Max Planck

"In the quantum realm, particles and waves are not contradictory but complementary aspects of a deeper reality."

"The universe's elegance lies not in simplicity but in the extraordinary power of simple principles."

"A life devoted to understanding nature is a life well-spent, regardless of practical applications."

"The quantum of action, that fundamental unit I discovered, connects the physical world to the realm of mathematics."

"Nature speaks to us through mathematics—those who learn this language can read her deepest secrets."

"What we call luck in science is often the prepared mind encountering the unexpected observation."

"The evolution of scientific thought mirrors the evolution of consciousness itself."

"Every answer nature gives us leads inevitably to deeper and more profound questions."

"The relationship between observer and observed is not a mere technicality but a fundamental feature of reality."

"The task is not so much to see what no one has yet seen, but to think what nobody has yet thought about that which everybody sees."

"Science cannot solve the ultimate mystery of nature because in the attempt to formulate the problems of physics in terms of mathematics, we are constrained to use words of everyday language which are grouped around experiences of the middle dimensions of nature."

"A new scientific truth does not triumph by convincing its opponents and making them see the light, but rather because its opponents eventually die and a new generation grows up that is familiar with it."

"The scientist only imposes two things, namely truth and sincerity, imposes them everywhere and upon himself as the first."

"I regard consciousness as fundamental. I regard matter as derivative from consciousness."

"The atom is pure thought; matter is derived from mind."

"Anybody who has been seriously engaged in scientific work of any kind realizes that over the entrance to the gates of the temple of science are written the words: 'You must have faith.'"

"Man can understand nature, and he is part of nature. He is not separated from nature and therefore man is able to understand those laws by which he himself is governed."

"All matter originates and exists only by virtue of a force which brings the particles of an atom to vibration and holds this most minute solar system of the atom together."

"Science, however, has progressed just as far as it has because it has refused to explain phenomena by ascribing them to the divine will."

"An important scientific innovation rarely makes its way by gradually winning over and converting its opponents: it rarely happens that Saul becomes Paul. What does happen is that its opponents gradually die out, and that the growing generation is familiarized with the ideas from the beginning."

"I am now convinced that theoretical physics is actual philosophy."

"The recognition of the reality of the atomic world was one of the greatest intellectual triumphs of the nineteenth century."

"Nature does not bargain with us, it simply reveals its secrets to those who approach with the right questions."

"The fact that we can devise orderly schemes which express natural laws testifies to the underlying rationality of creation itself."

"Every physicist who has become saturated with the study of science is convinced that a spirit is manifest in the laws of the Universe—a spirit vastly superior to that of man."

"We cannot take the sciences as a subject of mathematical or physical investigation; all we can do is to describe the state of our knowledge at any given moment."

"If you wish to find the secrets of the universe, think in terms of energy, frequency and vibration."

"The peace of mind of a man who has done his duty is the noblest reward that virtue can offer."

"Anybody who has been seriously engaged in scientific work of any kind realises that over the entrance to the gates of the temple of science are written the words: 'You must have faith. This is a fundamental quality which the scientist cannot dispense with."

"The scientist's religious feeling takes the form of a rapturous amazement at the harmony of natural law."