Weyl, Hermann

"Strength of character enables one to revise beliefs in light of new evidence."

"Fear of the unknown has been overcome by countless brave explorers of nature."

"Power over nature comes through understanding its laws, not through force."

"Wealth without intellectual engagement leads to impoverishment of spirit."

"Health of mind and body supports the rigorous work of intellectual inquiry."

"Mathematics is the science of the infinite, its goal the symbolic comprehension of the infinite with human, that is, finite, means."

"The principle of relativity asserts something very fundamental about the world: that there is no absolute frame of reference, only relative motion."

"Beauty and truth meet in the pursuit of mathematical understanding."

"One should as a rule respect public opinion in so far as is necessary to avoid starvation and to prevent one's work from being suppressed, but anything that goes beyond this is voluntary submission to an unnecessary tyranny."

"The fact that religions have changed, divided, and flourished, proving themselves incompatible with one another, should warn us against taking any of them literally."

"The laws of physics are the canvas God laid down on which to paint his masterpiece."

"In these days of rampant specialization, it is refreshing to be reminded that some of the greatest minds in history were generalists."

"Time is what prevents everything from happening at once; space is what prevents everything from happening to us."

"The most important principle for the development of a new science is to permit, indeed encourage, the free exchange of ideas."

"Mathematics penetrates all of being like an invisible architecture."

"My work is an attempt to translate the symphony of nature into mathematical form."

"Symmetry is the idea which man through the ages has continually grasped at; it is only half successfully grasped that it has been the most potent principle for the understanding of nature."

"In the end, we are all passengers on the same ship of civilization, and it behooves us to understand the course we are taking."

"The unity of knowledge is not a gift but a challenge we must continually strive to meet."

"Freedom cannot exist without the courage to question received authority."

"The measure of a civilization is not how it treats its greatest scientists, but how it treats its weakest members."

"In mathematics, we find the keys to unlock the deepest secrets of the universe."

"To those who say science has no place for ethics, I respond that ethics has no foundation without science."

"The beauty of mathematics lies not in its applications, but in its truthfulness."

"One must learn to think abstractly, for abstraction is the language in which nature speaks."

"The pursuit of truth is the highest calling of the human intellect."

"In every act of creation, there is both destruction and renewal."

"The best preparation for the future is to understand the past with the clarity of mathematics."

"Mathematics is the most objective form of human expression yet devised."

"A mind that has come to appreciate the elegance of mathematical proof can never again be satisfied with mere opinion."