All of physics is either impossible or trivial. It is impossible until you understand it, and then it becomes trivial.

Should a young scientist working with me come to me after two years of such work and ask me what to do next, I would advise him to get out of science. After two years of work, if a man does not know what to do next, he will never make a real scientist.

If your result needs a statistician then you should design a better experiment.

I've just finished reading some of my early papers, and you know, when I'd finished I said to myself, 'Rutherford, my boy, you used to be a damned clever fellow.' (1911)

An alleged scientific discovery has no merit unless it can be explained to a barmaid.

Never say, "I tried it once and it did not work."

It was almost as incredible as if you fired a 15-inch shell at a piece of tissue paper and it came back and hit you.