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Quotes by Scientist
"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."
120
"The scientist only imposes two things, namely truth and sincerity, imposes them upon himself and upon other scientists."
118
"Peace cannot be kept by force; it can only be achieved by understanding."
117
"The more the universe seems comprehensible, the more it also seems pointless."
115
"Low-level programming is good for the programmer's soul."
115
"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."
113
"The formulation of the problem is often more essential than its solution, which may be merely a matter of mathematical or experimental skill."
110
"We live in a society exquisitely dependent on science and technology, in which hardly anyone knows anything about science and technology."
108
"We all know scientists who in private life do not come up to the standard of truthfulness, but who, nevertheless, would not consciously falsify the results of their researches."
107
"The world is given to me only once, not one existing and one perceived. Subject and object are only one. The barrier between them cannot be said to have broken down as a result of recent experience in the physical sciences, for this barrier does not exist."
103
"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."
102
"A vigorous five-mile walk will do more good for an unhappy but otherwise healthy adult than all the medicine and psychology in the world."
100
"As much as we thirst for approval we dread condemnation."
99
"The first rule of intelligent tinkering is to save all the parts."
98
"I put a bullet into the back of the crocodile's neck just behind the head, thus killing it. If a crocodile is hit in any other part of its anatomy it disappears into the water and is irrecoverable."
97
"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."
97
"The second stream of material that is going to come out of this project is a programming environment and a set of programming tools where we really want to focus again on the needs of the newbie. This environment is going to have to be extremely user-friendly."
96
"If you think technology can solve your security problems, then you don't understand the problems and you don't understand the technology."
96
"Science is the attempt to make the chaotic diversity of our sense-experience correspond to a logically uniform system of thought."
96
"Be less curious about people and more curious about ideas."
95
"The question of whether a computer can think is no more interesting than the question of whether a submarine can swim."
94
"The Cosmos extends, for all practical purposes, forever. After a brief sedentary hiatus, we are resuming our ancient nomadic way of life. Our remote descendants, safely arrayed on many worlds throughout the Solar System and beyond, will be unified by their common heritage, by their regard for their home planet, and by the knowledge that, whatever other life may be, the only humans in all the Universe come from Earth. They will gaze up and strain to find the blue dot in their skies. They will love it no less for its obscurity and fragility. They will marvel at how vulnerable the repository of all our potential once was, how perilous our infancy, how humble our beginnings, how many rivers we had to cross before we found our way."
94
"Inside a religious body you get sects and hierarchies, inside an information network you get bazaars and cathedrals, it is the same, call them what you like. They survive by pointing the finger of blame at each other."
93
"A physician is obligated to consider more than a diseased organ, more even than the whole man - he must view the man in his world."
92
"Force always attracts men of low morality."
91
"But I am not allowed to speak to foreigners and I am not allowed to leave the country. So I'm not so happy."
91
"Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds."
90
"There is no disease more conducive to clinical humility than aneurysm of the aorta."
88
"We dissect nature along lines laid down by our native language."
88
"In 1947 I married Rowena Palmer, and we have two daughters, Alison and Claire, and a son, John."
87
"The Bible shows the way to go to heaven, not the way the heavens go."
86
"Man is here for the sake of other men - above all for those upon whose smiles and well-being our own happiness depends."
84
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