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Alfred Bernhard Nobel
(21 Oct 1833 - 10 Dec 1896)
Swedish chemist and inventor.
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Science Quotes by Alfred Bernhard Nobel (4)
Alfred Nobel - pitiable half-creature, should have been stifled by humane doctor when he made his entry yelling into life. Greatest merits: Keeps his nails clean and is never a burden to anyone. Greatest fault: Lacks family, cheerful spirits, and strong stomach. Greatest and only petition: Not to be buried alive. Greatest sin: Does not worship Mammon. Important events in his life: None.
— Alfred Bernhard Nobel
Letter (1887) from Alfred to his brother, Ludwig. In Erik Bergengre, Alfred Nobel: the Man and His Work (1960), 177.
See also: | Biography (159) | Birth (14) | Event (20) | Family (5) | Fault (8) | Life (169) | Merit (5) | Worship (4)
I am a misanthrope, but exceedingly benevolent; I am very cranky, and am a super-idealist. ... I can digest philosophy better than food.
— Alfred Bernhard Nobel
In Ake Erlandsson, 'The Nobel Library of the Swediah Academy', Libri (1999), 167.
See also: | Biography (159)
I am not aware that I have deserved any notoriey, and I have no taste for its buzz.
— Alfred Bernhard Nobel
In Robert Shaplen, 'Annals Of Science: Adventures of a Pacifist', The New Yorker (22 Mar 1958), 41; without a reference, but cited elsewhere as in H. Schuck, 'Alfred Nobel: A Biographical Sketch' in The Nobel Foundation (ed.), Nobel: The Man and His Prize (1951), 18.
The capital ... shall form a fund, the interest of which shall be distributed annually as prizes to those persons who shall have rendered humanity the best services during the past year. ... One-fifth to the person having made the most important discovery or invention in the science of physics, one-fifth to the person who has made the most eminent discovery or improvement in chemistry, one-fifth to the one having made the most important discovery with regard to physiology or medicine, one-fifth to the person who has produced the most distinguished idealistic work of literature, and one-fifth to the person who has worked the most or best for advancing the fraternization of all nations and for abolishing or diminishing the standing armies as well as for the forming or propagation of committees of peace.
— Alfred Bernhard Nobel
From will (27 Nov 1895), in which he established the Nobel Prizes, as translated in U.S. Dept. of Commerce, Consular Reports, Issues 156-159 (1897), 331.
See also: | Benefit (6) | Confer (2) | Distribution (6) | Fund (2) | Humanity (11) | Interest (6) | Mankind (38) | Nobel Prize (11) | Will (5)
Quotes by others about Alfred Bernhard Nobel (2)
It can even be thought that radium could become very dangerous in criminal hands, and here the question can be raised whether mankind benefits from knowing the secrets of Nature, whether it is ready to profit from it or whether this knowledge will not be harmful for it. The example of the discoveries of Nobel is characteristic, as powerful explosives have enabled man to do wonderful work. They are also a terrible means of destruction in the hands of great criminals who lead the peoples towards war. I am one of those who believe with Nobel that mankind will derive more good than harm from the new discoveries.
'Radioactive Substances, Especially Radium', Nobel Lecture, 6 June 1905. In Nobel Lectures: Physics 1901-1921 (1967), 78.
And this is the ultimate lesson that our knowledge of the mode of transmission of typhus has taught us: Man carries on his skin a parasite, the louse. Civilization rids him of it. Should man regress, should he allow himself to resemble a primitive beast, the louse begins to multiply again and treats man as he deserves, as a brute beast. This conclusion would have endeared itself to the warm heart of Alfred Nobel. My contribution to it makes me feel less unworthy of the honour which you have conferred upon me in his name.
'Investigations on Typhus', Nobel Lecture, 1928. In Nobel Lectures: Physiology or Medicine 1922-1941 (1965), 187.
See also: | Beast (4) | Brute (4) | Civilization (46) | Conclusion (28) | Contribution (7) | Honour (9) | Knowledge (341) | Lesson (4) | Louse (2) | Man (115) | Parasite (14) | Primitive (4) | Resemblance (2) | Skin (2) | Teaching (10) | Transmission (2) | Typhus (2) | Ultimate (4) | Unworthy (2)
