Science
Robert Heinlein on Progress
“Progress isn’t made by early risers. It’s made by lazy men trying to find easier ways to do something.” Robert Heinlein, Time Enough For Love US science fiction author (1907 – 1988)
Robert Bakker on Taxes
“I want to find a voracious, small-minded predator and name it after the IRS.” Robert Bakker, paleontologist
John Sladek on the Future
“The future, according to some scientists, will be exactly like the past, only far more expensive.” John Sladek
Stephen Jay Gould on Science
“The most important scientific revolutions all include, as their only common feature, the dethronement of human arrogance from one pedestal after another of previous convictions about our centrality in the cosmos.” Stephen Jay Gould US author, naturalist, paleontologist, & popularizer of science (1941 – 2002)
Bertrand Russell on Mathematics
“Mathematics, rightly viewed, possesses not only truth, but supreme beauty – a beauty cold and austere, like that of sculpture.” Bertrand Russell British author, mathematician, & philosopher (1872 – 1970)
Albert Einstein on Future
“I never think of the future – it comes soon enough.” Albert Einstein US (German-born) physicist (1879 – 1955)
Frank Borman on Humanity and Progress
“Exploration is really the essence of the human spirit.” Frank Borman
Arthur C. Clarke on Technology
“Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” Arthur C. Clarke English physicist & science fiction author (1917 – 2008)
Albert Einstein on Education
“Intellectual growth should commence at birth and cease only at death” Albert Einstein
Arthur C. Clarke on Intelligence
“It has yet to be proven that intelligence has any survival value.” Arthur C. Clarke English physicist & science fiction author (1917 – 2008)
Philip K. Dick on Reality
“Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn’t go away.” Philip K. Dick, How to Build a Universe That Doesn’t Fall Apart Two Days Later, 1978 US science fiction author (1928 – 1982)
Albert Einstein on Imagination
“Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we now know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be to know and understand.” Albert Einstein
Rene Descartes on Truth
“If you would be a real seeker after truth, it is necessary that at least once in your life you doubt, as far as possible, all things.” Rene Descartes French mathematician & philosopher (1596 – 1650)
Albert Einstein on Art and Science
“The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science.” Albert Einstein US (German-born) physicist (1879 – 1955)
H. P. Lovecraft Cynical Quote
“The most merciful thing in the world, I think, is the inability of the human mind to correlate all its contents.” H. P. Lovecraft, “The Call of Cthulhu”, first line US horror & supernatural author (1890 – 1937)
Isaac Asimov on Science
The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new discoveries, is not ‘Eureka!’ but ‘That’s funny… ‘ Isaac Asimov
Martin Luther King Jr. on Science
“Our scientific power has outrun our spiritual power. We have guided missiles and misguided men.” Martin Luther King Jr., Strength to Love, 1963 US black civil rights leader & clergyman (1929 – 1968)
Carl Sagan on Science
“I maintain there is much more wonder in science than in pseudoscience. And in addition, to whatever measure this term has any meaning, science has the additional virtue, and it is not an inconsiderable one, of being true.” Carl Sagan US astronomer & popularizer of astronomy (1934 – 1996)
Louis Pasteur on Education
“Fortune favors the prepared mind.” Louis Pasteur
Clive James on Technology
“It is only when they go wrong that machines remind you how powerful they are.” Clive James
Thomas A. Edison
“To invent, you need a good imagination and a pile of junk.” Thomas A. Edison US inventor (1847 – 1931)
Bill Watterson on Intelligent Life
“Sometimes I think the surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that none of it has tried to contact us.” Bill Watterson, cartoonist, Calvin and Hobbes US cartoonist (1958 – )
Albert Einstein on Science
“Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” Albert Einstein, (attributed) US (German-born) physicist (1879 – 1955)
Isaac Asimov on Computers
“Part of the inhumanity of the computer is that, once it is competently programmed and working smoothly, it is completely honest.” Isaac Asimov US science fiction novelist & scholar (1920 – 1992)
Douglas Adams on Society
“Nothing travels faster than light, with the possible exception of bad news, which follows its own rules” Douglas Adams
Neil Armstrong on Mystery
“Mystery creates wonder and wonder is the basis of man’s desire to understand.” Neil Armstrong (1930 – 2012) Apollo 11 astronaut, first man on the Moon.
