Quotes About Observation

Charles II once invited the members of the Royal Society to explain to him why a dead fish weighs more than the same fish alive; a number of subtle explanations were offered to him. He then pointed out that it does not.

Well, she said, I see it hasn't got a fuck of a lot better since I was away.

A man should look for what is, and not for what he thinks should be.

Joy in looking and comprehending is nature's most beautiful gift.

Do you really believe that the moon isn't there when nobody looks?

The world won't be destroyed by those who do evil, but by those who watch them without doing anything.

When I was young I found out that the big toe always ends up making a hole in a sock. So I stopped wearing socks.

The theory must not contradict empirical facts

You make experiments and I make theories. Do you know the difference? A theory is something nobody believes, except the person who made it. An experiment is something everybody believes, except the person who made it. { Remark to scientist Herman Francis Mark }

It is the theory which decides what can be observed

If the moon, in the act of completing its eternal way around the earth, were gifted with self-consciousness, it would feel thoroughly convinced that it was traveling its way of its own accord. . . . So would a Being, endowed with higher insight and more perfect intelligence, watching man and his doings, smile about man's illusion that he was acting according to his own free will.

Don't listen to their words, fix your attention on their deeds.

Wenn man zwei Stunden lang mit einem Mädchen zusammensitzt, meint man, es wäre eine Minute. Sitzt man jedoch eine Minute auf einem heißen Ofen, meint man, es wären zwei Stunden. Das ist Relativität.

and I think (like you, by the way) that theory cannot be fabricated out of the results of observation, but that it can only be invented. [Letter to Karl Popper; 11 Sep 1939]

one who has come to this country as a mature person may have a keen eye for everything peculiar and characteristic. I believe he should speak out freely on what he sees and feels, for by so doing he may perhaps prove himself useful.

Kada sedite sat vremena kraj lepe devojke, to prodje kao minut. Sedite minut na vrelu pec i to ce trajati kao sat. To se zove relativitet.

He might also interpret his experience thus: "My body of reference (the carriage) remains permanently at rest. With reference to it, however, there exists (during the period of application of the brakes) a gravitational field which is directed forwards and which is variable with respect to time. Under the influence of this field, the embankment together with the earth move non-uniformly in such a manner that their original velocity in the backward direction is continuously reduced.

La vida es muy peligrosa. No por las personas que hacen el mal, sino por las que se sientan a ver lo que pasa

We must remember that we do not observe nature as it actually exists, but nature exposed to our methods of perception. The theories determine what we can or cannot observe... Reality is an illusion, albeit a persistent one.

Well... ...That's what you always forget, isn't it? I mean, you forget to pay attention to what's happening. And that's the same as not being here and now.

That's what you always forget, isn't it? I mean, you forget to pay attention to what's happening. And that's the same as not being here and now.

That would distract your attention, and attention is the whole point. Attention to the experience of something given, something you haven't invented in your imagination.

To see ourselves as others see us is a most salutary gift.

He took nobody by surprise; there was nobody to take.