31 quotes
We must learn to live with contradictions, because they lead to deeper and more effective understanding.
There's no system foolproof enough to defeat a sufficiently great fool.
Total security has never been available to anyone. To expect it is unrealistic; to imagine that it can exist is to invite disaster.
The Pursuit of Simplicity (1981)
I believe in evil. It is the property of all those who are certain of truth. Despair and fanaticism are only differing manifestations of evil.
The eyes of childhood are magnifying lenses.
Memoirs : A Twentieth Century Journey in Science and Politics (2001)
If we stay strong, then I believe we can stabilize the world and have peace based on force.
It is not even impossible to imagine that the effects of an atomic war fought with greatly perfected weapons and pushed by the utmost determination will endanger the survival of man.
The preservation of peace and the improvement of the lot of all people require us to have faith in the rationality of humans.
The Pursuit of Simplicity (1981)
I do not think that this peace based on force is, can be, or should be, an ultimate end.
Among the people who knew a great deal about the hydrogen bomb, I was the only advocate of it. And that is, I think, my contribution.
I believe in excellence. It is a basic need of every human soul. All of us can be excellent, because, fortunately, we are exceedingly diverse in our ambitions and talents.
When you fight for a desperate cause and have good reasons to fight, you usually win.
Two paradoxes are better than one; they may even suggest a solution.
Conversations on the Dark Secrets of Physics (1991)
There is no case where ignorance should be preferred to knowledge — especially if the knowledge is terrible.
Forbidden Knowledge : From Prometheus to Pornography (1996)
I believe that no endeavor that is worthwhile is simple in prospect; if it is right, it will be simple in retrospect.
Physics is, hopefully, simple. Physicists are not.
Conversations on the Dark Secrets of Physics (1991)
But when the temperature does rise by a few degrees over the whole globe, there is a possibility that the icecaps will start melting and the level of the oceans will begin to rise.
Today's science is tomorrow's technology.
The Legacy of Hiroshima (1962)
I hate doubt, yet I am certain that doubt is the only way to approach anything worth believing in.
The idea of God that I absorbed was that it would be wonderful if He existed: We needed Him desperately but had not seen Him in many thousands of years.
Memoirs: A Twentieth Century Journey In Science And Politics (2002)