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Richard P. Feynman Quotes about Science

All Richard P. Feynman Quotes Age Atheism Attitude Authority Biology Children Curiosity Desire Difficulty Doubt Education Effort Energy Feelings Flying Fun Funny Giving Hate Heart Honesty Humility Ignorance Imagination Inspirational Integrity Intelligence Judging Knowledge Language Learning Life Luck Lying Math Mathematics Nature Observation Opportunity Past Philosophy Physics Probability Progress Quantum Mechanics Reality Religion Responsibility School Science quotes Simplicity Skepticism Struggle Students Study Teaching Technology Today Uncertainty Understanding Universe Values Wine Worry Writing Youth
The first principle is that you must not fool yourself and you are the easiest person to fool.

The first principle is that you must not fool yourself and you are the easiest person to fool.

Richard P. Feynman
Clever, Love Life, Science
Richard P. Feynman (2015). “The Quotable Feynman”, p.345, Princeton University Press

Science is the belief in the ignorance of experts.

Richard P. Feynman
Ignorance, Science, Thinking
Richard P. Feynman (2015). “The Quotable Feynman”, p.291, Princeton University Press

It doesn't matter how beautiful your theory is, it doesn't matter how smart you are. If it doesn't agree with experiment, it's wrong.

Richard P. Feynman
Beautiful, Smart, Science

Religion is a culture of faith; science is a culture of doubt.

Richard P. Feynman
Philosophy, Science, Technology

The truth always turns out to be simpler than you thought.

Richard P. Feynman
Truth, Science, Simplicity
"Sympathetic Vibrations: Reflections on Physics as a Way of Life". Book by K. C. Cole, 1985.

Scientists are explorers. Philosophers are tourists.

Richard P. Feynman
Science, Tourists, Philosopher
Richard P. Feynman (2015). “The Quotable Feynman”, p.113, Princeton University Press

If you thought that science was certain - well, that is just an error on your part.

Richard P. Feynman
Science, Errors, Certain
Richard P. Feynman (2015). “The Quotable Feynman”, p.349, Princeton University Press

Physics is like sex: sure, it may give some practical results, but that's not why we do it.

Richard P. Feynman
Sex, Learning, Science

First you guess. Don't laugh, this is the most important step. Then you compute the consequences. Compare the consequences to experience. If it disagrees with experience, the guess is wrong. In that simple statement is the key to science. It doesn't matter how beautiful your guess is or how smart you are or what your name is. If it disagrees with experience, it's wrong. That's all there is to it.

Richard P. Feynman
Beautiful, Smart, Science

You can know the name of a bird in all the languages of the world, but when you're finished, you'll know absolutely nothing whatever about the bird... So let's look at the bird and see what it's doing -- that's what counts.

Richard P. Feynman
Science, Names, Bird
Richard P. Feynman (2015). “The Quotable Feynman”, p.68, Princeton University Press

Progress in science comes when experiments contradict theory.

Richard P. Feynman
Science, Progress, Theory

Physics is to mathematics what sex is to masturbation.

Richard P. Feynman
Sex, Math, Science
"Fear of Physics: A Guide for the Perplexed". Book by Lawrence M. Krauss (p. 27), 1993.

There is no harm in doubt and skepticism, for it is through these that new discoveries are made.

Richard P. Feynman
Science, Discovery, Doubt
Richard P. Feynman (2015). “The Quotable Feynman”, p.290, Princeton University Press

We are trying to prove ourselves wrong as quickly as possible, because only in that way can we find progress.

Richard P. Feynman
Science, Progress, Trying
Richard P. Feynman (2015). “The Quotable Feynman”, p.130, Princeton University Press

Our freedom to doubt was born out of a struggle against authority in the early days of science. It was a very deep and strong struggle: permit us to question - to doubt - to not be sure. I think that it is important that we do not forget this struggle and thus perhaps lose what we have gained.

Richard P. Feynman
Strong, Struggle, Science
Richard P. Feynman (2011). “"What Do You Care What Other People Think?": Further Adventures of a Curious Character”, p.264, W. W. Norton & Company

Philosophy of science is about as useful to scientists as ornithology is to birds.

Richard P. Feynman
Philosophy, Science, Engineering

I think it's much more interesting to live not knowing than to have answers which might be wrong.

Richard P. Feynman
Badass, Knowledge, Science
Richard P. Feynman (2005). “The Pleasure of Finding Things Out: The Best Short Works of Richard P. Feynman”, p.21, Hachette UK

Physics is not the most important thing. Love is.

Richard P. Feynman
Science, Technology, Love Is
"Quantum theory via 40-tonne trucks: How science writing became popular" by Marcus Chown, www.independent.co.uk. January 17, 2010.

Our imagination is stretched to the utmost, not, as in fiction, to imagine things which are not really there, but just to comprehend those things which are there.

Richard P. Feynman
Real, Science, Imagination
Richard P. Feynman (2015). “The Quotable Feynman”, p.87, Princeton University Press

If we want to solve a problem that we have never solved before, we must leave the door to the unknown ajar.

Richard P. Feynman
Learning, Science, Doors
"What Do You Care What Other People Think?". Book by Richard P. Feynman, 1988.

The principle of science, the definition, almost, is the following: The test of all knowledge is experiment. Experiment is the sole judge of scientific "truth." But what is the source of knowledge? Where do the laws that are to be tested come from? Experiment, itself, helps to produce these laws, in the sense that it gives us hints. But also needed is imagination to create from these hints the great generalizations--to guess at the wonderful, simple, but very strange patterns beneath them all, and then to experiment to check again whether we have made the right guess.

Richard P. Feynman
Science, Math, Simple
Richard P. Feynman, Robert B. Leighton, Matthew Sands (2015). “The Feynman Lectures on Physics, Vol. I: The New Millennium Edition: Mainly Mechanics, Radiation, and Heat”, p.45, Basic Books

We are at the very beginning of time for the human race. It is not unreasonable that we grapple with problems. But there are tens of thousands of years in the future. Our responsibility is to do what we can, learn what we can, improve the solutions, and pass them on.

Richard P. Feynman
Inspirational, Responsibility, Science
Richard P. Feynman (2015). “The Quotable Feynman”, p.359, Princeton University Press

There are 10^11 stars in the galaxy. That used to be a huge number. But it's only a hundred billion. It's less than the national deficit! We used to call them astronomical numbers. Now we should call them economical numbers.

Richard P. Feynman
Stars, Learning, Science
"Richard P. Feynman, Teacher". David L. Goodstein, "Physics Today", Volume 42, No. 2, February 1989.

The theoretical broadening which comes from having many humanities subjects on the campus is offset by the general dopiness of the people who study these things.

Richard P. Feynman
Humorous, Science, People
Richard P. Feynman's letter to Robert Bacher (April 6, 1950) as quoted in "Genius: The Life and Science of Richard Feynman", book by James Gleick, 1992.

There is nothing that living things do that cannot be understood from the point of view that they are made of atoms acting according to the laws of physics.

Richard P. Feynman
Science, Views, Law
Richard P. Feynman, Robert B. Leighton, Matthew Sands (2013). “The Feynman Lectures on Physics, vol. 1 for tablets”, Basic Books

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