I think physicists are the Peter Pans of the human race. They never grow up and they keep their curiosity.

My ideal man is Benjamin Franklin-the figure in American history most worthy of emulation ... Franklin is my ideal of a whole man. ... Where are the life-size-or even pint-size-Benjamin Franklins of today?

There isn't a scientific community. It is a culture. It is a very undisciplined organization.

The scientist does not defy the universe. He accepts it. It is his dish to savor, his realm to explore; it is his adventure and never-ending delight. It is complaisant and elusive but never dull. It is wonderful both in the small and in the large. In short, its exploration is the highest occupation for a gentleman.

My mother made me a scientist without ever intending to. Every other Jewish mother in Brooklyn would ask her child after school, So? Did you learn anything today? But not my mother. Izzy, she would say, did you ask a good question today? That difference - asking good questions - made me become a scientist.

We gave you an atomic bomb, what do you want, mermaids ?

I think physicists are the Peter Pans of the human race. They never grow up and they keep their curiosity.