“That is the way to learn the most, that when you are doing something with such enjoyment that you don’t notice that the time passes”

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

“Never do anything against conscience, even if the state demands it.”

“Pure mathematics is in its way the poetry of logical ideas.”

“The most incomprehensible thing about the universe is that it is comprehensible.

“You don't have to understand the world. You just have to find your own way around in it.”

“You are right in speaking of the moral foundations of science, but you cannot turn around and speak of the scientific foundations of morality.”

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

“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.”

“Education is not the learning of facts, but the training of the mind to think.” 

“I believe in intuitions and inspirations...I sometimes FEEL that I am right. I do not KNOW that I am.”

“If someone can enjoy marching to music in rank and file, I can feel only contempt for him; he has received his large brain by mistake, a spinal cord would have been enough.”

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

“I would not think that philosophy and reason themselves will be man's guide in the foreseeable future; however, they will remain the most beautiful sanctuary they have always been for the select few.”

“The world is a dangerous place to live, not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don't do anything about it.”