Theoretical Physicist Quotes

“I never commit to memory anything that can easily be looked up in a book”

“Einstein didn't speak until he was four, leading most of his teachers to believe he was crazy. That is until he whipped out the theory of relativity. BAYUM! Showed you guys.”

“When I examine myself and my methods of thought, I come to the conclusion that the gift of fantasy has meant more to me than my talent for absorbing positive knowledge. (Reading this makes me wonder how much sooner man could have walked on the moon... had we listened to a child's fantasies. It is truly a pity that so many lose their gift of imagination to the steady hum of the status quo.)”

“The problems that exist in this world can not be solved by the level of thinking that created them.”

“To me the worst thing seems to be a school principally to work with methods of fear, force and artificial authority. Such treatment destroys the sound sentiments, the sincerity and the self-confidence of pupils and produces a subservient subject.”

“I fully agree with you about the significance and educational value of as well as history and philosophy of science. So many people today - and even professional - seem to me like someone who has seen thousands of trees but has never seen a forest. A knowledge of the historic and philosophical background gives that kind of independence from prejudices of his generation from which most scientists are suffering. This independence created by philosophical insight is - in my opinion - the mark of distinction between a mere artisan or specialist and a real seeker after truth.”

“On the other hand, the concept owes its meaning and its justification exclusively to the totality of the sense impressions which we associate with it.”

“There's something to be said for relatives...it has to be said because it's unprintable!”

“I believe that pipe smoking contributes to a somewhat calm and objective judgement in all human affairs.”

“Solitude is painful when one is young, but delightful when one is more mature.”

“Striving for peace and preparing for war are incompatible with each other, and in our time more so than ever.”

“The solitude and peace of mind are serving me quite well, not the least of which is due to the excellent and truly enjoyable relationship with my cousin; its stability will be guaranteed by the avoidance of marriage.”

“A happy man is too satisfied with the present to dwell too much on the future.”

“The definition of genius is taking the complex and making it simple.”

“Overemphasis of the competitive system and premature specialization on the ground of immediate usefulness kill the spirit on which all cultural life depends, specialized knowledge included.”

“My success wasn't so much due to intelligence, but the fact that I stuck with problems longer.”

“Learn from yesterday, live for today.”

“One picture is worth a thousand words”

“If at first the idea is not absurd, then there is no hope for it.”

“We know nothing at all. All our knowledge is but the knowledge of schoolchildren. The real nature of things we shall never know.”

“In quitting this strange world he has once again preceded me by a little. That doesn't mean anything. For those of us who believe in physics, this separation between past, present, and future is only an illusion, however tenacious.”

“The truth of a theory can never be proven, for one never knows if future experience will contradict its conclusions.”

“How many people are trapped in their everyday habits: part numb, part frightened, part indifferent? To have a better life we must keep choosing how we are living.”

“It is a miracle that curiosity survives formal education.”

“If I give you a pfennig, you will be one pfennig richer and I'll be one pfennig poorer. But if I give you an idea, you will have a new idea, but I shall still have it too.”