Bohr, Niels

"Truth and clarity go hand in hand."

"Nature isn't classical, dammit, and if you want to make a simulation of nature, you'd better make it quantum mechanical."

"Our task must be to free ourselves by widening our circle of compassion."

"Measurement affects the system being measured."

"In physics, you don't have to go around making trouble for yourself—nature does it for you."

"Anybody who is not shocked by quantum theory has not understood it."

"The existence of life in the universe depends upon a certain delicate balance of physical constants."

"Questions concerning scientific method and philosophical interpretation are inseparable."

"We cannot know, as a matter of principle, the present in all its details."

"The chemistry of life is phosphorus chemistry."

"To describe atomic events one must use a language which refers to experiments and their results."

"Even for the physicist the description in plain language will be a criterion of the degree of understanding that has been reached."

"Complementarity is indeed the heart of the interpretation of quantum mechanics."

"The task of theory is not to produce formulas, but to establish relationships between observable quantities."

"In every aspect of life, there are laws and principles to be discovered and understood."

"We must be clear that when it comes to atoms, language can be used only as in poetry."

"The first principle is that you must not fool yourself—and you are the easiest person to fool."

"Those who say it cannot be done should not interrupt those doing it."

"In general, we look for a new law by the following process: first we guess it, then we compute the consequences, and then we compare with nature, or with experiment or experience."

"A physicist is just an atom's way of looking at itself."

"The task is not to accumulate more facts but to develop better concepts."

"In the description of nature the purpose is not to disclose the real essence of the phenomena but only to track down so far as it is possible the interdependence of the manifold aspects of experience."

"What is significant is not the change of attitude in this or that individual, but rather the change which has taken place in scientific thought as a whole."

"Life is not about accumulating possessions, but about accumulating experiences and understanding."

"When you get older, you realize there are no answers, only cross-examinations."

"One should not think of separate compartments of knowledge, but rather of a unified body of understanding."

"The paradoxes of quantum mechanics arise from trying to think of atoms as if they were small mechanical systems."

"The greatest scientific minds maintain a healthy sense of humility about nature's mysteries."

"We must abandon the hope of a complete physical picture of nature."

"Every sentence I utter must be understood not as an affirmation, but as a question."