I intend to leave after my death a large fund for the promotion of the peace idea, but I am skeptical as to its results.
I am a misanthrope and yet utterly benevolent, have more than one screw loose yet am a super-idealist who digests philosophy more efficiently than food.
One can state, without exaggeration, that the observation of and the search for similarities and differences are the basis of all human knowledge.
The first time I saw nitroglycerine was in the beginning of the Crimean War. Professor Zinin in St. Petersburg exhibited some to my father and me, and struck some on an anvil to show that only the part touched by the hammer exploded without spreading.
Lawyers have to make a living, and can only do so by inducing people to believe that a straight line is crooked.
For me writing biographies is impossible, unless they are brief and concise, and these are, I feel, the most eloquent.
It is my express wish that in awarding the prizes no consideration be given to the nationality of the candidates, but that the most worthy shall receive the prize, whether he be Scandinavian or not.