The study and knowledge of the universe would somehow be lame and defective were no practical results to follow.

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.

A capacity, and taste, for reading gives access to whatever has already been discovered by others.

All the knowledge I possess everyone else can acquire, but my heart is all my own.

Our posturings, our imagined self-importance, the delusion that we have some privileged position in the universe, are challenged by this point of pale light. Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark.

It takes a wise man to discover a wise man.

Space is almost infinite. As a matter of fact, we think it is infinite.

You learn from a conglomeration of the incredible past – whatever experience gotten in any way whatsoever.

The desire of excessive power caused the angels to fall; the desire of knowledge caused men to fall.

I’ve just finished my 20th book this past year and I’m working on my 21st book about the Middle East right now that I’ll finish this year. And I get up early in the morning and when I get tired of the computer and tired of doing research, I walk 20 steps out to my woodshop and I either build furniture or paint paintings. I’m an artist too.

We get the exciting result that the total energy of the universe is zero. Why this should be so is one of the great mysteries – and therefore one of the important questions of physics. After all, what would be the use of studying physics if the mysteries were not the most important things to investigate?

We are the representatives of the cosmos; we are an example of what hydrogen atoms can do, given 15 billion years of cosmic evolution.

Knowledge becomes evil if the aim be not virtuous.

Science is nothing but perception.

Knowledge about life is one thing; effective occupation of a place in life, with its dynamic currents passing through your being, is another.

We as women, we have to understand that we know more, just even instinctively, than we think we do.

I’ve always been interested in science – one of my favourite books is James Watson’s ‚Molecular Biology of the Gene.‘

A man will turn over half a library to make one book.

My religion encompasses all religions. I believe in God, I believe in the universe. I believe you are god, I believe I am god; I believe the earth is god and the universe is god. We’re all god.

The only real security that a man can have in this world is a reserve of knowledge, experience and ability.

Quarks came in a number of varieties – in fact, at first, only three were needed to explain all the hundreds of particles and the different kinds of quarks – they are called u-type, d-type, s-type.

Without libraries what have we? We have no past and no future.

Every day I try to be in communication with the universe in an unconscious way.

Read about history, and you become aware that nothing starts with us.

The universe is change; our life is what our thoughts make it.

We hear only those questions for which we are in a position to find answers.

The most obvious characteristic of science is its application: the fact that, as a consequence of science, one has a power to do things. And the effect this power has had need hardly be mentioned. The whole industrial revolution would almost have been impossible without the development of science.

Theoretical physics is one of the few fields in which being disabled is no handicap – it is all in the mind.

Between the ages of fifteen and twenty-four, I must have read a whole library.

We must accept what science tells us, that man was born from the earth. But, more logical than the scientists who lecture us, we must carry this lesson to its conclusion: that is to say, accept that man was born entirely from the world – not only his flesh and bones but his incredible power of thought.

The difficulty is to try and teach the multitude that something can be true and untrue at the same time.

For NASA, space is still a high priority.

Human behavior flows from three main sources: desire, emotion, and knowledge.

In the material sciences these are and have been, and are most surely likely to continue to be heroic days.

In questions of science, the authority of a thousand is not worth the humble reasoning of a single individual.

One might be led to suspect that there were all sorts of things going on in the universe which he or she did not thoroughly understand.

If the stars should appear but one night every thousand years how man would marvel and stare.

There are in fact two things, science and opinion; the former begets knowledge, the latter ignorance.

A thorough knowledge of the Bible is worth more than a college education.

True friendship can afford true knowledge. It does not depend on darkness and ignorance.

An empowered organisation is one in which individuals have the knowledge, skill, desire, and opportunity to personally succeed in a way that leads to collective organisational success.

Nature never breaks her own laws.

More people should read books. It’s the most concentrated experience you can have.

I’m strictly for Stevenson. I don’t dig the intellectual bit, but I’m telling you, man, he knows the most.

Science is the captain, and practice the soldiers.

The degree of one’s emotions varies inversely with one’s knowledge of the facts.

My first popular book, ‚A Brief History of Time,‘ aroused a great deal of interest, but many found it difficult to understand.

We know accurately only when we know little, with knowledge doubt increases.

Electricity is really just organized lightning.

There are only two kinds of people who are really fascinating – people who know absolutely everything, and people who know absolutely nothing.

I don’t claim to be knowledgeable about theology. Most of my knowledge comes out of my experience and the lessons in the Bible. Every Sunday I’m home I teach 45 minutes and we boiled them down to one page for the new book, ‚Through the Year with Jimmy Carter.‘

The universe can take quite a while to deliver.

While physics and mathematics may tell us how the universe began, they are not much use in predicting human behavior because there are far too many equations to solve. I’m no better than anyone else at understanding what makes people tick, particularly women.

I do not believe in God; his existence has been disproved by Science. But in the concentration camp, I learned to believe in men.

Words, words, words! They shut one off from the universe. Three quarters of the time one’s never in contact with things, only with the beastly words that stand for them.

Who would set a limit to the mind of man? Who would dare assert that we know all there is to be known?

Is evolution a theory, a system, or an hypothesis? It is much more: it is a general condition to which all theories, all hypotheses, all systems must bow and which they must satisfy henceforward if they are to be thinkable and true.

Take from the philosopher the pleasure of being heard and his desire for knowledge ceases.

The natural desire of good men is knowledge.

The more you know the less you need to say.

The centre of the system of the world is immovable.