Enrico Fermi

"The future of humanity depends on our ability to think beyond our current limitations."

"A scientist's greatest achievement is not in finding answers, but in learning to ask better questions."

"The effort to understand the universe is one of the very few things that lifts human life a little above the level of farce, and gives it some of the grace of tragedy."

"Never underestimate the power of human stupidity, especially when it comes in large numbers."

"If I could remember the names of all these particles, I would have been a botanist."

"Science is a way of thinking much more than it is a body of knowledge."

"The best way to predict the future is to invent it."

"God is subtle, but he is not malicious."

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

"Wisdom is not the accumulation of facts, but the understanding of principles."

"A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new."

"The important thing is not to stop questioning."

"Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana."

"Creativity is the residue of time wasted."

"We are all ignorant, just about different things."

"The constant tension between creativity and skepticism is the unfailing hallmark of a rational mind."

"I like to have a reason for my opinions."

"Whatever doesn't happen is impossible. Even the things that do happen are so improbable that, if you really thought about it hard enough, you couldn't believe your luck."

"The only way to do great work is to love what you do."

"Nature is not only queerer than we suppose, but queerer than we can suppose."

"Where are they?"

"The effort to understand the universe is one of the very few things that lifts human life a little above the level of farce."

"I never realized something so simple could be so profound."

"Truth is stranger than fiction because fiction has to make sense."

"The world is a complex place, yet it follows simple rules."

"When you make a mistake, don't look back at it long. It's just as well to go on and do the next thing."

"If you are unable to state something in simple terms, you don't understand it."

"Success is not final, failure is not fatal; it is the courage to continue that counts."

"Never underestimate the power of nature to humiliate us."

"A theory that cannot be explained to a beginner cannot be any good."