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Joseph Priestley Quotes

Philosopher

Joseph Priestley was an English philosopher, chemist, and deist. He is known for his contributions to the study of gases, particularly for his discovery of oxygen. Priestley was an advocate of empiricism in philosophy and also made contributions to the field of education.

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Famous Joseph Priestley Quotes

“The greater is the circle of light, the greater is the boundary of the darkness by which it is confined. But, notwithstanding this, the more light get, the more thankful we ought to be, for by this means we have the greater range for satisfactory contemplation. time the bounds of light will be still farther extended; and from the infinity of the divine nature, and the divine works, we may promise ourselves an endless progress in our investigation them: a prospect truly sublime and glorious.”

Source: The theological and miscellaneous works of Joseph Priestley

“But it is not given to every electrician to die in so glorious a manner as the justly envied Richmann.”

Science Dies Given Envy Glorious Lightning Envied Electrician

Book:The History and Present State of Electricity: With Original Experiments. Reprinted from the 3d Ed., London, 1755, with an Appendix Containing Two Additional Papers of Original Experiments by the Author, and a New Introd. by Robert E. Shofield

Source: The History and Present State of Electricity: With Original Experiments. Reprinted from the 3d Ed., London, 1755, with an Appendix Containing Two Additional Papers of Original Experiments by the Author, and a New Introd. by Robert E. Shofield

“How glorious, then, is the prospect, the reverse of all the past, which is now opening upon us, and upon the world. Government, we may now expect to see, not only in theory and in books but in actual practice, calculated for the general good, and taking no more upon it than the general good requires, leaving all men the enjoyment of as many of their natural rights as possible, and no more interfering with matters of religion, with men's notions concerning God, and a future state, than with philosophy, or medicine.”

Source: Letters to the Right Honourable Edmund Burke: Occasioned by His Reflections on the Revolution in France, &c