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

“Paper is to write things down that we need to remember. Our brains are used to think.”

“Everything that is really great and inspiring is created by the individual who can labor in freedom.”

“To dwell on the things that depress or anger us does not help in overcoming them. One must knock them down alone.”

“Out of clutter, find simplicity. From discord, find harmony. In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.”

“It is harder to crack prejudice than an atom.”

“Concern for man and his fate must always form the chief interest of all technical endeavors. Never forget this in the midst of your diagrams and equations.”

“The tendencies we have mentioned are something new for America. They arose when, under the influence of the two World Wars and the consequent concentration of all forces on a military goal, a predominantly military mentality developed, which with the almost sudden victory became even more accentuated. The characteristic feature of this mentality is that people place the importance of what Bertrand Russell so tellingly terms “naked power” far above all other factors which affect the relations between peoples. The Germans, misled by Bismarck’s successes in particular, underwent just such a transformation of their mentality—in consequence of which they were entirely ruined in less than a hundred years. I must frankly confess that the foreign policy of the United States since the termination of hostilities has reminded me, sometimes irresistibly, of the attitude of Germany under Kaiser Wilhelm II, and I know that, independent of me, this analogy has most painfully occurred to others as well. It is characteristic of the military mentality that non-human factors (atom bombs, strategic bases, weapons of all sorts, the possession of raw materials, etc.) are held essential, while the human being, his desires and thoughts—in short, the psychological factors—are considered as unimportant and secondary. Herein lies a certain resemblance to Marxism, at least insofar as its theoretical side alone is kept in view. The individual is degraded to a mere instrument; he becomes “human materiel.” The normal ends of human aspiration vanish with such a viewpoint. Instead, the military mentality raises “naked power” as a goal in itself—one of the strangest illusions to which men can succumb.”

“Curiosity is more important than knowledge.”

“Peace cannot be kept by force; it can only be achieved by understanding.”

“I am not a genius, I am just curious. I ask many questions. and when the answer is simple, then God is answering.”

“An autocratic system of coercion, in my opinion soon degenerates. For force always attract men of low morality.”

“When Albert Einstein was asked what he would really like to know about the Universe he replied,'is it friendly?”

“I prefer to make up my own quotes and attribute them to very smart people, so that I can use them to win arguments”

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