Carl Linnaeus Quotes

Carl Linnaeus was born in the village of Råshult in Småland, Sweden on 23 May 1707. His father began teaching Linnaeus Latin, religion, and geography at an early age. When Linnaeus was seven, Nils decided to hire a tutor for him. Two years after his tutoring had begun, he was sent to the Lower Grammar School at Växjö in 1717. Linnaeus rarely studied, often going to the countryside to look for plants. He reached the last year of the Lower School when he was fifteen, which was taught by the headmaster, Daniel Lannerus, who was interested in botany. Lannerus noticed Linnaeus' interest in botany and gave him the run of his garden. He also introduced him to Johan Rothman, the state doctor of Småland and a teacher at Växjö Gymnasium. Also a botanist, Rothman broadened Linnaeus' interest in botany and helped him develop an interest in medicine. In 1727, Linnaeus, age 21, enrolled in Lund University in Skåne.
In 1729, Linnaeus wrote a thesis, Praeludia Sponsaliorum Plantarum on plant sexuality. This attracted the attention of Rudbeck; in May 1730, he selected Linnaeus to give lectures at the University although the young man was only a second-year student. His lectures were popular, and Linnaeus often addressed an audience of 300 people. In June, Linnaeus moved from Celsius' house to Rudbeck's to become the tutor of the three youngest of his 24 children. In 1734, Linnaeus led a small group of students to Dalarna. Funded by the Governor of Dalarna, the expedition was to catalogue known natural resources and discover new ones, but also to gather intelligence on Norwegian mining activities at Røros.
Linnaeus was relieved of his duties in the Royal Swedish Academy of Science in 1763, but continued his work there as usual for more than ten years after. He stepped down as rector at Uppsala University in December 1772, mostly due to his declining health.  He developed sciatica in 1773, and the next year, he had a stroke which partially paralysed him. In December 1777, he had another stroke which greatly weakened him, and eventually led to his death on 10 January 1778 in Hammarby.