Murray Gell-Mann

The quark model was inspired by a line from James Joyce's Finnegans Wake: 'Three quarks for Muster Mark!'

We live in a universe whose age we cannot compute, and that is changing faster than we can compute.

Anything that can be done to a figure can be done to a concept.

The sciences do not try to explain, they hardly even try to interpret, they mainly make models.

Complexity is messy. It is not easily analyzable.

The universe is not only stranger than we imagine, it is stranger than we can imagine.

In the history of physics, there comes a time when the accumulated contradictions within the prevailing theory can no longer be ignored.

Beauty in science is a guide, but not a guarantee.

The conservation of energy is a profound principle that governs all physical processes.

Particles are not eternal; they are manifestations of deeper symmetries.

The world of the quark is a world of surprises.

Symmetry is the key to understanding the fundamental forces.

Nature is not economical in her inventions.

The quest for simplicity in physics often leads to profound truths.

Quantum mechanics teaches us that reality is probabilistic at its core.

Innovation comes from seeing connections where others see separations.

The Santa Fe Institute is a place where complexity is tamed through interdisciplinary work.

Language is a complex adaptive system, much like ecosystems or economies.

Reductionism has its limits; emergence is where the real action is.

Physics is the foundation, but biology and society build upon it in unpredictable ways.