Quotes by Niels Bohr

Everything we call real is made of things that cannot be regarded as real.

I myself find the division of the world into an objective and a subjective side much too arbitrary. The fact that religions through the ages have spoken in images, parables, and paradoxes means simply that there are no other ways of grasping the reality to which they refer. But that does not mean that it is not a genuine reality. And splitting this reality into an objective and a. subjective side wont get us very far.

It is not enough to be wrong, one must also be polite.

The meaning of life consists in the fact that it makes no sense to say that life has no meaning.

[About describing atomic models in the language of classical physics:]We must be clear that when it comes to atoms, language can be used only as in poetry. The poet, too, is not nearly so concerned with describing facts as with creating images and establishing mental connections.

Every sentence I utter must be understood not as an affirmation but as a question.[A caution he gives his students, to be wary of dogmatism.]

Never express yourself more clearly than you are able to think.

Your theory is crazy, but its not crazy enough to be true.

How wonderful that we have met with a paradox. Now we have some hope of making progress.

An expert is a man who has made all the mistakes which can be made in a very narrow field.

The best weapon of a dictatorship is secrecy, but the best weapon of a democracy should be the weapon of openness.

Einstein, stop telling God what to do!

While the finish given to our picture of the world by the theory of relativity has already been absorbed into the general scientific consciousness, this has scarcely occurred to the same extent with those aspects of the general problem of knowledge which have been elucidated by the quantum theory.

The opposite of a fact is falsehood, but the opposite of one profound truth may very well be another profound truth.

Every great and deep difficulty bears in itself its own solution. It forces us to change our thinking in order to find it.

Technology has advanced more in the last thirty years than in the previous two thousand. The exponential increase in advancement will only continue.

When it comes to atoms, language can be used only as in poetry. The poet, too, is not nearly so concerned with describing facts as with creating images.

Prediction is very difficult, especially if its about the future.

“The opposite of a correct statement is a false statement. But the opposite of a profound truth may well be another profound truth.”

“Prediction is very difficult, especially about the future.”