Man tries to make for himself in the fashion that suits him best a simplified and intelligible picture of the world; he then tries to some extent to substitute this cosmos of his for the world of experience, and thus to overcome it. This is what the painter, the poet, the speculative philosopher, and the natural scientists do, each in his own fashion. Each makes this cosmos and its construction the pivot of his emotional life, in order to find in this way peace and security which he can not find in the narrow whirlpool of personal experience.

Innovation is not the product of logical thought, even though the final product is tied to a logical structure.

Genius is 1% talent and 99% percent hard work.

[Asked about a book in which 100 Nazi professors charged him with scientific error.] Were I wrong, one professor would have been quite enough.

The formulation of the problem is often more essential than its solution, which may be merely a matter of mathematical or experimental skill.

We cannot despair of humanity, since we ourselves are human beings.

The most important decision we make is whether we believe we live in a friendly or hostile universe.