Blore’s Razor
“Given a choice between two theories, take the one which is funnier.” Blore’s Razor
Douglas Adams on Space
“Space is big. You just won’t believe how vastly, hugely, mind- bogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it’s a long way down the road to the chemist’s, but that’s just peanuts to space.” Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy English humorist & science fiction novelist (1952 – 2001)
Albert Einstein on Education
“I never teach my pupils. I only attempt to provide the conditions in which they can learn.” Albert Einstein US (German-born) physicist (1879 – 1955)
R. Buckminster Fuller on Technology
“Humanity is acquiring all the right technology for all the wrong reasons.” R. Buckminster Fuller US architect & engineer (1895 – 1983)
Marie Curie on Understanding
“Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less.” Marie Skłodowska-Curie Polish chemist & physicist (1867 – 1934)
Ambrose Bierce on Science
“There is nothing new under the sun but there are lots of old things we don’t know.” Ambrose Bierce, The Devil’s Dictionary US author & satirist (1842 – 1914)
Poul Anderson on Problems
“I have yet to see any problem, however complicated, which, when you looked at it in the right way, did not become still more complicated.” Poul Anderson US science fiction author (1926 – 2001)
Evan Esar on Statistics
“Statistics: The only science that enables different experts using the same figures to draw different conclusions.” Evan Esar, Esar’s Comic Dictionary American Humorist (1899 – 1995)
Albert Einstein on Science
“The important thing is not to stop questioning.” Albert Einstein US (German-born) physicist (1879 – 1955)
Frank Herbert on Knowledge
“The beginning of knowledge is the discovery of something we do not understand.” Frank Herbert US science fiction novelist (1920 – 1986)
Albert Einstein on Logic and Imagination
“Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere.” Albert Einstein
Marie Curie on Science & Understanding
“Nothing in life is to be feared. It is only to be understood.” Marie Skłodowska-Curie Polish chemist & physicist (1867 – 1934)
Frank Wilczek on Physics
“In physics, you don’t have to go around making trouble for yourself – nature does it for you.” Frank Wilczek American physicist (1951 – )
Douglas Adams on the Universe
“There is a theory which states that if ever anybody discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable. There is another theory which states that this has already happened.” Douglas Adams English humorist & science fiction novelist (1952 – 2001)
Albert Einstein on Humanity
“Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I’m not sure about the former.” Albert Einstein
Neil Armstrong’s Famous Quote
“This is one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.” Neil Armstrong (1930 – 2012) Apollo 11 astronaut, first man on the Moon.
Carl Sagan on Intelligence
“The fact that some geniuses were laughed at does not imply that all who are laughed at are geniuses. They laughed at Columbus, they laughed at Fulton, they laughed at the Wright brothers. But they also laughed at Bozo the Clown.” Carl Sagan US astronomer & popularizer of astronomy (1934 – 1996)
Isaac Newton on Science
“If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.” Isaac Newton, Letter to Robert Hooke, February 5, 1675 English mathematician & physicist (1642 – 1727)
Frank Herbert on Science Fiction
“The function of science fiction is not always to predict the future but sometimes to prevent it.” Frank Herbert US science fiction novelist (1920 – 1986)
Isaac Asimov on Computers
“I do not fear computers. I fear the lack of them.” Isaac Asimov
Albert Einstein on Wisdom at Solving Problems
“The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them.” Albert Einstein
Peter Borden on Science
“Most advances in science come when a person for one reason or another is forced to change fields.” Peter Borden
Albert Einstein on Love
“Gravitation cannot be held responsible for people falling in love. How on earth can you explain in terms of chemistry and physics so important a biological phenomenon as first love? Put your hand on a stove for a minute and it seems like an hour. Sit with that special girl for an hour and it seems like a minute. That’s relativity.” Albert Einstein
Marjorie Stoneman Douglas on the Future
“The future lies in the strength with which people can set their powers of creation against their impulses for destruction. Perhaps this is the unending frontier.” Marjorie Stoneman Douglas
Freeman Dyson on Technology
“Technology is a gift of God. After the gift of life it is perhaps the greatest of God’s gifts. It is the mother of civilizations, of arts and of sciences.” Freeman Dyson
Carl Sagan on Imagination
“Imagination will often carry us to worlds that never were. But without it we go nowhere.” Carl Sagan
Peter Ustinov on Science
“If the world should blow itself up, the last audible voice would be that of an expert saying it can’t be done.” Peter Ustinov English actor & author (1921 – 2004)
Nikola Tesla on Science
“Today’s scientists have substituted mathematics for experiments, and they wander off through equation after equation, and eventually build a structure which has no relation to reality.” Nikola Tesla, Modern Mechanics and Inventions, July, 1934 US (Serbian-born) electrical inventor (1857 – 1943)
Louis Pasteur on Science
“There are no such things as applied sciences, only applications of science.” Louis Pasteur French biologist & bacteriologist (1822 – 1895)
Arthur C. Clarke on Science Fiction
“Politicians should read science fiction, not westerns and detective stories.” Arthur C. Clarke English physicist & science fiction author (1917 – 2008)
Richard Feynman on Science
“I believe that a scientist looking at nonscientific problems is just as dumb as the next guy.” Richard Feynman US educator & physicist (1918 – 1988)
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle on Science
“I never guess. It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts.” Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, The Sign of Four, A Scandal in Bohemia British mystery author & physician (1859 – 1930)
Sir Arthur Eddington on the Universe
“Not only is the universe stranger than we imagine, it is stranger than we can imagine.” Sir Arthur Eddington English astronomer (1882 – 1944)
William Gibson on Futurism
“The future is here. It’s just not widely distributed yet.” William Gibson US science fiction novelist in Canada (1948 – )