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The first thing Bohr said to me was that it would only then be profitable to work with him if I understood that he was a dilettante.

— Abraham Pais

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More quotes by Abraham Pais

Deliberately or not, every author is of course present in every book he or she writes — even in a scientific text.

A Tale of Two Continents (1997)

Progress leads to confusion leads to progress and on and on without respite.

Inward Bound : Of Matter and Forces in the Physical World (1988)

The rule of the game was never assume that anybody, however honorable, would be able to stand up under torture.

To Save a Life: Stories of Holocaust Rescue (2000)

One of the absolute rules I learned in the war was, don't know anything you don't need to know, because if you ever get caught they will get it out of you.

To Save a Life: Stories of Holocaust Rescue (2000)

Of course, relative citation frequencies are no measure of relative importance. Who has not aspired to write a paper so fundamental that very soon it is known to everyone and cited by no one?

Subtle is the Lord (1982)

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Attribution

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