That is the logical tight-rope on which we have to walk if we wish to interpret nature.
Richard P. FeynmanThe electron is a theory we use; it is so useful in understanding the way nature works that we can almost call it real.
Richard P. FeynmanI am a successful lecturer in physics for popular audiences. The real entertainment gimmick is the excitement, drama and mystery of the subject matter. People love to learn something, they are 'entertained' enormously by being allowed to understand a little bit of something they never understood before. One must have faith in the subject and in people's interest in it.
Richard P. FeynmanOne cannot understand... the universality of laws of nature, the relationship of things, without an understanding of mathematics. There is no other way to do it.
Richard P. FeynmanIf the professors of English will complain to me that the students who come to the universities, after all those years of study, still cannot spell 'friend,' I say to them that something's the matter with the way you spell friend.
Richard P. FeynmanSo my antagonist said, "Is it impossible that there are flying saucers? Can you prove that it's impossible?" "No," I said, "I can't prove it's impossible. It's just very unlikely." At that he said, "You are very unscientific. If you can't prove it impossible then how can you say that it's unlikely?" But that is the way that is scientific. It is scientific only to say what is more likely and what less likely, and not to be proving all the time the possible and impossible.
Richard P. Feynman