24 quotes
It is not the possession of truth, but the success which attends the seeking after it, that enriches the seeker and brings happiness to him.
Where is Science Going? (1932)
Science cannot solve the ultimate mystery of nature. And that is because, in the last analysis, we ourselves are part of nature and therefore part of the mystery that we are trying to solve.
Where is Science Going? (1932)
The energy and entropy of the world have no meaning, because such quantities admit of no accurate definition.
To believe in science, one must believe in the rationality of the world.
We have no right to assume that any physical laws exist, or if they have existed up to now, that they will continue to exist in a similar manner in the future.
The Universe in the Light of Modern Physics (1931)
New scientific ideas never spring from a communal body, however organized, but rather from the head of an individually inspired researcher who struggles with his problems in lonely thought and unites all his thought on one single point which is his whole world for the moment.
The first and most important quality of all scientific ways of thinking must be the clear distinction between the outer object of observation and the subjective nature of the observer.
Where is Science Going? (1932)
Experiments are the only means of knowledge at our disposal. The rest is poetry, imagination.
A new scientific truth does not triumph by convincing its opponents and making them see the light, but rather because its opponents eventually die, and a new generation grows up that is familiar with it.
Both religion and science require a belief in God. For believers, God is in the beginning, and for physicists He is at the end of all considerations… To the former He is the foundation, to the latter, the crown of the edifice of every generalized world view.
Religion and Natural Science (1937)
Farsighted theologians are now working to mine the eternal metal from the teachings of Jesus and to forge it for all time.
Natural science wants man to learn, religion wants him to act.
Religion and Natural Science (1937)
And if we ascribe to God, in addition to His omnipotence and omniscience, also the attributes of goodness and love, recourse to Him produces an increased feeling of safety ...
All matter originates and exists only by virtue of a force... We must assume behind this force the existence of a conscious and intelligent Mind. This Mind is the matrix of all matter.
I regard consciousness as fundamental. I regard matter as derivative from consciousness. We cannot get behind consciousness. Everything that we talk about, everything that we regard as existing, postulates consciousness.
Religion and natural science are fighting a joint battle in an incessant, never relaxing crusade against scepticism and against dogmatism, against disbelief and against superstition, and the rallying cry in this crusade has always been, and always will be: "On to God!"
Religion and Natural Science (1937)
Again and again the imaginary plan on which one attempts to build up that order breaks down and then we must try another. This imaginative vision and faith in the ultimate success are indispensable. The pure rationalist has no place here.
Where is Science Going? (1932)
Anybody who has been seriously engaged in scientific work of any kind realizes that over the entrance to the gates of the temple of science are written the words: Ye must have faith. It is a quality which the scientist cannot dispense with.
Where is Science Going? (1932)
I was interested in the concept introduced by Clausius, entropy.., (in addition to energy,) one of the most important variables of nature.
Max Planck - Original Interview (1942)
I fear that your hatred of the zero-point energy extends to the electrodynamic emission hypothesis that I introduced and that leads to it. But what’s to be done? For my part, I hate discontinuity of energy even more than discontinuity of emission.