Quotes about science
558 quotes from 241 people
Young man, in mathematics you don’t understand things. You just get used to them.
John von Neumann1903–1957Reply to a physicist friend, per Felix T. Smith; as quoted in Gary Zukav, The Dancing Wu Li Masters (1984 ed.), p. 208nCome on in. The earth, like the sun, like the air, belongs to everyone — and to no one.
Edward Abbey1927–1989The Journey Home (1977), “Come On In”, p. 88The language of God is not English or Latin; the language of God is cellular and molecular.
Timothy Leary1920–1996Harvard Law School Forum (1966)To describe externals, you become a scientist. To describe experience, you become an artist.
Timothy Leary1920–1996Changing My Mind, Among Others: Lifetime Writings (1982), p. 76Elementary particles are terribly boring, which is one reason why we’re so interested in them.
Steven Weinberg1933–2021“Elementary particles and the laws of Physics” in The 1986 Dirac Memorial Lectures (1987)Ocean, n. A body of water occupying about two-thirds of a world made for man — who has no gills.
Ambrose Bierce1842–1914The Devil’s Dictionary (1911)A mathematician is only perfect insofar as he is a perfect man, sensitive to the beauty of truth.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe1749–1832Maxims and Reflections (1833), Maxim 609, trans. StoppI’m not smart. I try to observe. Millions saw the apple fall but Newton was the one who asked why.
Bernard Baruch1870–1965New York Post (24 June 1965)
Will Durant1885–1981The Story of Philosophy (1926)
W. H. Auden1907–1973The Dyer’s Hand, and Other Essays (1962)
Arthur C. Clarke1917–2008We’ll Never Conquer Space (1960)
Werner Heisenberg1901–1976Physics and Philosophy (1958)
Peter Singerborn 1946The Expanding Circle (2011 edition), Afterword, p. 187
Charles Lindbergh1902–1974Of Flight and Life (1948)- John von Neumann1903–1957Keynote, first national ACM meeting (1947), as recalled by Franz L. Alt in Communications of the ACM 15:7 (July 1972), p. 694