"[A]n art without principles, the beginning of which was deceit, the progress delusion, and the end poverty."

"Humankind cannot gain anything without first giving something in return. To obtain, something of equal value must be …"

"The Hindus do not pay particular attention to alchemy, but no nation is entirely free from it, and one nation has mor…"

"[E]very relation must be considered as suspicious, which depends in any degree upon religion, ... and ... everything …"

"Alchemy may be compared to the man who told his sons that he had left them gold, buried somewhere in his vineyard; wh…"

"Azoth is the essence of life! We alchemists have the ability to convert it into power! We can live forever! Your Azot…"

"[E]ach author seems to have aimed to write treatises intelligible only to himself, and we greatly doubt his success i…"

"And mark yon alchemist, with zodiac-spangled zone, Wrenching the mandrake root that fattens in the gloom."

"[T]he growth of a plant, a tree, or an animal is an alchemical process going on in the alchemical laboratory of natur…"

"The matter lies before the eyes of all; everybody sees it, touches it, loves it, but knows it not. It is glorious and…"