Man cannot remake himself without suffering, for he is both the marble and the sculptor. – Alexis Carrel
The first duty of society is to give each of its members the possibility of fulfilling his destiny. When it becomes incapable of performing this duty it must be transformed. – Alexis Carrel
Those who desire to rise as high as our human condition allows, must renounce intellectual pride, the omnipotence of clear thinking, belief in the absolute power of logic. – Alexis Carrel
Like hatred, jealousy is forbidden by the laws of life because it is essentially destructive. – Alexis Carrel
The atmosphere of libraries, lecture rooms and laboratories is dangerous to those who shut themselves up in them too long. It separates us from reality like a fog. – Alexis Carrel
All great men are gifted with intuition. They know without reasoning or analysis, what they need to know. – Alexis Carrel
The Asiatics and the Africans, such as the Russians, the Arabs, the Hindus, are increasing with marked rapidity. Never have the European races been in such great peril as today. – Alexis Carrel
A few observation and much reasoning lead to error; many observations and a little reasoning to truth. – Alexis Carrel
Gigantic sums are now required to maintain prisons and insane asylums and protect the public against gangsters and lunatics. Why do we preserve these useless and harmful beings? The abnormal prevent development of the normal. – Alexis Carrel
Hard conditions of life are indispensable to bringing out the best in human personality. – Alexis Carrel
All of us, at certain moments of our lives, need to take advice and to receive help from other people. – Alexis Carrel
Perhaps I will stay in Chicago and operate on human beings instead of on dogs. From a business standpoint, it would be excellent. But, as I hate medical practice, I would like better to make little money in doing scientific work than a great deal in doing surgical operations. – Alexis Carrel
In man, the things which are not measurable are more important than those which are measurable. – Alexis Carrel
Intuition comes very close to clairvoyance; it appears to be the extrasensory perception of reality. – Alexis Carrel
The German government has taken energetic measures against the propagation of the defective, the mentally diseased, and the criminal. – Alexis Carrel
The most efficient way to live reasonably is every morning to make a plan of one’s day and every night to examine the results obtained. – Alexis Carrel
Science has to be understood in its broadest sense, as a method for comprehending all observable reality, and not merely as an instrument for acquiring specialized knowledge. – Alexis Carrel
To what extent is any given man morally responsible for any given act? We do not know. – Alexis Carrel