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General relativity is certainly a very beautiful theory, but how does one judge the elegance of physical theories generally?

— Roger Penrose Fashion, Faith, and Fantasy in the New Physics of the Universe (2016)

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Beauty

More quotes by Roger Penrose

Children are not afraid to pose basic questions that may embarrass us, as adults, to ask.

The Emperor's New Mind (1989)

Understanding is, after all, what science is all about — and science is a great deal more than mindless computation.

Does life in some way make use of the potentiality for vast quantum superpositions, as would be required for serious quantum computation?

Children sometimes see things clearly that are obscured in later life.

The Emperor's New Mind (1989)

It seems to me that we must make a distinction between what is "objective" and what is "measurable" in discussing the question of physical reality, according to quantum mechanics.

The Emperor's New Mind (1989)

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Beautiful objects are wrought by study through effort, but ugly things are reaped automatically without toil.

Democritus Freeman (1948)

True beauty dwells in deep retreats,
Whose veil is unremoved
Till heart with heart in concord beats,
And the lover is beloved.

William Wordsworth

The great artists are the ones who dare to entitle to beauty things so natural that when they're seen afterward, people say: Why did I never realize before that this too was beautiful?

André Gide The Immoralist (1902)

Beauty itself doth of itself persuade
The eyes of men without an orator.

William Shakespeare The Rape of Lucrece (1594)

Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Roger Penrose (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.