the companions of our childhood always possess a certain power over our minds which hardly any later friend can obtain.

Accursed creator! Why did you form a monster so hideous that even you turned from me in disgust?

There is something at work in my soul, which I do not understand.

Of what a strange nature is knowledge! It clings to a mind when it has once seized on it like a lichen on a rock." - Frankenstein p115

Nothing is so painful to the human mind as a great and sudden change.

A mind of moderate capacity which closely pursues one study must infallibly arrive at great proficiency in that study.

Ah! it is well for the unfortunate to be resigned, but for the guilty there is no peace.

Life, although it may only be an accumulation of anguish, is dear to me, and I will defend it.

There was a considerable difference between the ages of my parents, but this circumstance seemed to unite them only closer in bonds of devoted affection.

If your wish is to become really a man of science and not merely a petty experimentalist, I should advise you to apply to every branch of natural philosophy, including mathematics.

My life, as it passes thus, was indeed hateful to me, and it was during sleep alone that I could taste joy. O blessed sleep!

When one attains self-knowledge, distinctions of race and religion vanish.

The story of life depends on how well you live your life.

I suspect that a greater and more insidious influence [than violence in movies] may lie in what they tell us about being in love, and how to conduct ourselves while in that condition.

I think I must have invented you on one of those days I was really bored.

True gender equality in Scotland - and elsewhere - is still some way off.

The only way out of the current crisis is to amend the Constitution.

I have absolute respect for Israel and people in Israel who are critical of their own country.

If every child matters, every child has the right to a good start in life. If every child matters, every child has the right to be included. And that is so important for children with special needs.

I have always considered Saipan the decisive battle of the Pacific offensive...(it was) the naval and military heart and brain of the Japanese defence strategy.

I will follow my logic, no matter where it goes, after it has consulted with my heart. If you ever come to a conclusion without calling the heart in, you will come to a bad conclusion.