The more I know, the more nearly is my faith that of the Breton peasant. Could I but know all I would have the faith of a Breton peasant woman.
• Variant: I have the faith of a Breton peasant and by the time I die I hope to have the faith of a Breton peasant's wife." - Meaning and context.">
QuotesCosmos
As quoted in "Louis Pasteur" in The Catholic Encyclopedia (1913)
  • As quoted in Letter to an Atheist (2007) by Michael Patrick Leahy, p. 61
• His descendents, Louis-Pasteur Vallery-Radot, and Maurice Vallery-Radot disputed the authenticity of such statements. According to Maurice Vallery-Radot, Pasteur (1994), p. 378, the attributed assertion first appeared in the Semaine religieuse .... du diocèse de Versailles (6 October 1895), p. 153, shortly after the death of Pasteur.
“

The more I know, the more nearly is my faith that of the Breton peasant. Could I but know all I would have the faith of a Breton peasant woman.
• Variant: I have the faith of a Breton peasant and by the time I die I hope to have the faith of a Breton peasant's wife.

— Louis Pasteur

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "The more I know, the more nearly is my faith that of the Breton peasant. Could I but know all I would have the faith of a Breton peasant woman.
• Variant: I have the faith of a Breton peasant and by the time I die I hope to have the faith of a Breton peasant's wife." in the context of "As quoted in "Louis Pasteur" in The Catholic Encyclopedia (1913)
  • As quoted in Letter to an Atheist (2007) by Michael Patrick Leahy, p. 61
• His descendents, Louis-Pasteur Vallery-Radot, and Maurice Vallery-Radot disputed the authenticity of such statements. According to Maurice Vallery-Radot, Pasteur (1994), p. 378, the attributed assertion first appeared in the Semaine religieuse .... du diocèse de Versailles (6 October 1895), p. 153, shortly after the death of Pasteur." to mean that wisdom is timeless.

Source: Wikiquote: "Louis Pasteur" (Disputed) The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app

Tags

#Louis Pasteur#breton#faith#peasant#woman bull#peasants#variant#nearly#hope#wife#die
Louis Pasteur

About Louis Pasteur

Louis Pasteur (27 December 1822 – 28 September 1895) French microbiologist, chemist, pioneer of the "Germ theory of disease", discoverer of molecular asymmetry and stereo-chemistry, and inventor of the process of Pasteurization.