He piled upon the whale's white hump the sum of all the general rage and hate felt by his whole race from Adam down; and then, as if his chest had been a mortar, he burst his hot heart's shell upon it.

- Herman Melville, Moby Dick

The difference between truth and fiction: Fiction has to make sense.

- Mark Twain

There's a lot of ugly things in this world, son. I wish I could keep 'em all away from you. That's never possible.

- Atticus Finch, To Kill a Mockingbird

A child is mysterious and powerful and contains within the secret of human nature.

- Maria Montessori

You cannot hope to bribe or twist, thank God! the British journalist. But, seeing what the man will do unbribed, there's no occasion to.

- H. Woolfe

A finely tempered nature longs to escape from the personal life into the world of objective perception and thought.

A man's ethical behavior should be based effectually on sympathy, education, and social ties; no religious basis is necessary. Man would indeed be in a poor way if he had to be restrained by fear of punishment and hope of reward after death.

A question that sometimes drives me hazy: am I or are the others crazy?

Any intelligent fool can make things bigger and more complex... It takes a touch of genius --- and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction.

Weakness of attitude becomes weakness of character.

Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new.

As far as the laws of mathematics refer to reality, they are not certain; and as far as they are certain, they do not refer to reality.

Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen.

Do you believe in immortality? No, and one life is enough for me

Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler

Example isn't another way to teach, it is the only way to teach.

Few are those who see with their own eyes and feel with their own hearts.

Gravitation is not responsible for people falling in love.

Great spirits have always found violent opposition from mediocrity's. The latter cannot understand it when a man does not thoughtlessly submit to hereditary prejudices but honestly and courageously uses his intelligence

He who finds though that lets us penetrate even a little deeper into the eternal mystery of nature has been granted great grace. He who, in addition, experiences the recognition, sympathy, and help of the best minds of his times, had been given almost more happiness than one man can bear.

He who joyfully marches in rank and file has already earned my contempt. He has been given a large brain by mistake, since for him the spinal cord would suffice

How strange is the lot of us mortals! Each of us is here for a brief sojourn;for what purpose we know not, though sometimes sense it. But we know from daily life that we exist for other people first of all for whose smiles and well-being ou own happiness depends.

Human beings, vegetables, or comic dust, we all dance to a mysterious tune, intoned in the distance by an invisible player

I am enough of an artist to draw freely upon my imagination. Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world.

I am neither especially clever nor especially gifted. I am only very, very curious.

I believe in standardizing automobiles, not human beings

I do not believe that the Good Lord plays dice

I hate crowds and making speeches. I hate facing cameras and having to answer to a crossfire of questions. Why popular fancy should seize upon me, a scientist, dealing in abstract things and happy if left alone, is a manifestation of mass psychology that is beyond me.

I have deep faith that the principle of the universe will be beautiful and simple.

I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious

I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones.

I love to travel, But hate to arrive

I never think of the future - it comes soon enough.

I think and think for months and years. Ninety-nine times, the conclusion is false. The hundredth time I am right.

I want to know God's thoughts...the rest are details.

If A equals success, then the formula is: A = X + Y + Z, X is work. Y is play. Z is keep your mouth shut.

If we knew what it was we were doing, it would not be called research, would it ?

If you are out to describe the truth, leave elegance to the tailor.

Imagination is more important than knowledge.

Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

Intellectuals solve problems; geniuses prevent them.

Isn't it strange that I who have written only unpopular books should be such a popular fellow?

It gives me great pleasure indeed to see the stubbornness of an incorrigible nonconformist warmly acclaimed.

It is high time that the ideal of success should be replaced by the ideal of service.

Joy in looking and comprehending is nature's most beautiful gift.

Lasting harmony with a woman (was) an undertaking in which I twice failed rather disgracefully.

Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important thing is to not stop questioning.

Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving

Nationalism is an infantile diease, the measles of mankind

Not everything that can be counted counts and not everything that counts can be counted.

On the big Bang theory: "For every one billion particles of antimatter there were one billion and one particles of matter. And when the mutual annihilation was complete, one billionth remained - and that's our present universe."

Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former

Perfection of means and confusion of ends seem to characterize our age.

Politics is more difficult than physics

Problems cannot be solved at the same level of awareness that created them.

Put your hand on a hot stove for a minute, and it seems like an hour. Sit with a pretty girl for an hour, and it seems like a minute. THAT'S relativity.

Quantum mechanics is very impressive. But an inner voice tells me that it is not yet the real thing. The theory yields a lot, but it hardly brings us any closer to the secret of the Old One. In any case I am convinced that He doesn't play dice.

MacMillan has this particular quote simply as "God doesn't play dice." and notes that it is often quoted as doesn't play dice with the universe"

Reading, after a certain age, diverts the mind too much from its creative pursuits. Any man who read too much and uses his own brain too little falls into lazy habits of thinking.

Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one.

Science is a wonderful thing if one does not have to earn one's living at it.

Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind.

Scientists were rated as great heretics by the church, but they were truly religious men because of their faith in the orderliness of the universe.

Setting an example is not the main means of influencing others; it is the only means.

So long as there are men there will be wars

Subtle is the Lord, but malicious He is not.

The hardest thing in the world to understand is income tax

The ideals that have lighted my way and time after time have given me new courage to face life cheerfully, have been Kindness, Beauty and Truth.