Quotes from Max Born

My advice to those who which to learn the art of scientific prophesy is not to rely on abstract reason, but to decipher the secret language of Nature from Nature's documents: the facts of experience.

I am now convinced that theoretical physics is actually philosophy.

Science?is so greatly opposed to history and tradition that it cannot be absorbed by our civilization.

I believe there is no philosophical high-road in science, with epistemological signposts. No, we are in a jungle and find our way by trial and error, building our road behind us as we proceed.

Those who say that the study of science makes a man an atheist, must be rather silly people.

It is true that many scientists are not philosophically minded and have hitherto shown much skill and ingenuity but little wisdom.

To present a scientific subject in an attractive and stimulating manner is an artistic task, similar to that of a novelist or even a dramatic writer. The same holds for writing textbooks.

All attempts to adapt our ethical code to our situation in the technological age have failed.

But in practical affairs, particularly in politics, men are needed who combine human experience and interest in human relations with a knowledge of science and technology.

The belief that there is only one truth, and that oneself is in possession of it, is the root of all evil in the world.

The belief that there is only one truth and that oneself is in possession of it seems to me the deepest root of all evil that is in the world.

The belief in a single truth is the root cause for all evil in the world.

If God has made the world a perfect mechanism, He has at least conceded so much to our imperfect intellect that in order to predict little parts of it, we need not solve innumerable differential equations, but can use dice with fair success.

And the continuity of our science has not been affected by all these turbulent happenings, as the older theories have always been included as limiting cases in the new ones.

There are two objectionable types of believers: those who believe the incredible and those who believe that 'belief' must be discarded and replaced by 'the scientific method.

Physics as we know it will be over in six months.

Intellect distinguishes between the possible and the impossible; reason distinguishes between the sensible and the senseless. Even the possible can be senseless.

The belief that there is only one truth and that oneself is in possession of it seems to me the deepest root of all evil that is in the world.

The release of nuclear energy is an event comparable to the first fire kindled by prehistoric man -- though there is no modern Prometheus but teams of clever yet less heroic fellows, useless as inspiration for epic poetry.

The human race has today the means for annihilating itself—either in a fit of complete lunacy, i.e., in a big war, by a brief fit of destruction, or by careless handling of atomic technology, through a slow process of poisoning and of deterioration in its genetic structure.

If God has made the world a perfect mechanism, He has at least conceded so much to our imperfect intellect that in order to predict little parts of it, we need not solve innumerable differential equations, but can use dice with fair success.

We need to make a world in which fewer children are born, and in which we take better care of them.

The belief that there is only one truth and that oneself is in possession of it seems to me the root of all the evil that is in the world

I am now convinced that theoretical physics is actual philosophy.