8 quotes
Nature always uses the simplest means to accomplish its effects.
When a change occurs in Nature, the quantity of action necessary for that change is as small as possible.
Les Loix du Mouvement et du Repos, déduites d'un Principe Métaphysique (1746)
Despite the disorder observed in Nature, one finds enough traces of the wisdom and power of its Author that one cannot fail to recognize Him.
Les Loix du Mouvement et du Repos, déduites d'un Principe Métaphysique (1746)
Everything is so arranged that the blind logic of mathematics executes the will of the most enlightened and free Mind.
Les Loix du Mouvement et du Repos, déduites d'un Principe Métaphysique (1746)
The elements that make up all other bodies, these must be bodies that are perfectly inelastic, undeformable and unchangeable.
Les Loix du Mouvement et du Repos, déduites d'un Principe Métaphysique (1746)
A true philosopher does not engage in vain disputes about the nature of motion; rather, he wishes to know the laws by which it is distributed, conserved or destroyed, knowing that such laws is the basis for all natural philosophy.
Les Loix du Mouvement et du Repos, déduites d'un Principe Métaphysique (1746)
The most beautiful discoveries since the Renaissance, indeed since the beginnings of all science, are the laws governing light, whether moving through a uniform medium, or being reflected from an opaque surface, or changing direction upon entering another transparent medium.
Accord de différentes loix de la nature qui avoient jusqu’ici paru incompatibles (1744)
The quantity of action is the product of the mass of the bodies times their speed and the distance they travel. When a body is transported from one place to another, the action is proportional to the mass of the body, to its speed and to the distance over which it is transported.
Les Loix du Mouvement et du Repos, déduites d'un Principe Métaphysique (1746)