Weyl, Hermann

"The truth is rarely pure and never simple, yet we must pursue it with all our might."

"One should as a rule respect public opinion in so far as is necessary to avoid starvation and to keep out of prison, but anything that goes beyond this is voluntary submission to an unnecessary tyranny."

"The most important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing."

"Beauty and truth in mathematics are not mere ornaments but essential to understanding."

"Knowledge becomes genuine and alive in our hands only when it passes through the process of our active thinking."

"The eternal mystery of the world is its comprehensibility; that it is comprehensible is a miracle."

"Physical science will not console me for the ignorance of morality in the time of adversity."

"I believe that the ability to deal with abstraction is the hallmark of human thought."

"One cannot escape the feeling that these mathematical formulas have an independent existence and an intelligence of their own."

"The insight into the nature of things that mathematics affords is beyond compare."

"We must abandon the idea that schooling is something restricted to youth. Life itself, if we are to live it fully, is a continuous process of learning."

"The principles of justice should guide all human actions, especially those wielding power."

"Symmetry, as wide or as narrow as you may define its meaning, is one idea by which man through the ages has tried to comprehend and create order, beauty, and perfection."

"Time as we perceive it is but a human construction, useful yet ultimately illusory."

"The profoundest connection between mathematics and nature remains one of the great mysteries."

"What can be more important than the laws by which we live and think?"

"I would like to contribute to the establishment of the fact that a spiritual worldview is compatible with natural science."

"The task of mathematics is to recognize permanent patterns even amid perpetual change."

"Art and science are not antithetical but complementary expressions of human understanding."

"A single idea, if pursued with dedication, can illuminate entire domains of knowledge."

"The universe speaks in the language of mathematics, and we are fortunate enough to be able to listen."

"Patience in learning is the gateway to genuine understanding."

"The mind that can comprehend the infinite contains within it a spark of the divine."

"History teaches us that power without principle leads inevitably to corruption."

"Music is the hidden arithmetic of the soul, as is mathematics the hidden music of reason."

"The greatest achievements come not from rigid adherence to rules but from creative transcendence of them."

"To love truth above all things is to free oneself from the tyranny of opinion."

"The complexity of nature demands humility from those who would explain it."

"In the face of the infinite, we are all equally ignorant; yet this should inspire rather than discourage us."

"The essence of democracy is not majority rule but respect for the dignity of each person."