The great workman of nature is time.

The sublime can only be found in the great subjects. Poetry, history and philosophy all have the same object, and a very great object—Man and Nature. Philosophy describes and depicts Nature. Poetry paints and embellishes it. It also paints men, it aggrandizes them, it exaggerates them, it creates heroes and gods. History only depicts man, and paints him such as he is.

Majestatis naturæ by ingenium (Genius equal to the majesty of nature.)[Inscribed ordered by King Louis XV for the base of a statue of Buffon placed at Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle de Paris.]

Rassemblons des faits pour nous donner des idées.Let us gather facts in order to get ourselves thinking.