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- It is impossible to trap modern physics into predicting anything with perfect determinism because it deals with probabilities from the outset.
- Sir Arthur Eddington (1882 - 1944), In J. R. Newman (ed.) The World of Mathematics, New York: Simon and Schuster, 1956
- I ask you to look both ways. For the road to a knowledge of the stars leads through the atom; and important knowledge of the atom has been reached through the stars.
- Sir Arthur Eddington (1882 - 1944), Stars and Atoms (1928), Lecture 1
- The mathematics is not there till we put it there.
- Sir Arthur Eddington (1882 - 1944), The Philosophy of Physical Science
- For the truth of the conclusions of physical science, observation is the supreme Court of Appeal. It does not follow that every item which we confidently accept as physical knowledge has actually been certified by the Court; our confidence is that it would be certified by the Court if it were submitted. But it does follow that every item of physical knowledge is of a form which might be submitted to the Court. It must be such that we can specify (although it may be impracticable to carry out) an observational procedure which would decide whether it is true or not. Clearly a statement cannot be tested by observation unless it is an assertion about the results of observation. Every item of physical knowledge must therefore be an assertion of what has been or would be the result of carrying out a specified observational procedure.
- Sir Arthur Eddington (1882 - 1944), The Philosophy of Physical Science
- Patriotism having become one of our topicks, Johnson suddenly uttered, in a strong determined tone, an apophthegm, at which many will start: "Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel." But let it be considered that he did not mean a real and generous love of our country, but that pretended patriotism which so many, in all ages and countries, have made a cloak of self- interest.
- Samuel Johnson (1709 - 1784), quoted in Boswell's Life of Johnson
- . . . .When I am, as it were, completely myself, entirely alone, and of good cheer - say traveling in a carriage, or walking after a good meal, or during the night when I cannot sleep - it is on such occasions that my ideas flow best, and most abundantly. Whence and how they come, I know not, nor can I force them...
- Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756 - 1791)
- By keenly confronting the enigmas that surround us, and by considering and analysing the observations that I have made, I ended up in the domain of mathematics, Although I am absolutely without training in the exact sciences, I often seem to have more in common with mathematicians than with my fellow artists.
- M. C. Escher (1898 - 1972), Quoted in To Infinity and Beyond, E Maor (Princeton 1991)
- The whole art of teaching is only the art of awakening the natural curiosity of young minds for the purpose of satisfying it afterwards.
- Anatole France (1844 - 1924), The Crime of Sylvestre Bonnard
- It's a job that's never started that takes the longest to finish.
- J. R. R. Tolkien (1892 - 1973)
- Nearly all marriages, even happy ones, are mistakes: in the sense that almost certainly (in a more perfect world, or even with a little more care in this very imperfect one) both partners might be found more suitable mates. But the real soul-mate is the one you are actually married to.
- J. R. R. Tolkien (1892 - 1973), Letter to Michael Tolkien, March 1941
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