शास्त्रीय प्रज्ञा के विद्वानों ने विचार पर पहरा दिया। खुद मुझे अभी तक वह समय याद है जब मैं लीपजिग में छात्र था और संस्कृत पढ़ना शुरू किया था और किस प्रकार उस समय मेरे शिक्षकों, गोटफ्रीड हरमेन, हाप्ट, वेस्टरमैन, स्टालबाम और अन्य ने संस्कृत और तुलनात्मक व्याकरण की घृणा से टीका की थी।

[D]eutsche Altertumskunde... [is a] still honored "science" of German antiquity.

古之學者為己，今之學者為人

Is it not sad, I said to my countrymen, that we have to learn from a foreigner about ourselves? Thanks to the German scholars we get accurate information about ourselves, and when everything in our country has been destroyed and we wish to verify the historical correctness of certain facts we shall have to come to Germany to search for these facts, in German museums and books!

A scholar is committed to building on knowledge that others have gathered, correcting it, confirming it, enlarging it. But I have always wanted to think my own thoughts about a subject without being overly influenced by what others have thought before me.

The historical approach to understanding of scientific fact is what differentiates the scholar in science from the mere experimenter.

A man of one book, a student of many.

I commenced the study of the Chinese language at the University of Munich. I had then about 3 years in Germany, engaged in various studies. Happening to notice the announcement of a course of lectures on the language of the Chinese by Professor Neumman, the interest I have always taken in the people, induced me to employ an otherwise vacant hour in learning something of their tongue.