Our imagination is stretched to the utmost, not, as in fiction, to imagine things which are not really there, but just to comprehend those things which are there.
There is no harm in doubt and skepticism, for it is through these that new discoveries are made.
In a way, the Nobel Prize has been something of a pain in the neck, though there was at least one time that I got some fun out of it, Shortly after I won the Prize, Gweneth and I received an invitation from the Brazilian government to be the guests of honor at the Carnaval celebrations in Rio.
Have no respect whatsoever for authority; forget who said it and instead look what he starts with, where he ends up, and ask yourself, “Is it reasonable?”
Do not read so much, look about you and think of what you see there.
If I could explain it to the average person, I wouldn’t have been worth the Nobel Prize.
There is nothing that living things do that cannot be understood from the point of view that they are made of atoms acting according to the laws of physics.
I love only nature, and I hate mathematicians.
We are never right, we can only be sure we are wrong.
A philosopher once said, ‘It is necessary for the very existence of science that the same conditions always produce the same results.’ Well, they don’t!
All mass is interaction.
I don’t believe I can really do without teaching.
You can recognize truth by its beauty and simplicity. When you get it right, it is obvious that it is right – at least if you have any experience – because usually what happens is that more comes out than goes in.
Philosophers say a great deal about what is absolutely necessary for science, and it is always, so far as one can see, rather naive, and probably wrong.
The first principle is that you must not fool yourself – and you are the easiest person to fool. So you have to be very careful about that. After you’ve not fooled yourself, it’s easy not to fool other scientists. You just have to be honest in a conventional way after that.
For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled.
Learn what the rest of the world is like. The variety is worthwhile.
There is no authority who decides what is a good idea.
Nature has a great simplicity and therefore a great beauty.
Mathematics is not just a language. Mathematics is a language plus reasoning.