Idealism is the highest form of reason.

It is folly to use as one's guide in the selection of fundamental science the criterion of utility. Not because (scientists)... despise utility. But because. .. useful outcomes are best identified after the making of discoveries, rather than before.

Scientia is knowledge. It is only in the popular mind that it is equated with facts.

At the heart of science lies discovery which involves a change in worldview. Discovery in science is possible only in societies which accord their citizens the freedom to pursue the truth where it may lead and which therefore have respect for different paths to that truth.

A wise man in China asked his gardener to plant a shrub. The gardener objected that it only flowered once in a hundred years. "In that case," said the wise man, "plant it immediately." [On the importance of fundamental research.]

When, as we must often do, we fear science, we really fear ourselves. Human dignity is better served by embracing knowledge.

The eye searches for shapes. It searches for a beginning, a middle, and an end.