I am aware that many critics consider the conditions in the stars not sufficiently extreme . . . the stars are not hot enough. The critics lay themselves open to an obvious retort: we tell them to go and find a hotter place.

Proof is an idol before which the mathematician tortures himself.

In the most modern theories of physics probability seems to have replaced aether as "the nominative of the verb 'to undulate'."

Human life is proverbially uncertain; few things are more certain than the solvency of a life-insurance company.

Electrical force is defined as something which causes motion of electrical charge; an electrical charge is something which exerts electric force.

[When thinking about the new relativity and quantum theories] I have felt a homesickness for the paths of physical science where there are ore or less discernible handrails to keep us from the worst morasses of foolishness.

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.