Joseph Banks

“We have now seen the whole of the east coast of New Holland... and may now be able to give some account of its produce and people.”

“My ardour for botany is as great as ever; it is a source of infinite delight to me.”

“Variety of all kinds, Trees, Shrubbs, herbs, grasses etc. were here in a greater profusion than we had before met with.”

“So far the botanist has been successful, beyond his most sanguine expectations.”

“No-one can say what a new-sown seed will produce, but it may be a splendid flower or a sturdy tree.”

“A collection of this kind, formed in a country hitherto unexamined, cannot but be an object of desire to the learned and curious of all nations.”

“If the arts and sciences are to be promoted, it must be by the countenance and protection of the great.”

“To see a World in a Grain of Sand And a Heaven in a Wild Flower, Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand And Eternity in an hour.”

“The acquisition of knowledge is a pleasure in itself.”

“The proportion of those who set a just value upon science is not large.”