Reading, after a certain age, diverts the mind too much from its creative pursuits. Any man who reads too much and uses his own brain too little falls into lazy habits of thinking.
Quantum mechanics is certainly imposing. But an inner voice tells me that this is not yet the real thing. The theory yields much, but it hardly brings us closer to the Old One’s secrets. I, in any case, am convinced that He does not play dice.
Pure mathematics is, in its way, the poetry of logical ideas.[Die reine Mathematik ist auf ihre Art die Poesie logischer Gedanken.]
Physical concepts are free creations of the human mind and are not, however it may seem, uniquely determined by the external world.
Perfection of means and confusion of goals seem – in my opinion – to characterize our age.
People who fail to regard the truth seriously in small matters, cannot be trusted in matters that are great.[Wer es in kleinen Dingen mit der Wahrheit nicht ernst nimmt, dem kann man auch in grossen Dingen nicht vertrauen.]
People like you and me, though mortal, of course, like everyone else, do not grow old no matter how long we live. What I mean is that we never cease to stand like curious children before the great Mystery into which we were born.
Our world faces a crisis as yet unperceived by those possessing power to make great decisions for good or evil.
Our experience hitherto justifies us in trusting that nature is the realization of the simplest that is mathematically conceivable.
Our entire much-praised technological progress, and civilization generally, could be compared to an axe in the hand of a pathological criminal.
Only the individual can think, and thereby create new values for society – nay, even set up new moral standards to which the life of the community conforms. Without creative, independently thinking and judging personalities the upward development of society is as unthinkable as the development of the individual personality without the nourishing soil of the community.
Only one who devotes himself to a cause with his whole strength and soul can be a true master. For this reason, mastery demands the whole person.
