John Wheeler

"Leadership is showing others a path of understanding."

"Literature reflects the puzzles we all face."

"History shows us that today's mysteries become tomorrow's certainties."

"Art and science are two ways of understanding the same reality."

"Music is mathematics made audible."

"Faith in the comprehensibility of nature is the foundation of science."

"The universe is a self-excited circuit."

"Time is what prevents everything from happening at once."

"We are participators in bringing into being not only the near and here but the far away and long ago."

"No phenomenon is a phenomenon until it is a registered phenomenon."

"Behind it all is surely an idea so simple, so beautiful, that when we grasp it—in a decade, a century, or a millennium—we will say to each other, how could it have been otherwise?"

"The most incomprehensible thing about the world is that it is comprehensible."

"We live on an island of knowledge surrounded by a sea of ignorance."

"It is often stated that of all the theories proposed in this century, the silliest is quantum mechanics. In fact, some say that if quantum mechanics hasn't profoundly shocked you, you haven't understood it."

"Consciousness is part of the Universe, and it should be part of physics."

"Reality is created by the observer."

"Everything is information."

"The quantum principle shows that observation affects what is observed."

"Great problems come from not understanding what you're working on."

"You have to understand how nature works, not just accept what you're told."

"The universe is strange, and it should be if observation plays a role in its creation."

"Never make a calculation until you know the answer."

"What we call reality is a web of relationships."

"The nature of space and time are clues to the nature of consciousness."

"Information is the fundamental stuff of creation."

"All physics is local physics."

"Don't think about what's difficult; just do what's natural."

"The law of nature is the law of mind."

"Beauty and power lie in understanding simplicity."

"Physics is really nothing more than a search for ultimate simplicity."