User blog comment:Zero-ELEC/Ever heard of Bombastus?/@comment-24.36.64.41-20110112021308/@comment-24.36.64.41-20110112021736

forgot to mention... check out the entry under "Legend and Rumor" "Paracelsus is claimed by the Fraternitas Rosae Crucis to be the true identity of the mythical alchemist Christian Rosenkreutz who was the major figure in the Fama Fraternitatis published in 1614 in Germany, which at the time caused excitement throughout Europe by declaring the existence of a secret brotherhood of alchemists and sages who were preparing to transform the arts, sciences, religion, and political and intellectual landscape of Europe while wars of politics and religion ravaged the continent. Divergent views believe Rosenkreuz to be a pseudonym for a more famous historical figure like Francis Bacon.

Paracelsus is also often cited as coining the phrase "the dose makes the poison". Although he did not say this precisely, it seems that Paracelsus was indeed well aware of the principle (see discussion on Toxicology above).

Many books mentioning Paracelsus also cite him as the origin of the word "bombastic" to describe his often arrogant speaking style, which the following passage illustrates:

   I am Theophrastus, and greater than those to whom you liken me; I am Theophrastus, and in addition I am monarcha medicorum and I can prove to you what you cannot prove...I need not don a coat of mail or a buckler against you, for you are not learned or experienced enough to refute even a word of mine...As for you, you can defend your kingdom with belly-crawling and flattery. How long do you think this will last?...Let me tell you this: every little hair on my neck knows more than you and all your scribes, and my shoe buckles are more learned than your Galen and Avicenna, and my beard has more experience than all your high colleges.

   – Paracelsus, Selected Writings [10]

However, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, the origin of the word "bombastic" is not a play on Paracelsus's middle name, Bombastus. Instead, that dictionary cites "bombast": an old term for cotton stuffing."