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[This] science is the work of the human mind, which is destined rather to study than to know, to seek the truth rather than to find it.

— Évariste Galois Of mathematics — as quoted in Mathematics: The Loss of Certainty (1980)

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Source: Of mathematics — as quoted in Mathematics: The Loss of Certainty (1980) by Morris Kline, p. 99.
Work: Of mathematics — as quoted in Mathematics: The Loss of Certainty, 1980
Source quality: Secondhand citation Quoted from another book or article rather than from the original.

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Poisson, reading Galois' First Memoir, found the proof of Lemma III insufficient, and wrote in pencil the following comment.

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Science

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Don't cry, Alfred! I need all my courage to die at twenty.

Léopold Infeld (1978)

Preserve my memory, since fate has not given me life enough for the country to know my name.

Il parait après cela qu'il n'y a aucun fruit à tirer de la solution que nous proposons. [It seems there is no fruit to be drawn from the solution we offer.]

... an author never does more damage to his readers than when he hides a difficulty.

Mais je n’ai pas le temps et mes idées ne sont pas encore bien développées sur ce terrain qui est immense. [But I don't have the time and my ideas are not yet well developed on this immense terrain.]

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To doubt everything or to believe everything are two equally convenient solutions; both dispense with the necessity of reflection.

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Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Évariste Galois (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.