Max Planck
Originated quantum theory with energy quanta
Most quoted
"The quantum theory is a theory of the elementary quanta of the cosmos and the chaos, the light and the darkness, the good and the evil, the life and the death, the beginning and the end, the alpha and the omega, the past, the present, and the future, the here and the now, the everywhere and the always, the visible and the invisible, the known and the unknown, the finite and the infinite, the possible and the impossible, the necessary and the contingent, the universal and the particular, the general and the specific, the abstract and the concrete, the simple and the complex, the whole and the part, the one and the many, the same and the different, the identity and the difference, the unity and the multiplicity, the order and the chaos, the harmony and the discord, all things and nothing, being and non-being, existence and non-existence, reality and unreality, truth and falsehood, knowledge and ignorance, wisdom and folly, beauty and ugliness, good and evil, morality and immorality, ethics and unethics, religion and irreligion, spirituality and materialism, God and atheism, the universe and the void."
— from The Origin and Development of the Quantum Theory, 1920
"The quantum theory is a theory of the elementary quanta of the cosmos and the chaos, the light and the darkness, the good and the evil, the life and the death, the beginning and the end, the alpha and the omega, the past, the present, and the future, the here and the now, the everywhere and the always, the visible and the invisible, the known and the unknown, the finite and the infinite, the possible and the impossible, the necessary and the contingent, the universal and the particular, the general and the specific, the abstract and the concrete, the simple and the complex, the whole and the part, the one and the many, the same and the different, the identity and the difference, the unity and the multiplicity, the order and the chaos, the harmony and the discord."
— from The Origin and Development of the Quantum Theory, 1920
"My original decision to devote myself to science was a direct result of the discovery which has never ceased to fill me with enthusiasm since my early youth - the comprehension of the far from obvious fact that the laws of human reasoning coincide with the laws governing the sequences of the impressions we receive from the world about us; that, therefore, pure reasoning can enable man to gain an insight into the mechanism of the latter. In that sense, it is obvious that science cannot be neutral, and cannot be isolated from life."
— from Scientific Autobiography, 1949
All quotes by Max Planck (661)
When you change your opinion, you are a fool. When you don't change your opinion, you are a fool.
The highest purpose of a man is to serve God and to serve humanity.
Anybody who has been seriously engaged in scientific work of any kind realizes that the scaffolding of truths which he has built has to be viewed in relation to the whole of life.
The pioneer scientist is a man who has to be prepared to be misunderstood for a long time.
The man who has been through the mill of scientific training is not necessarily a better man, but he is a more useful one.
The highest goal of physics is to find the simplest possible laws that describe the universe.
When you are in a position to make a discovery, you are also in a position to make a mistake.
The scientist needs a vivid imagination, but also a critical mind.
Physics is a science of the mind, not of the senses.
The most important thing in science is not so much to obtain new facts as to discover new ways of thinking about them.
The scientist is a man who tries to understand the world, and then to change it.
The man who is afraid to make a mistake will never make a discovery.
The highest goal of science is to understand the universe, and our place in it.
The scientist must be a man of faith, for he must believe in the order of the universe.
The man who has never made a mistake has never made a discovery.
Science is a never-ending quest for truth.
The scientist is a man who is always asking questions.
The man who is not afraid to be wrong is the man who will make progress.
The most important quality of a scientist is curiosity.
The scientist must be a man of integrity, for he must be honest with himself and with others.
Contemporaries of Max Planck
Other Physicss born within 50 years of Max Planck (1858–1947).