34 Quotes by John Dalton

The cause of rain is now, I consider, no longer an object of doubt. If two masses of air of unequal temperatures, by the ordinary currents of the winds, are intermixed, when saturated with vapour, a precipitation ensues. If the masses are under saturation, then less precipitation takes place, or none at all, according to the degree. Also, the warmer the air, the greater is the quantity of vapour precipitated in like circumstances. ... Hence the reason why rains are heavier in summer than in winter, and in warm countries than in cold.

No new creation or destruction of matter is within the reach of chemical agency. We might as well attempt to introduce a new planet into the solar system, or to annihilate one already in existence, as to create or destroy a particle of hydrogen.

Matter, though divisible in an extreme degree, is nevertheless not infinitely divisible. That is, there must be some point beyond which we cannot go in the division of matter. ... I have chosen the word “atom” to signify these ultimate particles.

If I have succeeded better than many who surround me, it has been chiefly – may I say almost solely – from universal assiduity.

This paper will no doubt be found interesting by those who take an interest in it.

It’s the right idea, but not the right time.

I spent several years acquiring the obsessive, day-to-day discipline that’s needed if you want to write professionally, then several more, highly valuable years studying fiction writing at the University of Iowa.