27 Quotes by Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr.

Science is the topography of ignorance.

Science is a first-rate piece of furniture for a man's upper chamber, if he has common sense on the ground floor.

Insanity is often the logic of an accurate mind overtasked

Insanity is often the logic of an accurate mind overtasked. Good mental machinery ought to break its own wheels and levers, if anything is thrust among them suddenly which tends to stop them or reverse their motion. A weak mind does not accumulate force enough to hurt itself; stupidity often saves a man from going mad.

A man's mind is stretched by a new idea or sensation, and never shrinks back to its former dimensions.

The morning cup of coffee has an exhilaration about it which the cheering influence of the afternoon or evening cup of tea cannot be expected to reproduce.

Sin has many tools, but a lie is the handle which fits them all.

My experience with public libraries is that the first volume of the book I inquire for is out, unless I happen to want the second, when that is out.

Language is the blood of the soul into which thoughts run and out of which they grow.