If we are honest - and scientists have to be - we must admit that religion is a jumble of false assertions, with no basis in reality.
Paul DiracI found the best ideas usually came, not when one was actively striving for them, but when one was in a more relaxed stateโฆ I used to take long solitary walks on Sundays, during which I tended to review the current situation in a leisurely way. Such occasions often proved fruitful, even though (or perhaps, because) the primary purpose of the walk was relaxation and not research.
Paul DiracI do not see how a man can work on the frontiers of physics and write poetry at the same time. They are in opposition.
Paul DiracIt was not until some weeks later that I realized there is no need to restrict oneself to 2 by 2 matrices. One could go on to 4 by 4 matrices, and the problem is then easily soluable. In retrospect, it seems strange that one can be so much held up over such an elementary point. The resulting wave equation for the electron turned out to be very successful. It led to correct values for the spin and the magnetic moment. This was quite unexpected. The work all followed from a study of pretty mathematics, without any thought being given to these physical properties of the electron.
Paul Dirac