Quotes by famous people, credited to who said them. Your own quotes must not match any of these. More are added all the time. 1,159,190 quotes Who coined it · How we decide
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“In human life, you will find players of religion until the knowledge and proficiency in religion will be cleansed from all superstitions, and will be purified and perfected by the enlightenment of real science.”
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk (1881–1938) first seen 1927 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech (October 1927); also quoted in Atatürk’ten Düşünceler by E. Z. Karal, p. 59
“For approximately 500 years [science's] argument for its pre-eminence was that it could create beautiful toys: aircraft, railroads, global economies, television, spacecraft. But that is a fool’s argument for truth! I mean, that’s after all how a medicine show operates, you know: the juggler is so good, the medicine must be even better! This is not an entirely rational way to proceed.”
Terence McKenna (1946–2000) said by 2000 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“We have numerous, extremely naïve assumptions built into our thinking, and our most venerable explanatory engines, such as science, happen also to be our oldest explanatory engines, and therefore they have built into them the most naïve and unexamined assumptions.”
Terence McKenna (1946–2000) said by 2000 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Religion as a science, as a study, is the greatest and healthiest exercise that the human mind can have.”
Swami Vivekananda (1863–1902) said by 1902 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The one by L. Ron Hubbard...I'm not in favor of his religion by any means, but he wrote a book called Battlefield Earth that was a very fun science fiction book.”
Mitt Romney (born 1947) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Science would be ruined if (like sports) it were to put competition above everything else, and if it were to clarify the rules of competition by withdrawing entirely into narrowly defined specialties. The rare scholars who are nomads by choice are essential to the intellectual welfare of the subtle disciplines”
Benoît Mandelbrot (1924–2010) first seen 1987 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Benoit Mandelbrot cited in James Gleick (1987) Chaos: Making a New Science p. 70
Also quoted by: James Gleick
“Engineering is too important to wait for science.”
Benoît Mandelbrot (1924–2010) first seen 2005 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in "Fractal Finance" by Greg Phelan in Yale Economic Review (Fall 2005)
“I always felt that science as the preserve of people from Oxbridge or Ivy League universities — and not for the common mortal — was a very bad idea.”
Benoît Mandelbrot (1924–2010) said by 2010 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“For many years I had been hearing the comment that fractals make beautiful pictures, but are pretty useless. I was irritated because important applications always take some time to be revealed. For fractals, it turned out that we didn't have to wait very long. In pure science, fads come and go. To influence basic big-budget industry takes longer, but hopefully also lasts longer.”
Benoît Mandelbrot (1924–2010) said by 2010 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“There are many examples of old, incorrect theories that stubbornly persisted, sustained only by the prestige of foolish but well-connected scientists. … Many of these theories have been killed off only when some decisive experiment exposed their incorrectness. .. Thus the yeoman work in any science, and especially physics, is done by the experimentalist, who must keep the theoreticians honest.”
Michio Kaku (born 1947) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“You know, I would say Incomplete...but what I would say is the steps that we have taken in saving the auto industry, in making sure that college is more affordable and investing in clean energy and science and technology and research, those are all the things that we are going to need to grow over the long term.”
Barack Obama (born 1961) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Cool clock, Ahmed. Want to bring it to the White House? We should inspire more kids like you to like science. It's what makes America great.”
Barack Obama (born 1961) first seen 2015 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: President Barack Obama on Twitter at September 16, 2015
“Societies evolve based on new understandings and new science and new appreciation of who we are.”
Barack Obama (born 1961) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The history of science is rich in the example of the fruitfulness of bringing two sets of techniques, two sets of ideas, developed in separate contexts for the pursuit of new truth, into touch with one another.”
Robert Oppenheimer (1904–1967) first seen 1953 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Science and the Common Understanding (1954); based on 1953 Reith lectures.
“It is a profound and necessary truth that the deep things in science are not found because they are useful; they are found because it was possible to find them.”
Robert Oppenheimer (1904–1967) said by 1967 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in "Why Curiosity Driven Research?" by Robert V. Moody (17 February 1995)
“All that can really be said is that at some indeterminate point in the very distant past, for reasons unknown, there came the moment known to science as t = 0. We were on our way.”
Bill Bryson (born 1951) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I think that science would never have achieved much progress if it had always imagined unknown obstacles hidden round every corner. At least we may peer gingerly round the corner, and perhaps we shall find there is nothing very formidable after all.”
