“We should not plan and then try to make circumstances fit those plans. Instead we should make plans fit the circumstances.”
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Jan Evangelista Purkyně
Jan Evangelista Purkyně was a Czech anatomist and physiologist. In 1839, he coined the term "protoplasma" for the fluid substance of a cell. He was one of the best known scientists of his time. Such was his fame that when people from outside Europe wrote letters to him, all that they needed to put as the address was "Purkyně, Europe".
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science · Czech biologist and physiologist (1787–1869) · physician · neurologist · physiologist · anatomist · university teacher · biologist · poet · philosopher · translator · writer · also Jan Evangelista Purkyně, Jan Purkyně, Purkinje, Purkyně
Born 17 December 1787 · Died 28 July 1869 · Q159542
42 published statements · 0 followers
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2026· 19 entries
“The greatest weakness of all weaknesses is to fear too much to appear weak.”
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“Of what use to destroy the children of evil? It is evil itself we must destroy at the roots.”
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“Never give in — never, never, never, never, in nothing great or small, large or petty, never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense. Never yield to force; never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy.”
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“Those who are late to act, arrive, or get up tend to miss opportunities already seized by those who came earlier.”
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“Things that are easily acquired, especially money, are just as easily lost or spent.”
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“Those who arrive or apply earliest are most likely to get what they want from a limited supply of things, such as tickets, discounted goods or refreshments.”
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“Minor successes or failures along the way are of no significance – the person who is ultimately triumphant is the only real winner.”
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“It is wiser to withdraw from a situation that you cannot win than to go on fighting and lose – by a strategic retreat you can return to the battle or argument with renewed energy at a later date.”
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“It is not enough for a wise man to study nature and truth; he should dare state truth for the benefit of the few who are willing and able to think. As for the rest, who are voluntarily slaves of prejudice, they can no more attain truth, than frogs can fly.”
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“I do believe, Induced by potent circumstances, that You are mine enemy; and make my challenge You shall not be my judge.”
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“In a consumer society there are inevitably two kinds of slaves: the prisoners of addiction and the prisoners of envy.”
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“Actions may be, and indeed sometimes are deceptive in a measure though not as much so as words; and accordingly are received in general as more full and satisfactory proofs of the real disposition and character of persons than verbal expressions.”
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“The tragedy of marriage is that while all women marry thinking that their man will change, all men marry believing their wife will never change.”
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“Of all the causes which conspire to blind Man's erring judgment, and misguide the mind; What the weak head with strongest bias rules, — Is pride, the never-failing vice of fools.”
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“A corrupting influence often spreads from a leader to the rest of the organization group.”
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“Let us be of good cheer, however, remembering that the misfortunes hardest to bear are those which never come.”
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“As we are — the world is. That is, if we are greedy, envious, competitive, our society will be competitive, envious, greedy, which brings misery and war. The State is what we are. To bring about order and peace, we must begin with ourselves and not with society, not with the State, for the world is ourselves … If we would bring about a sane and happy society we must begin with ourselves and not with another, not outside of ourselves, but with ourselves.”
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“What shall it profit a man if he gains the whole world – and loses his health?”
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2019· 1 entry
“People get to upset when you don't let them use you.”
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2017· 1 entry
“With the surge of refugees, the mission field is coming to us, and many of those who come are from nations closed to traditional missions. Wouldn’t it be just like God to turn a bad situation into something good and full of glory?”
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2013· 1 entry
“There is nothing so easy as to be wise for others ; a species of prodigality, by the by — for such wisdom is wholly wasted.”
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2011· 1 entry
“The best way to conquer or control a group of people is by encouraging them to fight among themselves rather than allowing them to unite in opposition to the ruling authority.”
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2007· 2 entries
“Things that you must not have or do are always the most desirable.”
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“Things are not always as they seem, and you can not necessarily trust the evidence of your eyes.”
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1993· 1 entry
“The truth can wait, for it lives a long life.”
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1991· 1 entry
“It is a fool's prerogative to utter truths that no one else will speak.”
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1985· 1 entry
“By all means, marry. If you get a good wife, you'll become happy; if you get a bad one, you'll become a philosopher.”
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1869· 1 entry
Died 1869-07-28.
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1850· 2 entries
Awarded Foreign Member of the Royal Society (1850).
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Accepted the Physiology chair at Prague Medical Faculty, a position he held until his death
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1839· 3 entries
And the world's second official physiology laboratory in 1842
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Coined the term "protoplasma" for the fluid substance of a cell
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Of Purkinje fibres, the fibrous tissue that conducts electrical impulses from the atrioventricular node to all parts of the ventricles of the heart
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1838· 1 entry
The intracytoplasmic pigment neuromelanin in the substantia nigra
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1836· 1 entry
“Some day Love shall claim his ownSome day Right ascend his throne,Some day hidden Truth be known; Some day—some sweet day.”
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1833· 1 entry
And published a thesis that recognised 9 principal configuration groups of fingerprints in 1823
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1827· 1 entry
At the age of 40, he married Julia Agnes Rudolphi (1800–1835), daughter of his supporter, the Swedish-born German naturalist Karl Rudolphi (1771–1832)
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1823· 1 entry
Description of several entoptic phenomena
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1818· 1 entry
Purkyně graduated from the University of Prague with a degree in medicine, where he was appointed a Professor of Physiology
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1804· 1 entry
Purkyně joined the Piarists order as a monk but subsequently left "to deal more freely with science
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1787· 1 entry
Born 1787-12-17.
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