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Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon Quotes

Naturalist

Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon, was a French naturalist, mathematician, and encyclopedist. He is renowned for his comprehensive work on natural history, 'Histoire naturelle, générale et particulière', which was a cornerstone of the Enlightenment.

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Famous Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon Quotes

“Writing well is at one and the same time good thinking, good feeling, and good expression; it is having wit, soul, and taste, all together.”

Thinking Writing Wells Soul Feelings Together Expression Taste Wit Good Feeling Writing Well Good Thinking Thinking Good

Author:Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon

“To write well is to think well, to feel well, and to render well; it is to possess at once intellect, soul, and taste.”

Thinking Feels Writing Wells Soul Taste Intellect Authorship

Author:Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon

“Only well-written works will descend to posterity. Fulness of knowledge, interesting facts, even useful inventions, are no pledge of immortality, for they may be employed by more skilful hands; they are outside the man; the style is the man himself.”

Men Wells May Facts Hands Interesting Written Style He Man Invention Immortality Employed Posterity Pledge Well Written Interesting Fact

Author:Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon

“Those who write as they speak, even though they speak well, write badly.”

Writing Wells Speak

Author:Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon

“Only those works which are well-written will pass to posterity: the amount of knowledge, the uniqueness of the facts, even the novelty of the discoveries are no guarantees of immortality ... These things are exterior to a man but style is the man himself.”

“As historians, we refuse to allow ourselves these vain speculations which turn on possibilities that, in order to be reduced to actuality, suppose an overturning of the Universe, in which our globe, like a speck of abandoned matter, escapes our vision and is no longer an object worthy of our regard. In order to fix our vision, it is necessary to take it such as it is, to observe well all parts of it, and by indications infer from the present to the past.”

About the Author

Born: September 7, 1707
Died: April 16, 1788
Known for: Naturalist
Quotes: 38

Books & Sources

A Natural History, General and Particular: Containing the History and Theory of the Earth, a General History of Man, the Brute Creation, Vegetables, Minerals, Etc. EtcRelated source material

Natural History, General and ParticularRelated source material

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