Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored. The finest works of art are precious, among other reasons, because they make it possible for us to know, if only imperfectly and for a little while, what it actually feels like to think subtly and feel nobly.
Several excuses are always less convincing than one.
So long as men worship the Caesars and Napoleons, Caesars and Napoleons will arise to make them miserable. There's only one corner of the universe you can be certain of improving, and that's your own self. Sooner or later, false thinking brings wrong conduct. Every great advance in natural knowledge has involved the absolute rejection of authority. No good is ever done in this world by hestitation.