Niels Bohr Quotes

Anyone not shocked by quantum mechanics has not yet understood it.

It is a great pity that human beings cannot find all of their satisfaction in scientific contemplativeness.

The opposite of every great idea is another great idea.

There are two sorts of truth: trivialities, where opposites are clearly absurd, and profound truths, recognised by the fact that the opposite is also a profound truth

Truth and clarity are complementary.

Truth is something that we can attempt to doubt, and then perhaps, after much exertion, discover that part of the doubt is not justified.

It is very difficult to make an accurate prediction, especially about the future.

Of course I don't believe in it [pointing to horseshoe on his office wall]. But I understand that it brings you luck whether you believe in it or not.

Oh what idiots we have all been, this is just as it must be

Prediction is difficult, especially the future.

You can recognize a small truth because its opposite is a falsehood. The opposite of a great truth is another truth.

All rising curves that show unwelcome trends in human affairs will approach infinity if extended far enough, but it is we who dictate the curve and not vice versa.

An independant reality in the ordinary physical sense can neither be ascribed to the phenomenon nor to the agencies of observation.

If you aren't confused by quantum mechanics, you haven't really understood it.

Predition is risky, especially of the future.

Some things are so serious, they can only be joked about.

A person who wasn't outraged on first hearing about quantum theory didn't understand what had been said.

We all know your idea is crazy. The question is whether it is crazy enough.

It is difficult to predict, especially the future.

Predictions are hard, especially abot the future.

Anyone who can contemplate quantum mechanics without getting dizzy hasn't understood it.

Anybody who is not shocked by this subject has failed to understand it. [of quantum mechanics]

And anyone who thinks they can talk about quantum theory without feeling dizzy hasn't yet understood the first thing about it.

When it comes to atoms, language can be used only as in poetry. The poet, too, is not nearly so concerned with describing facts as with creating images.

Technology has advanced more in the last thirty years than in the previous two thousand. The exponential increase in advancement will only continue.

An expert is a man who has made all the mistakes which can be made in a very narrow field.

Every sentence I utter must be understood not as an affirmation but as a question.[A caution he gives his students, to be wary of dogmatism.]

Stop telling God what to do with his dice.

An expert is a person who has made all the mistakes that can be made in a very narrow field.

There are trivial truths and there are great truths. The opposite of a trivial truth is plainly false. The opposite of a great truth is also true.

Prediction is very difficult, especially about the future.

The opposite of a correct statement is a false statement. But the opposite of a profound truth may well be another profound truth.