Natural History

I've been asked to write some words from my book onto my blog, for those who cannot buy my book.

"The only certainty is that nothing is certain."
(Book 2)

"Man is the only one that knows nothing, that can learn nothing without being taught. He can neither speak nor walk nor eat, and in short he can do nothing at the prompting of nature only, but weep."
(Book 7)

"Compassion and shame come over one who considers how precarious is the origin of the proudest of living beings: often the smell of a lately extinguished lamp is enough to cause a miscarriage. And to think that from such a frail beginning a tyrant or butcher may be born! You who trust in your physical strength, who embrace the gifts of fortune and consider yourself not their ward but their son, you who have a domineering spirit, you who consider yourself a god as soon as success swells your breast, think how little could have destroyed you!"
(Book 7)

"There is always something new in Africa."
(Book 8)

"With a grain of salt."
(Book 23)