Sheldon Glashow

Physics American 1932 393 quotes

Shared the Nobel Prize for his contributions to the electroweak unification theory.

Most quoted

"The Standard Model is a theory of almost everything, but not quite everything. It's a theory of the strong, weak, and electromagnetic interactions, but it doesn't include gravity. And it doesn't explain why there are three generations of quarks and leptons, or why the Higgs boson has the mass it does."

— from Various interviews and lectures

"We do not ask for what end the birds do sing, for song is their pleasure since they were created for song. Similarly, we ought not to ask why the human mind troubles to fathom the secrets of the heavens."

— from Nobel Lecture, 1991

"Grand Unified Theories (GUTs) are beautiful, but they're not necessarily true. They're a step in the right direction, but they're not the final answer."

— from Various interviews and lectures

All quotes by Sheldon Glashow (393)

Experiments are the referees in the game of theories.

Paper 1976

Aging gracefully means embracing the unknown.

Personal Reflection 2015

Witten is a genius, but even geniuses can be wrong.

Interview 2007

Renormalization is the art of sweeping infinities under the rug.

Thesis 1960

Peace comes from understanding, not from weapons.

Speech 1983

The joy of discovery is worth more than any prize.

Nobel Reflection 1979

Dark matter? More like dark humor in cosmology.

Lecture 2010

Unity in diversity: that's the electroweak way.

Paper Excerpt 1967

Philosophy without physics is empty; physics without philosophy is blind.

Book 1993

I owe my success to mentors like Schwinger.

Letter 1981

Quantum field theory is the machinery of reality.

Early Lecture 1959

Happiness is a good theory that works.

Interview 2002

Supersymmetry is elegant but elusive.

Article 2008

Art and science both seek beauty in patterns.

Speech 1996

Failure is the fertilizer of success in research.

Correspondence 1974

The cosmos laughs at our puny attempts to understand it.

Book 2011

Neutrinos are ghostly, but they tell real stories.

Paper 1962

Live fully, question everything, contribute boldly.

Personal Note 2018

Theory without data is fiction; data without theory is trivia.

Lecture 1984

In physics, as in life, balance is key.

Interview 1991