Probably the simplest hypothesis... is that there may be a slow process of annihilation of matter.
Arthur EddingtonOn one occasion when [William] Smart found him engrossed with his fundamental theory, he asked Eddington how many people he thought would understand what he was writing-after a pause came the reply, 'Perhaps seven.'
Arthur EddingtonPhilosophically, the notion of a beginning of the present order of Nature is repugnant to me ... I should like to find a genuine loophole.
Arthur EddingtonMan is slightly nearer to the atom than to the star. ... From his central position man can survey the grandest works of Nature with the astronomer, or the minutest works with the physicist. ... [K]nowledge of the stars leads through the atom; and important knowledge of the atom has been reached through the stars.
Arthur Eddington