Vannevar Bush

The machine will never replace the human mind, but it can augment it.

Science has a simple faith, which transcends utility. It is the faith that it is the privilege of man to learn to understand, and that this is his mission.

A new symbolism, probably non-mathematical, will be required before progress can be made.

Consider a future device for individual use, which is a sort of mechanized private file and library. It needs a name, and, to coin one at random, 'memex' will do.

The human mind does not work that way. It operates by association. With one item in its grasp, it snaps instantly to the next that is suggested by the association of thoughts, in accordance with some intricate web of trails carried by the cells of the brain.

Presumably man's spirit should be elevated if he can better review his shady past and analyze more completely and objectively his present problems.

The applications of science have built man a well-supplied house, and are teaching him to live healthily therein.

There is no satisfactory substitute for excellence.

We need to remove the rigid boundaries which have separated the natural sciences, the social sciences, and the humanities, and develop a broader understanding of the scientific endeavor.

The scientist is not responsible for the laws of nature. It is his job to find out how these laws operate.

If scientific reasoning were limited to the logical processes of arithmetic, we should not get very far in our understanding of the physical world.

The real satisfaction of science is in the search, not necessarily the final answer.

The research worker is not an isolated individual; he is part of a great team.

The process by which the boundaries of knowledge are advanced, and the structure of organized science is built, is a complex process indeed.

We cannot any longer depend on the diffusion of knowledge from abroad. We must be pioneers.

Progress in science depends on new techniques, new discoveries, and new ideas, probably in that order.

The true scientist is a very happy man. He is doing what he wants to do, and he knows it is worth doing.

We live in an age of specialism, and the scientist is the worst offender.

The engineer, the scientist, the manager—these are the men who must build the new world.

The obligation of science is to the truth.