Every honest researcher I know admits he's just a professional amateur. He's doing whatever he's doing for the first time. That makes him an amateur. He has sense enough to know that he's going to have a lot of trouble, so that makes him a professional.

A man must have a certain amount of intelligent ignorance to get anywhere.

Don't be afraid to stumble. Any inventor will tell you that you don't follow a plan far before you strike a snag. If, out of 100 ideas you get one that works, it's enough.

We need to teach the highly educated man that it is not a disgrace to fail and that he must analyze every failure to find its cause. He must learn how to fail intelligently, for failing is one of the greatest arts in the world.

A research problem is not solved by apparatus; it is solved in a man's head.

No one would have crossed the ocean if he could have gotten off the ship in the storm.

Every father should remember one day his son will follow his example, not his advice.