Edward Teller Quotes and Sayings - Page 1
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“When you get to the end of all the light you know and it's time to step into the darkness of the unknown, faith is knowing that one of two things shall happen: either you will be given something solid to stand on, or you will be taught how to fly.”
-- Edward Teller -
“The science of today is the technology of tomorrow.”
-- Edward Teller -
“A fact is a simple statement that everyone believes. It is innocent, unless found guilty. A hypothesis is a novel suggestion that no one wants to believe. It is guilty, until found effective.”
-- Edward Teller -
“Two paradoxes are better than one they may even suggest a solution.”
-- Edward Teller -
“Secrecy, once accepted, becomes an addiction.”
-- Edward Teller -
“No endeavor that is worthwhile is simple in prospect; if it is right, it will be simple in retrospect.”
-- Edward Teller -
“I claim that relativity and the rest of modern physics is not complicated. It can be explained very simply. It is only unusual or, put another way, it is contrary to common sense.”
-- Edward Teller -
“Knowing he [Bob Serber] was going to the [first atom bomb] test, I asked him how he planned to deal with the danger of rattlesnakes. He said, 'I'll take along a bottle of whiskey.' … I ended by asking, 'What would you do about those possibilities [of what unknown phenomena might cause a nuclear explosion to propagate in the atmosphere]?' Bob replied, 'Take a second bottle of whiskey.”
-- Edward Teller -
“When Columbus took off, the purpose was to improve trade relations with China. That problem has not been solved to this very day, but just look at the by-products.”
-- Edward Teller -
“In our educational institutions applied science may almost be described as a "no-man's land."”
-- Edward Teller -
“Could we have avoided the tragedy of Hiroshima? Could we have started the atomic age with clean hands? No one knows. No one can find out.”
-- Edward Teller -
“By having simplified what is known, physicists have been led into realms which as yet are anything but simple. That at some time, they, too, will appear as simple consequences of a theory of which no one has yet dreamed is not a statement of fact.It is a statement of faith.”
-- Edward Teller -
“We must learn to live with contradictions, because they lead to deeper and more effective understanding.”
-- Edward Teller -
“I tried to contribute to the defeat of the Soviets. If I contributed 1%, it is 1% of something enormous.”
-- Edward Teller -
“If there ever was a misnomer, it is "exact science." Science has always been full of mistakes. The present day is no exception. And our mistakes are good mistakes; they require a genius to correct. Of course, we do not see our own mistakes.”
-- Edward Teller -
“The eyes of childhood are magnifying lenses.”
-- Edward Teller -
“Secrecy in science does not work. Withholding information does more damage to us than to our competitors.”
-- Edward Teller -
“I hate doubt, yet I am certain that doubt is the only way to approach anything worth believing in.”
-- Edward Teller -
“I believe in good. It is an ephemeral and elusive quality. It is the center of my beliefs, but it cannot be strengthened by talking about it.”
-- Edward Teller -
“I believe in evil. It is the property of all those who are certain of truth. Despair and fanaticism are only differing manifestations of evil.”
-- Edward Teller -
“I believe in excellence. It is a basic need of every human soul. All of us can be excellent, because, fortunately, we are exceedingly diverse in our ambitions and talents.”
-- Edward Teller -
“If anyone wants a hole in the ground, nuclear explosives can make big holes”
-- Edward Teller -
“I think that intellectuals who end up in hell will have to read page proofs and check indexes there.”
-- Edward Teller -
“There is no case where ignorance should be preferred to knowledge - especially if the knowledge is terrible.”
-- Edward Teller -
“One may say that predictions are dangerous particularly for the future. If the danger involved in a prediction is not incurred, no consequence follows and the uncertainty principle is not violated.”
-- Edward Teller -
“Physics without mathematics is meaningless.”
-- Edward Teller -
“My experience has been in a short 77 years that in the end when you fight for a desperate cause and have good reasons to fight, you usually win.”
-- Edward Teller -
“Really exotic methods of propulsion . . . will have to be devised to get there. How it will be done, I do not know. Whether it will be done, I am not quite certain. But I would bet it can be done.”
-- Edward Teller -
“Physics is, hopefully, simple. Physicists are not.”
-- Edward Teller
