Seek happiness in tranquility and avoid ambition, even if it be only the apparently innocent one of distinguishing yourself in science and discoveries.

The ancient teachers of this science promised impossibilities, & performed nothing.  The modern masters promise very little..  but these philosophers, whose hands seem only made to dabble in dirt, & their eyes to pore over the microscope or crucible, have indeed performed miracles.  They penetrate into the recesses of nature, & show how she works in her hiding places.. they have discovered how the blood circulates, & the nature of the air we breathe, & they have acquired new & almost unlimited powers.