There are two sorts of truth: trivialities, where opposites are clearly absurd, and profound truths, recognised by the fact that the opposite is also a profound truth.
NIELS BOHRNo, no, you’re not thinking; you’re just being logical.
More Niels Bohr Quotes
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It is not enough to be wrong, one must also be polite.
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Every sentence I utter must be understood not as an affirmation, but as a question.
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When it comes to atoms, language can be used only as in poetry.
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A person who wasn’t outraged on first hearing about quantum theory didn’t understand what had been said.
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Nothing exists until it is measured.
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Accuracy and clarity of statement are mutually exclusive.
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No, no, you’re not thinking; you’re just being logical.
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I go into the Upanishads to ask questions.
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The great extension of our experience in recent years has brought light to the insufficiency of our simple mechanical conceptions and, as a consequence, has shaken the foundation on which the customary interpretation of observation was based.
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There are some things so serious you have to laugh at them.
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When it comes to atoms, language can be used only as in poetry. The poet, too, is not nearly so concerned with describing facts as with creating images and establishing mental connections.
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There is no hope for any speculation that does not look absurd at first glance.
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Predition is risky, especially of the future.
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We all know your idea is crazy. The question is whether it is crazy enough.
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In our description of nature the purpose is not to disclose the real essence of the phenomena but only to track down, so far as it is possible, relations between the manifold aspects of our experience.
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Some subjects are so serious that one can only joke about them.
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You must come to Copenhagen to work with us. We like people who can actually perform thought experiments!
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Einstein, stop telling God what to do!
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Physics is the belief that a simple and consistent description of nature is possible.
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The present state of atomic theory is characterized by the fact that we not only believe the existence of atoms to be proved beyond a doubt, but also we even believe that we have an intimate knowledge of the constituents of the individual atoms.
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The measurement we get when we measure something is not a property of the thing measured.
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Anyone who can contemplate quantum mechanics without getting dizzy hasn’t understood it.
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The best weapon of a dictatorship is secrecy, but the best weapon of a democracy should be the weapon of openness.
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Some things are so serious, they can only be joked about.
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If you have a correct statement, then the opposite of a correct statement is of course an incorrect statement, a wrong statement. But when you have a deep truth, then the opposite of a deep truth may again be a deep truth.
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We are all agreed that your theory is crazy. The question which divides us is whether it is crazy enough to have a chance of being correct. My own feeling is that it is not crazy enough.
NIELS BOHR