Splitting the atom is like trying to shoot a gnat in the Albert Hall at night and using ten million rounds of ammunition on the off chance of getting it. That should convince you that the atom will always be a sink of energy and never a reservoir of energy.

Don't let me catch anyone talking about the Universe in my department.

We haven't got the money, so we've got to think.

The only possible conclusion the social sciences can draw is: some do, some don't.

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

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

The great object is to find the theory of the matter [of X-rays] before anyone else, for nearly every professor in Europe is now on the warpath.