Arthur Eddington (1882–1944) first seen 1927 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Stars and Atoms (1927), Lecture 1
“Never mind what two tons refers to. What is it? How has it entered in so definite a way into our exprerience? Two tons is the reading of the pointer when the elephant was placed on a weighing machine. Let us pass on. … And so we see that the poetry fades out of the problem, and by the time the serious application of exact science begins we are left only with pointer readings.”
Arthur Eddington (1882–1944) said by 1944 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The whole subject-matter of exact science consists of pointer readings and similar indications.”
Arthur Eddington (1882–1944) said by 1944 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The desire for truth so prominent in the quest of science, a reaching out of the spirit from its isolation to something beyond, a response to beauty in nature and art, an Inner Light of conviction and guidance — are these as much a part of our being as our sensitivity to sense impressions?”
Arthur Eddington (1882–1944) said by 1944 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The exploration of the external world by the methods of physical science leads not to a concrete reality but to a shadow world of symbols, beneath which those methods are unadapted for penetrating.”
Arthur Eddington (1882–1944) said by 1944 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“You will understand the true spirit neither of science nor of religion unless seeking is placed in the forefront.”
Arthur Eddington (1882–1944) said by 1944 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“People Propose, Science Studies, Technology Conforms.”
Donald Norman (born 1935) first seen 1993 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Things That Make Us Smart (1993), Epilogue.
“Cleverly assorted scraps of spurious science are inculcated upon the children to prove necessity of law; obedience to the law is made a religion; moral goodness and the law of the masters are fused into one and the same divinity. The historical hero of the schoolroom is the man who obeys the law, and defends it against rebels.”
Peter Kropotkin (1842–1921) said by 1921 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The resources of science, both in enlarging the circle of our production and in new discoveries, are inexhaustible. And each new branch of activity calls into existence more and more new branches, which steadily increase the power of man over the forces of nature.”
Peter Kropotkin (1842–1921) said by 1921 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I probably have a 20,000-word vocabulary. I'll match my wits with anyone on literature, science and the arts.”
Mike Tyson (born 1966) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I'm not an "American First" (and maybe because I read science fiction) I'm a "Terran First". I'm a human being first. And I have this sympathy for other human beings no matter what side of the giant ice wall they happen to be born on.”
George R. R. Martin (born 1948) first seen 2016 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: At Tuscon 43 (2016)
“I hear you jeering. Pfui. Those of you who know my work only from A SONG OF ICE AND FIRE may not be aware that I was once considered the most romantic science fiction writer of the 70s, back when I was doing my Thousand Worlds stuff.”
George R. R. Martin (born 1948) first seen 2010 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: On romance in science fiction and fantasy, in his blog (January 2010)
“You don't get rich writing science fiction. If you want to get rich, you start a religion.”
L. Ron Hubbard (1911–1986) first seen 1948 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Response to a question from the audience during a meeting of the Eastern Science Fiction Association on (November 7, 1948), as quoted in a 1994 affidavit by Sam Moskowitz.
“The subject of philosophy is very ancient. The word means: "The love, study or pursuit of wisdom, or of knowledge of things and their causes, whether theoretical or practical." All we know of science or of religion comes from philosophy. It lies behind and above all other knowledge we have or use.”
L. Ron Hubbard (1911–1986) first seen 1965 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: My Philosophy (1965).
“The principles on which to base a science of administration for America, must be principles which have democratic policy very much at heart.”
Woodrow Wilson (1856–1924) said by 1924 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Politics I conceive to be nothing more than the science of the ordered progress of society along the lines of greatest usefulness and convenience to itself.”
Woodrow Wilson (1856–1924) first seen 1916 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: What is Pan-Americanism?”, Address to Pan American Scientific Congress (6 January 1916)
“It isn't pleasant to surrender to the hegemony of a nation which is still wild and primitive, and to concede the absolute superiority of its customs and institutions, science and technology, literature and art. Must one sacrifice so much in the name of the unity of mankind?”
Czesław Miłosz (1911–2004) first seen 1951 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Pill of Murti-Bing" (1951), trans. Jane Zielonko
“A science fiction movie? I don't know. I think I have made one already... Chasing Amy. Because you go ask any lesbian, that'll never happen. Even if, and probably especially because, the dude is Ben fucking Affleck.”
