Heisenberg, Werner

"The difficulty is not in the new ideas, but in escaping from the old ones."

"One should be suspicious of statements that the answer to some deep problem is obvious."

"An idea that is not dangerous is unworthy of being called an idea at all."

"Quantum mechanics makes absolutely no sense."

"I often think in music. I live my daydreams in music."

"The first step is to measure whatever can be easily measured. This is okay as far as it goes."

"Anybody who comes to a physicist and says he has a universal theory and wants to discuss the theory, well, such a person should look out."

"The atoms are in the final analysis mathematical entities."

"It is the tension between creativity and skepticism that has produced the stunning and unexpected findings of science."

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

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

"In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity."

"The possibility of going back to a state definitely passes over into a reality after the observation has been made."

"One cannot determine simultaneously with the accuracy the position and velocity of an electron."

"The more success the quantum theory has, the sillier it looks."

"What we observe is not nature per se, but nature exposed to our questioning."

"You see, the fundamental principle of science is that you must not fool yourself, and the easiest person to fool is yourself."

"God runs the show but does not throw dice."

"I have found that it is very useful to assume that the whole of nature is intelligent."

"The problem in physics is that we have too many answers."

"The physical picture is not the reality itself."

"Heisenberg by comparison, had the physics and the culture of the physics right."

"All science is dominated by the idea of approximation."

"The first gulp from the glass of natural science will turn you into an atheist."

"What can be stated can be stated clearly; what cannot be stated clearly should not be stated at all."

"The more we try to clarify things, the more confused we become."

"In the language of Bohr, one says the atom has no reality."

"One should respect all religions and not interfere with them."

"The human mind makes new meanings every day."

"I believe in intuition and inspiration."