Richard Feynman — "I don't believe in miracles, because I believe in science."
I don't believe in miracles, because I believe in science.
Get This Quote & Author's Image Illustrated On:
Click any product to generate a realistic preview. Up to 3 at a time.
* Initial load can take up to 90 seconds — revising the preview in another color is nearly instant.
Kitchen
Apparel
Other
More from Richard Feynman
"I would rather have questions that can't be answered than answers that can't be questioned."
"I think it's much more interesting to live with not knowing than to have answers that might be wrong."
"I don't understand the world in the way that I think other people claim to understand it."
"I learned very early the difference between knowing the name of something and knowing something."
"I have often thought that if I were to be reborn, I'd like to be a biologist."
About Richard Feynman (1918-1988)
American theoretical physicist who shared the 1965 Nobel for QED, developed Feynman diagrams, and wrote the Feynman Lectures on Physics. Closely associated with Julian Schwinger (co-Nobelist for QED) and Murray Gell-Mann (Caltech rival and Eightfold-Way physicist). For an intellectual contrast, see Deepak Chopra, physician and quantum-mysticism author — Feynman's Caltech 'cargo cult science' commencement address is the precise template for what he saw as misuse of physics terminology — Chopra-style appropriation of quantum vocabulary for metaphysical claims is the canonical example of what Feynman called 'fooling yourself'.
Verification
Unverifiable
Found in 1 providers: grok
1 source checked
Understanding this quote
What it means
Science and miracles occupy incompatible frameworks. If you genuinely trust that the universe operates through discoverable, testable, reproducible natural laws, then invoking supernatural intervention becomes logically unnecessary. Understanding how things actually work—through observation, experiment, and evidence—is more satisfying and reliable than attributing phenomena to forces outside nature. Real comprehension of the world leaves no gaps requiring miracles to fill.
Relevance to Richard Feynman
Feynman rebuilt quantum electrodynamics from first principles, developing Feynman diagrams to visualize particle interactions with extraordinary predictive precision. He famously said knowing the name of something differs from knowing it. His Challenger investigation exposed NASA groupthink through a simple ice-water demonstration. For Feynman, scientific curiosity was almost spiritual—wonder came from understanding, not mystery. Miracles would have felt like intellectual surrender.
The era
Feynman worked through mid-20th century science's golden age—Manhattan Project, Cold War physics race, quantum mechanics consolidation. Post-WWII America saw science simultaneously celebrated as civilization's savior and feared for nuclear destruction. Religious fundamentalism and scientific secularism grew in parallel tension. Feynman's era demanded scientists publicly defend empiricism against both political ideology and religious tradition increasingly threatened by evolutionary biology and cosmology.
AI-generated insights based on extensive research and information for context. Factual errors? Email [email protected].