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Civilization never recedes; the law of necessity ever forces it onwards.

— Jules Verne The Mysterious Island (1874)

La civilisation ne recule jamais, et il semble qu’elle emprunte tous les droits à la nécessité.

Original text (French)

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Notes from Wikiquote

Part III, ch. XVI

More quotes by Jules Verne

While his heart still beats, while his flesh still moves, I cannot accept that a being endowed with will-power can give in to despair.

Journey to the Center of the Earth (1864)

What good would it be to discuss such a proposition, when force could destroy the best arguments?

Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea (1870)

An energetic man will succeed where an indolent one would vegetate and inevitably perish.

The Mysterious Island (1874)

Science, my lad, has been built upon many errors; but they are errors which it was good to fall into, for they led to the truth.

Journey to the Center of the Earth (1864)

Poets are like proverbs: you can always find one to contradict another.

The Survivors of the Chancellor (1875)

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Attribution

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