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Quotes by Scientist
"Any fool can know. The point is to understand."
190
"There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle."
134
"I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious."
131
"In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity."
126
"I would like to see the day when somebody would be appointed surgeon somewhere who had no hands, for the operative part is the least part of the work."
107
"A man's ethical behavior should be based effectually on sympathy, education, and social ties and needs; no religious basis is necessary. Man would be in a poor way if he had to be restrained by fear of punishment and hopes of reward after death."
106
"The one process now going on that will take millions of years to correct is the loss of genetic and species diversity by the destruction of natural habitats. This is the folly our descendants are least likely to forgive us."
101
"The passage of time is simply an illusion created by our brains."
97
"I am a teacher, and I am proud of it. At Cornell University I have taught primarily undergraduates, and indeed almost every year since 1966 have taught first-year general chemistry."
96
"Creativity is intelligence having fun."
96
"The purpose of anthropology is to make the world safe for human differences."
88
"You never fail until you stop trying."
87
"It is not necessary to change. Survival is not mandatory."
84
"Try not to become a man of success. Rather become a man of value."
84
"If you can't explain it to a six year old, you don't understand it yourself."
83
"Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new."
83
"An important scientific innovation rarely makes its way by gradually winning over and converting its opponents: What does happen is that the opponents gradually die out."
81
"Everything is determined, the beginning as well as the end, by forces over which we have no control. It is determined for the insect, as well as for the star. Human beings, vegetables, or cosmic dust, we all dance to a mysterious tune, intoned in the distance by an invisible piper."
80
"Research is what I'm doing when I don't know what I'm doing."
78
"The more the universe seems comprehensible, the more it also seems pointless."
77
"I was now successful in proving that a direction of movement is localized in the cerebellum."
74
"We live in a society exquisitely dependent on science and technology, in which hardly anyone knows anything about science and technology."
74
"It is the function of science to discover the existence of a general reign of order in nature and to find the causes governing this order. And this refers in equal measure to the relations of man - social and political - and to the entire universe as a whole."
73
"The scientist only imposes two things, namely truth and sincerity, imposes them upon himself and upon other scientists."
71
"The formulation of the problem is often more essential than its solution, which may be merely a matter of mathematical or experimental skill."
70
"I couldn't sleep for two years, they tried to break my nerves. They used a lot of psychology to brainwash."
69
"I conclude, therefore, that this star is not some kind of comet or a fiery meteor... but that it is a star shining in the firmament itself one that has never previously been seen before our time, in any age since the beginning of the world."
67
"If we can't think for ourselves, if we're unwilling to question authority, then we're just putty in the hands of those in power. But if the citizens are educated and form their own opinions, then those in power work for us. In every country, we should be teaching our children the scientific method and the reasons for a Bill of Rights. With it comes a certain decency, humility and community spirit. In the demon-haunted world that we inhabit by virtue of being human, this may be all that stands between us and the enveloping darkness."
64
"I think we still have a chance if we continue with our work, if Iraq provides full cooperation, we should still be able to avoid a war."
63
"If you think technology can solve your security problems, then you don't understand the problems and you don't understand the technology."
63
"A desire arises in the mind. It is satisfied immediately another comes. In the interval which separates two desires a perfect calm reigns in the mind. It is at this moment freed from all thought, love or hate. Complete peace equally reigns between two mental waves."
63
"This evolution may compromise Java's claim of being simpler than C++, but my guess is that the effort will make Java a better language than it is today."
61
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