farther we proceed in our conquest of matter, the more our morality recedes. The most advanced of our inventions consists in bringing men down with grapeshot and explosives with the swiftness of the reaper mowing the corn. — Jean-Henri Fabre

Let us dig our furrow in the fields of the commonplace. — Jean-Henri Fabre

The mind is an activity, not a repository. — Jean-Henri Fabre

Seek those who find your road agreeable, your personality and mind stimulating, your philosophy acceptable, and your experience helpful. Let those who do not, seek their own kind. — Jean-Henri Fabre

People declare as much, without, apparently, looking into the matter very closely. They seem able to dispense with the conscientious observer's scruples, when inflating their bladder of theory. — Jean-Henri Fabre

The custom of eating the lover after consummination of the nuptials, of making a meal of the exhausted pigmy, who is henceforth good for nothing, is not so difficult to understand, since insects can hardly be accused of sentimentality; but to devour him during the act surpasses anything the most morbid mind could imagine. I have seen the thing with my own eyes, and I have not yet recovered from my surprise. — Jean-Henri Fabre

Without feeling abashed by my ignorance, I confess that I am absolutely unable to say. In the absence of an appearance of learning, my answer has at least one merit, that of perfect sincerity. — Jean-Henri Fabre

What matters in learning is not to be taught, but to wake up. — Jean-Henri Fabre

If there is one vegetable which is God-given, it is the haricot bean. — Jean-Henri Fabre