Enrico Fermi

"Ideas are like diamonds—they are often found buried deep and must be dug out with effort."

"The greatest challenge is not in understanding the universe, but in understanding why humans are so often irrational."

"I believe the biggest scientific adventure still lies ahead of us."

"Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished."

"The test of an intellectual is whether he can hold two contradictory ideas and not go mad."

"Every good science teacher has an obligation to inspire wonder in the minds of young people."

"If you ask a scientist what he does, he will say the same thing: I observe, I hypothesize, I test, I refine."

"The world is full of problems waiting to be solved by people who refuse to accept the conventional wisdom."

"Luck is a science like any other, if you prepare for opportunity when it comes."

"I would rather have a single good idea and see it through than have a thousand mediocre ideas and abandon them all."

"The brain is like a muscle—the more you use it, the stronger it becomes."

"Truth is not what you want it to be; it is what it is, and you must bend yourself to understand it."

"In physics, the elegant solution is often the correct one."

"A scientist must have the humility to admit what he does not know and the courage to pursue what he suspects."

"The universe is not hostile, nor yet is it friendly. It is simply indifferent."

"I love the simplicity of a well-posed question and the complexity of a complete answer."

"Democracy requires informed citizens, and science education is essential for an informed citizenry."

"One should not worry about matters one cannot change; one should focus on those one can."

"The most profound discoveries often come when you stop trying so hard and just observe."

"A good scientist is one who listens more than he speaks."

"The future belongs to those who can imagine it and then build it."

"In the face of great mysteries, we must maintain both wonder and reason."

"Perfection in science is not the destination; it is the direction."

"The best experiments are those that teach you something unexpected."

"If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough."

"Nature reveals its secrets only to those patient enough to observe them carefully."

"The scientific enterprise depends not just on brilliant minds, but on a culture of open inquiry."

"One must be willing to be wrong as a precondition for being right."

"The universe is both stranger and more wonderful than any fiction we could imagine."

"Science is the one human endeavor that has consistently corrected its own mistakes."