Kevin Smith (born 1970) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Science, as we know it, is not value-free. This is more so with social sciences. And certainly, a subject such as ethnic relations, which tends to have an emotional overtone cannot be expected to be presented or analysed with pure objectivity.”
Mahathir Mohamad (born 1925) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“There is no simple solution to these problems. In the past there would have been no solution at all. Today, the constantly unfolding conquests of science give man the power over his world and nature which brings the prospect of success within the purview of hope.”
Lyndon B. Johnson (1908–1973) said by 1973 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I am not so much afraid either of Democracy or of Science as of the love of money. This seems to me to be a growing evil. Also, there is a danger from the growth of that dreadful military spirit.”
William Ewart Gladstone (1809–1898) first seen 1896 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Remarks to Lionel Tollemache (8 January 1896), quoted in Lionel Tollemache, Talks with Mr. Gladstone (1898), pp. 166–167
“The preservation of freedom is the protective reason for limiting and decentralizing governmental power. But there is also a constructive reason. The great advances of civilization, whether in architecture or painting, in science or literature, in industry or agriculture, have never come from centralized government. … Government can never duplicate the variety and diversity of individual action.”
Milton Friedman (1912–2006) said by 2006 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“If science fiction is the mythology of modern technology, then its myth is tragic.”
Ursula K. Le Guin (1929–2018) first seen 1986 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Carrier Bag Theory of Fiction" (1986)
“[S]cience works for evil as well as for good (...particularly ...in time of war); and... mathematicians may be justified in rejoicing that there is one science... their own, whose ...remoteness from ordinary human activities should keep it gentle and clean.”
G. H. Hardy (1877–1947) said by 1947 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Perhaps the main motive behind my isolation was my desire to escape from the demands of relationships, which I consider very difficult in comparison to making rockets. All I desired was to be true to my way of life, to uphold the science of rocketry in my country and to retire with a clean conscience.”
A. P. J. Abdul Kalam (1931–2015) said by 2015 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“My belief is based on the fact that string theory is the first science in hundreds of years to be pursued in pre-Baconian fashion, without any adequate experimental guidance.”
Philip Warren Anderson (1923–2020) first seen 2005 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: {{cite news| publisher=New York Times| date=2005-01-04| title=
“The great challenge before us is to find a way to use the bright promise of science and technology in a massive retaliation against poverty, hunger, and social injustice in the world.”
Walter Reuther (1907–1970) first seen 1956 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Address before the Indian Council of World Affairs, New Delhi, India, April 5, 1956, as quoted in Walter P Reuther: Selected Papers (1961), by Henry M. Christman, p. 130 thumb|But in truth, America is the last, best hop…
“Mr. T has the greatest hair in the world. You can't deny it, it's been proven by science, fool!”
“Every great advance in science has issued from a new audacity of imagination.”
John Dewey (1859–1952) first seen 1929 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Quest for Certainty (1929), Ch. XI
“Computer science is a restless infant and its progress depends as much on shifts in point of view as on the orderly development of our current concepts.”
Alan Perlis (1922–1990) said by 1990 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“An open society such as ours is based on the recognition that our understanding of reality is inherently imperfect. Nobody is in possession of the ultimate truth. As the philosopher Karl Popper has shown, the ultimate truth is not attainable even in science. All theories are subject to testing and the process of replacing old theories with better ones never ends.”
George Soros (born 1930) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The White Protestant's ultimate sympathy must be with science, factology, and committee rather than with sex, birth, heat, flesh, creation, the sweet and the funky; they must vote, manipulate, control, and direct, these Protestants who are the center of power in our land, they must go for what they believe is reason when it is only the Square logic of the past.”
Norman Mailer (1923–2007) said by 2007 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“To make a harsh but not entirely unjustified analogy, a government wedded to the ideology of competitiveness is as unlikely to make good economic policy as a government committed to creationism is to make good science policy, even in areas that have no direct relationship to the theory of evolution.”
Paul Krugman (born 1953) first seen 1994 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Competitiveness: A Dangerous Obsession", Foreign Affairs (March/April 1994)
“That's a hard answer to accept, especially for those American policy intellectuals who recoil from the dreary task of reducing deficits and raising the national savings rate. But economics is not a dismal science because the economists like it that way; it is because in the end we must submit to the tyranny not just of the numbers, but of the logic they express.”
Paul Krugman (born 1953) first seen 1994 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Myth of Asia's Miracle", Foreign Affairs (November/December 1994)