Most of the fundamental ideas of science are essentially simple, and may, as a rule, be expressed in a language comprehensible to everyone.

Some scientists claim that hydrogen, because it is so plentiful, is the basic building block of the universe. I dispute that. I say there is more stupidity than hydrogen, and that is the basic building block of the universe.

It is better for you to be free of fear lying upon a pallet, than to have a golden couch and a rich table and be full of trouble.

Fishing is much more than fish. It is the great occasion when we may return to the fine simplicity of our forefathers.

The American doctor, in my opinion, possesses a combination of conservatism and that other quality which has put the United States in the forefront in almost every department of science – that is, an eagerness to know what it is really all about in order that he may not be the one left behind if there is something to it.

When a politician uses the word ‚folks,‘ we should brace ourselves for the deceit, or worse, that is coming.

The Eskimos had fifty-two names for snow because it was important to them: there ought to be as many for love.

They say the world has become too complex for simple answers. They are wrong.

Use what language you will, you can never say anything but what you are.

If you want to influence people, you want them to accept your suggestions, you don’t say, ‚You don’t know how to use the English language,‘ or ‚How could you make that argument?‘ It will be welcomed much more if you have a gentle touch than if you are aggressive.

Among physicists, I’m respected I hope.

But behavior in the human being is sometimes a defense, a way of concealing motives and thoughts, as language can be a way of hiding your thoughts and preventing communication.

Science does not know its debt to imagination.

God may exist, but science can explain the universe without the need for a creator.

What we figured out was that in order to get everyone in the world to have basic access to the Internet, that’s a problem that’s probably billions of dollars. Or maybe low tens of billions. With the right innovation, that’s actually within the range of affordability.

It is always good to know which ideas cannot be checked directly, but it is not necessary to remove them all. It is not true that we can pursue science completely by using only those concepts which are directly subject to experiment.

The point of philosophy is to start with something so simple as not to seem worth stating, and to end with something so paradoxical that no one will believe it.

Behold the child, by Nature’s kindly law pleased with a rattle, tickled with a straw.

You could imagine a language exactly like English except it doesn’t have connectives like ‚and‘ that allow you to make longer expressions. An infant learning truncated English would have no idea about this: They would just pick it up as they would standard English.

I like to talk about lint and coasters, the expansion of the universe and maybe McDonald’s. I’m completely turned off by the idea of politics.

If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart.

Without words, without writing and without books there would be no history, there could be no concept of humanity.

The media need superheroes in science just as in every sphere of life, but there is really a continuous range of abilities with no clear dividing line.

I have been on the road and visited numerous places and met people from all over the globe. I can say that it looks nearly the same everywhere I have been: The climate crisis is ignored by people in charge, despite the science being crystal clear.

English is necessary as at present original works of science are in English. I believe that in two decades times original works of science will start coming out in our languages. Then we can move over like the Japanese.

My understanding of the Scriptures has been made simple by the person of Christ.

One great use of words is to hide our thoughts.

The god whom science recognizes must be a God of universal laws exclusively, a God who does a wholesale, not a retail business. He cannot accommodate his processes to the convenience of individuals.

I’m never going to go to Mars, but I’ve helped inspire, thank goodness, the people who built the rockets and sent our photographic equipment off to Mars.

Sometimes I try to just sit at home and do something calmer and simpler and just be in my life. You know, not trying to solve a lot of things at once.

Success is a science; if you have the conditions, you get the result.

Science and fiction both begin with similar questions: What if? Why? How does it all work? But they focus on different areas of life on earth.

The obvious is that which is never seen until someone expresses it simply.

The wind can be quite extreme in England. We are not familiar with that in Germany, and you have to keep things simple.

Please don’t make the mistake of thinking that ‚Oryx and Crake‘ is anti-science. Science is a way of knowing, and a tool. Like all ways of knowing and tools, it can be turned to bad uses. And it can be bought and sold, and it often is. But it is not in itself bad. Like electricity, it’s neutral.

You can be a little ungrammatical if you come from the right part of the country.

In a certain way, it’s the sound of the words, the inflection and the way the song is sung and the way it fits the melody and the way the syllables are on the tongue that has as much of the meaning as the actual, literal words.

The greatest wealth is to live content with little.

Science arose from poetry… when times change the two can meet again on a higher level as friends.

Poetry is what gets lost in translation.

The work of science is to substitute facts for appearances, and demonstrations for impressions.

We should not teach children the sciences; but give them a taste for them.

If the tongue had not been framed for articulation, man would still be a beast in the forest.

Nevertheless, it is even harder for the average ape to believe that he has descended from man.

Real art is basic emotion. If a scene is handled with simplicity – and I don’t mean simple – it’ll be good, and the public will know it.

Words are but the signs of ideas.

I think you should always bear in mind that entropy is not on your side.

In making a speech one must study three points: first, the means of producing persuasion; second, the language; third the proper arrangement of the various parts of the speech.

He that will believe only what he can fully comprehend must have a long head or a very short creed.

My religion is very simple. My religion is kindness.

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

I read the Bible to myself; I’ll take any translation, any edition, and read it aloud, just to hear the language, hear the rhythm, and remind myself how beautiful English is.

Science is what you know, philosophy is what you don’t know.

The credit of advancing science has always been due to individuals and never to the age.

Science has not yet taught us if madness is or is not the sublimity of the intelligence.

Some people will never learn anything, for this reason, because they understand everything too soon.

Faith is easy; I think people complicate it.

Let both sides seek to invoke the wonders of science instead of its terrors. Together let us explore the stars, conquer the deserts, eradicate disease, tap the ocean depths, and encourage the arts and commerce.

Science is the father of knowledge, but opinion breeds ignorance.

The pursuit of science leads only to the insoluble.

All the great things are simple, and many can be expressed in a single word: freedom, justice, honor, duty, mercy, hope.