I have no satisfaction in formulas unless I feel their numerical magnitude.

Quaternions came from Hamilton after his really good work had been done, and though beautifully ingenious, have been an unmixed evil to those who have touched them in any way.

The fact that mathematics does such a good job of describing the Universe is a mystery that we don't understand. And a debt that we will probably never be able to repay.

There is nothing in science which teaches the origin of anything at all.

When you can measure what you are speaking about, and express it in numbers, you know something about it.

Heavier-than-air flying machines are impossible.

We all confidently believe that there are at present, and have been from time immemorial, many worlds of life besides our own. . . . [This] may seem wild, and visionary; all I maintain is that it is not unscientific.