We are trapped by language to such a degree that every attempt to formulate insight is a play on words.
NIELS BOHRWe are trapped by language to such a degree that every attempt to formulate insight is a play on words.
NIELS BOHRIf we couldn’t laugh at ourselves, that would be the end of everything.
NIELS BOHRIf quantum mechanics hasn’t profoundly shocked you, you haven’t understood it yet.
NIELS BOHRA physicist is just an atom’s way of looking at itself.
NIELS BOHRThere 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 BOHRSometimes the child in one behaves a certain way and the rest of oneself follows behind, slowly shaking its head.
NIELS BOHRNo, no, you’re not thinking; you’re just being logical.
NIELS BOHRThe opposite of every great idea is another great idea.
NIELS BOHRWhen 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.
NIELS BOHRAnd anyone who thinks they can talk about quantum theory without feeling dizzy hasn’t yet understood the first thing about it.
NIELS BOHRWhen we measure something we are forcing an undetermined, undefined world to assume an experimental value. We are not measuring the world, we are creating it.
NIELS BOHRThere are trivial truths and the great truths. The opposite of a trivial truth is plainly false. The opposite of a great truth is also true.
NIELS BOHREverything we call real is made of things that cannot be regarded as real.
NIELS BOHRPredition is risky, especially of the future.
NIELS BOHRIt is, indeed, perhaps the greatest prospect of humanistic studies to contribute through an increasing knowledge of the history of cultural development to that gradual removal of prejudices which is the common aim of all science.
NIELS BOHRYour theory is crazy, but it’s not crazy enough to be true.
NIELS BOHR