Murray Gell-Mann

"Technology is a tool; it is how we use it that matters."

"A life without curiosity is a life half-lived."

"The great thing about science is that it's self-correcting. Bad ideas eventually get weeded out."

"Nature isn't just appealing to us as scenery - it's actually essential to our continued existence on this planet."

"I think it is a matter of some importance to keep in mind that we are not very good at predicting the future."

"The job of a theoretical physicist is to think about the deepest questions of nature."

"Reductionism is useful, but it's not the only way to understand complex systems."

"What we know is just the tiniest island in an infinite ocean of undiscovered things."

"The universe seems to be made of quarks and electrons interacting through forces."

"Consistency is important in science, but it shouldn't prevent us from exploring new ideas."

"People often mistake the map for the territory - the description for the thing itself."

"Understanding the universe requires both mathematical precision and philosophical humility."

"The fundamental laws of physics are elegant, which is why we believe them."

"Language shapes how we think about the world, sometimes helpfully and sometimes not."

"Humans have this remarkable ability to find patterns, even where none exist."

"The history of science is littered with confident predictions that turned out to be wrong."

"One should not work on semiconductors, that is a filthy mess; who knows whether they really exist."

"Strangeness minus three equals baryon number plus hypercharge."

"The word 'quark' came from James Joyce's Finnegans Wake - a three-quark day."

"Simplicity and elegance are hallmarks of truly fundamental physics."

"We should distinguish between the way things are and the way we describe them."

"The universe is stranger than we imagine, and stranger than we can imagine."

"Success in science comes from asking the right questions, not just finding answers."

"Symmetry is one of the deepest principles in understanding nature."

"Education should teach people to think critically, not just memorize facts."

"The challenge of science is to explain complex phenomena with simple principles."

"We are made of stardust, and this should make us humble about our place in the cosmos."

"Mutations are essential for evolution, even though most are harmful to individuals."

"The mind of a physicist works differently than that of a poet, yet both see truth."

"There is no royal road to success - only patient accumulation of knowledge."