Werner Heisenberg

"I think that quantum mechanics has taught us more than any other theory about the nature of light."

"The measurement problem is at the heart of all quantum mechanical paradoxes."

"The existence of the photon cannot be doubted, even though its properties are paradoxical."

"In modern physics we have learned that nature cannot be described by a complete set of commuting variables."

"The atoms are permanent, but their arrangement is constantly changing."

"What we call physical objects are really patterns of energy."

"The greatest impact of physics on our civilization has been in the domain of warfare."

"I have always been troubled by the gap between the mathematical theory and the physical interpretation."

"We must abandon the classical notion that nature operates according to predetermined laws."

"The first principle is that you must not fool yourself, and you are the easiest person to fool."

"What we observe is not nature itself, but nature exposed to our method of questioning."

"An expert is a person who has made all the mistakes that can be made in his field."

"The atoms or elementary particles themselves are not real; they form a world of potentialities."

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

"What cannot be said clearly, cannot be said at all."

"In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity."

"The transition from the possible to the actual takes place as soon as the interaction with the measuring device occurs."

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

"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."

"What we learn is that the world presents itself as a multitude of possibilities."

"The atoms will have to be described as mathematical abstractions."

"The first gulp from the glass of natural sciences will turn you into an atheist, but God is waiting for you at the bottom of the glass."

"Quantum mechanics will forever remind us that the universe is far stranger than our intuitions."

"What you really have to do is to try the experiment of life yourself."

"Part of nature is imagination."

"The physicist only has the task of describing the connection between impressions."

"Man can embody truth but he cannot know it."

"Beauty is truth and truth is beauty."

"The idea of absolute time does not work well with the requirements of relativity."

"Science is the belief in the ignorance of experts."