“Every now and then a man's mind is stretched by a new idea or sensation, and never shrinks back to its former dimensions.”

— Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr., The Autocrat of the Breakfast Table (1858), Ch. 11

About Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr.

1809 – 1894

American physician, poet and essayist, author of "The Autocrat of the Breakfast-Table".

“People that make puns are like wanton boys that put coppers on the railroad tracks.”

“Beware how you take away hope from any human being.”

“Deal with him as a truant, if you will, but claim him, keep him, call him brother still!”

“It would be thought a hard Government that should tax its People one-tenth Part of their Time, to be employed in its Service.”

“Finally, from so little sleeping and so much reading, his brain dried up and he went completely out of his mind.”

“I used to sit, think, think, thinking, till I felt as lonesome as a kitten in a wash-house copper with the lid on.”

“Science is not the truth. Science is finding the truth. When science changes its opinion, it didn't lie to you.”

“It isn't enough to talk about peace. One must believe in it. And it isn't enough to believe in it. One must work at it.”

“Ambition raises a secret tumult in the soul, it inflames the mind, and puts it into a violent hurry of thought.”