True greatness is measured by how much freedom you give to others, not by how much you can coerce others to do what you want.
Do, or do not. There is no 'try'.
There are 1011 stars in the galaxy. That used to be a huge number. But it's only a hundred billion. It's less than the national deficit! We used to call them astronomical numbers. Now we should call them economical numbers.
Science is facts; just as houses are made of stones, so is science made of facts; but a pile of stones is not a house and a collection of facts is not necessarily science.
When a man sits with a pretty girl for an hour, it seems like a minute. But let him sit on a hot stove for a minute and it's longer than any hour. That's relativity.
Space isn't remote at all. It's only an hour's drive away if your car could go straight upwards.
The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new discoveries, is not "Eureka!" (I found it) but "That's funny..."
There is an infinite set A that is not too big.
I am too good for philosophy and not good enough for physics. Mathematics is in between.
It doesn't matter how beautiful your theory is, it doesn't matter how smart you are. If it doesn't agree with experiment, it's wrong.
The best way to have a good idea is to have a lot of ideas.
Facts are the air of scientists. Without them you can never fly.
Satisfaction of one's curiosity is one of the greatest sources of happiness in life.
The Earth is the cradle of humanity, but mankind cannot stay in the cradle forever.
We live on an island surrounded by a sea of ignorance. As our island of knowledge grows, so does the shore of our ignorance.
Prime numbers are meant to be multiplied, not added.
Langevin equation gives you a way to look at the world. You separate it into systematic and random parts.
You can't tweak zero.
Knowledge is of no value unless you put it into practice.
Only entropy comes easy.
Conciseness is the sister of talent.
All the fifty years of conscious brooding have bought me no close to the answer to the question: what are light quanta? of course today every rascal thinks he knows the answer but he is deluding himself.
Product of optimism and knowledge is a constant.
Most important part of doing physics is the knowledge of approximation.
Money is in the exponent. And exponent needs to be calculated precisely.
Жрец науки?! Это тот, кто жрет за счет науки.
We are never right, we can only be sure we are wrong.
There are theoretical physicists who imagine, deduce, and guess at new laws, but do not experiment; and then there are experimental physicists who experiment, imagine, deduce, and guess.
Nature only uses the longest threads to weave her pattern, so that each small piece of her fabric reveals the organization of the entire tapestry.
Развитие математики напоминает быстрое вращение колеса, брызги с которого летят во все стороны. Мода – это струя, уходящая от основной траектории по касательной. Эти струи эпигонских работ всего заметнее, и в них основная часть массы, но они неизбежно погибают через некоторое время, оторвавшись от колеса. Чтобы остаться на колесе, нужно все время прилагать усилия в направлении, перпендикулярном общему потоку.
