The Greatest Wisdom Is To

The Deeper I Go In Considering The Vanities Of Popular Reasoning, The Lighter And More Foolish I Find Them. What Greater Stupidity Can Be Imagined Than That Of Calling Jewels, Silver, And Gold "precious," And Earth And Soil "base"?

In Time You May Discover Everything That Can Be Discovered, And Still Your Progress Will Only Be Progress Away From Humanity. The Distance Between You And Them Can One Day Become So Great That Your Joyous Cry Over Some New Gain Could Be Answered By An Universal Shriek Of Horror.

In Regard To The Philosophers, If They Be True Philosophers, I.e., Lovers Of Truth, They Should Not Be Irritated That The Earth Moves. Rather, If They Realize That They Have Held A False Belief, They Should Thank Those Have Shown Them The Truth; And If Their Opinion Stands Firm That The Earth Doesn't Move, They Will Have Reason To Boast Than Be Angered.

Nothing Physical Which Sense-experience Sets Before Our Eyes, Or Which Necessary Demonstrations Prove To Us, Ought To Be Called In Question (much Less Condemned) Upon The Testimony Of Biblical Passages...

But What Exceeds All Wonders, I Have Discovered Four New Planets And Observed Their Proper And Particular Motions, Different Among Themselves And From The Motions Of All The Other Stars; And These New Planets Move About Another Very Large Star [jupiter] Like Venus And Mercury, And Perchance The Other Known Planets, Move About The Sun. As Soon As This Tract, Which I Shall Send To All The Philosophers And Mathematicians As An Announcement, Is Finished, I Shall Send A Copy To The Most Serene Grand Duke, Together With An Excellent Spyglass, So That He Can Verify All These Truths.