[John Wheeler] rejuvenated general relativity; he made it an experimental subject and took it away from the mathematicians

The purpose of thinking about the future is not to predict it but to raise people's hopes.

Technology without morality is barbarous; morality without technology is impotent.

So long as you have courage and a sense of humor, it is never too late to start life afresh.

In the long run, the only solution I see to the problem of diversity is the expansion of mankind into the universe by means of green technology... Green technology means we do not live in cans but adapt our plants and our animals and ourselves to live wild in the universe as we find it... When life invades a new habitat, she never moves with a single species. She comes with a variety of species, and as soon as she is established, her species spread and diversify further. Our spread through the galaxy will follow her ancient pattern.

The Besicovitch style is architectural. He builds out of simply elements a delicate and complicated architectural structure, usually with a hierarchical plan, and then, when the building is finished, the completed structure leads by simple arguments to an unexpected conclusion. Every Besicovitch proof is a work of art, as carefully constructed as a Bach fugue.

We must be careful not to discourage our twelve-year-olds by making them waste the best years of their lives preparing for examinations.