The characteristic of scientific progress is our knowing that we did not know.
Gaston Bachelard

Man is a creation of desire, not a creation of need.
Gaston Bachelard

Man is an imagining being.
Gaston Bachelard

The words of the world want to make sentences.
Gaston Bachelard

Even a minor event in the life of a child is an event of that child's world and thus a world event.
Gaston Bachelard

There is no original truth, only original error.
Gaston Bachelard

The repose of sleep refreshes only the body. It rarely sets the soul at rest. The repose of the night does not belong to us. It is not the possession of our being. Sleep opens within us an inn for phantoms. In the morning we must sweep out the shadows.
Gaston Bachelard

If I were asked to name the chief benefit of the house, I should say: the house shelters day-dreaming, the house protects the dreamer, the house allows one to dream in peace.
Gaston Bachelard