Intellect distinguishes between the possible and the impossible; reason distinguishes between the sensible and the senseless. Even the possible can be senseless.

It is a fascinating fact that father and son have given the most striking evidence for the apparently contradictory properties of the electron: the father proving its character as a particle, the son its character as a wave... Thomson was extremely proud of his son's success and tried to assimilate the new results into his old convictions.

Those who say that the study of science makes a man an atheist, must be rather silly people.

It is true that many scientists are not philosophically minded and have hitherto shown much skill and ingenuity but little wisdom.

I am now convinced that theoretical physics is actually philosophy.

Something which is against natural laws seems to me rather out of the question because it would be a depressive idea about God. It would make God smaller than he must be assumed. When he stated that these laws hold, then they hold, and he wouldn't make exceptions. This is too human an idea. Humans do such things, but not God.

We need to make a world in which fewer children are born, and in which we take better care of them.