Steven Weinberg

Physics American 1933 – 2021 381 quotes

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

Most quoted

"It is almost irresistible for humans to believe that we have some special relation to the universe, that human life is not just a more-or-less farcical outcome of a chain of accidents, but that we were somehow planned from the beginning."

— from The First Three Minutes: A Modern View Of The Origin Of The Universe, 1977

"It is almost irresistible for humans to believe that we have some special relation to the universe, that human life is not just a more-or-less farcical outcome of a chain of accidents, but that we were somehow planned from the start."

— from The First Three Minutes: A Modern View Of The Origin Of The Universe, 1977

"Religion is an insult to human dignity. With or without it, you would have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things. But for good people to do evil things, that takes religion."

— from A Designer Universe?, 1999

All quotes by Steven Weinberg (381)

Science is not just about truth, but about beauty.

lecture

The universe is not a prison, but a playground.

interview

Science is not just about knowledge, but about joy.

lecture

The universe is not a tragedy, but a comedy.

interview

Science is not just about understanding, but about love.

lecture

The universe is not a void, but a fullness.

interview

Science is not just about facts, but about meaning.

lecture

The universe is not a chaos, but an order.

interview

Science is not just about discovery, but about purpose.

lecture

Science is not a game, it's a way of life. And it's a way of life that's much more fun than any game.

various interviews

The universe is a cruel and indifferent place. But at least it's interesting.

various interviews

I don't believe in God, but I'm not an atheist. I'm an agnostic. I don't know if there's a God or not. But I don't think there is.

various interviews

The problem with quantum mechanics is that it's too successful. It works so well that we don't know what to do with it.

various interviews

The world is a mess. But it's our mess, and we have to clean it up.

various interviews

I'm not a philosopher. I'm a physicist. I don't think about the meaning of life. I think about the meaning of physics.

various interviews

The laws of physics are like a good joke. They're simple, elegant, and they make you laugh.

various interviews

The universe is not obliged to make sense to you.

various interviews

If we ever discover a theory of everything, it will be a theory of everything that we can observe, not a theory of everything that exists.

various interviews

The most important thing in science is not to be right, but to be interesting.

various interviews

I'm not afraid of death. I just don't want to be there when it happens.

various interviews