1323 quotes by physicists for you to enjoy

I've always loved science, as far back as I can remember. I was very, very curious about how everything worked: the world, the physical universe, chemistry, law. So it was only natural to be curious about how our mind works. Leonard Mlodinow

I find that predicting the course of our lives is like predicting the weather. You might be able to predict your future in the short term, but the longer you look ahead, the less likely you are to be correct. Leonard Mlodinow

We should keep in mind that it is easy to concoct stories explaining the past or to become confident about dubious scenarios of the future. We should view both explanations and prophecies with skepticism. Leonard Mlodinow

Future Mind Become Past Easy About Scenarios Prophecy Both Dubious Confident Stories Explaining Skepticism Explanations Should View Keep

In all our perceptions, from vision to hearing, to the pictures we build of people's character, our unconscious mind starts from whatever objective data is available to us - usually spotty - and helps to shape and construct the more complete picture we consciously perceive. Leonard Mlodinow

Character People Vision Mind Picture Build Whatever Starts Complete Our Perceive Objective Data Perceptions More Construct Shape Unconscious Unconscious Mind Pictures Hearing Available Us Helps

Touch seems to be such an important tool for enhancing social cooperation and affiliation that we have evolved a special physical route along which those subliminal feelings of social connection travel from skin to brain. Leonard Mlodinow

Touch is our most highly developed sense when we are born, and it remains a fundamental mode of communication throughout a baby's first year and an important influence throughout a person's life. Leonard Mlodinow

Life Communication First Important Year Sense Baby Our Born Touch Remains Throughout Developed Highly Most Mode Person Influence Fundamental

Every aspect of our lives plays out in two versions: one conscious, which we are constantly aware of, and the other unconscious, which remains hidden from us. Leonard Mlodinow

Every Other Our Our Lives Hidden Out Constantly Remains Unconscious Versions Which Us Aspect Aware Lives Conscious Two Plays

Whether it's fiction or nonfiction, writing takes me to another world. Leonard Mlodinow

Me Writing World Takes Another Nonfiction Fiction Fiction Writing Whether

Whatever I've worked on, I've always tried to make my writing personal. I think that's what makes my books somewhat different from what other scientists are doing. You have to tie concepts into everyday life, or they just won't be interesting for readers. Leonard Mlodinow

Life You Writing Everyday Life Whatever Think Other Everyday Books Tried Somewhat Concepts Make Tie Readers Makes Always Doing Scientists Personal Just Different Interesting Worked

I did not come from an academic background. My father was a smart man, but he had a fifth-grade education. He and all his friends were plumbers. They were all born around 1905 in great poverty in New York City and had to go to work when they were 12 or 13 years old. Leonard Susskind

Work Education Great Man Smart Old Father Poverty Background City Born Had He Smart Man New Come Academic Around Go Were His Years Friends Did York New York New York City

Science to me is sufficiently weird and interesting, and stranger than fiction. Leonard Susskind

Me Science Weird Than Fiction Interesting Stranger Sufficiently

I was from a poor Jewish family in the South Bronx. My father was a plumber, but when I was 16, he got sick and I had to take over. Being a plumber in the South Bronx wasn't fun. Leonard Susskind

Family Father Sick Bronx Plumber Take Had He Over Got South South Bronx Being Poor Fun Jewish

Science blogs bore me. When everyone is an expert, no one is an expert. Leonard Susskind

Me Science Everyone Bore No-One Blogs Expert

I'm afraid I am a bit of a technophobe - a nineteenth-century man caught in the twenty-first century. But there is one piece of technology that I would especially welcome: a device to automatically balance restaurant tables on all four legs so that they don't rock back and forth. Leonard Susskind

I went to college because my father thought that I should learn engineering, because he wanted to go into the heating business with me. There, I realized I wanted to be a physicist. I had to tell him, which was a somewhat traumatic experience. Leonard Susskind

Space can vibrate, space can fluctuate, space can be quantum mechanical, but what the devil is it? And, you know, everybody has their own idea about what it is, but there's no coherent final consensus on why there is space. Leonard Susskind

You Space Devil Own Fluctuate Everybody Final About Idea Know Quantum Vibrate Mechanical Why Consensus Coherent

I often feel a discomfort, a kind of embarrassment, when I explain elementary-particle physics to laypeople. It all seems so arbitrary - the ridiculous collection of fundamental particles, the lack of pattern to their masses. Leonard Susskind

Physics Embarrassment Kind Collection Arbitrary Seems Feel Particles Masses Discomfort Lack Often Pattern Explain Ridiculous Fundamental

Is the universe 'elegant,' as Brian Greene tells us? Not as far as I can tell, not the usual laws of particle physics, anyway. I think I might find the universal principles of String Theory most elegant - if I only knew what they were. Leonard Susskind

Physics Think Universe String String Theory Tell Tells Find Laws Only Knew Particle Most Principles Were As Far As Anyway Might Far Us Brian Theory Usual Elegant Universal

You are a victim of your own neural architecture which doesn't permit you to imagine anything outside of three dimensions. Even two dimensions. People know they can't visualise four or five dimensions, but they think they can close their eyes and see two dimensions. But they can't. Leonard Susskind

You Eyes People Architecture Three Own Victim Think Dimensions Visualise See Neural Outside Know Permit Close Five Anything Which Your Even Four Two Imagine

At 5 years old, I saw 'Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein,' and I was so scared when Costello sat himself down in the lap of the monster, not realizing where he was. My friends teased me. They were older, 8 years old. And my goal was to become a mad scientist and get back at them. And here I am, mad as hell! Leonard Susskind

Me Old Become Hell Down Older Meet Monster Back Saw Frankenstein Mad Scared Costello He Himself Am Scientist Were Years Goal Friends Get Where Them Realizing Lap Sat Teased Here

Quotes by Physicists