Quotessence
Home / Authors / J. Robert Oppenheimer
J. Robert Oppenheimer

J. Robert Oppenheimer Quotes

Theoretical Physicist

Filter quotes by topic

AllWorldMenScienceKnowsAtomic BombScientistThinkingWayPhysicsWarDiscoveryErrorsHumansIfsMayPhysicistTryingBelieveBombsCulture

Famous J. Robert Oppenheimer Quotes

“This world of ours is a new world, in which the unit of knowledge, the nature of human communities, the order of society, the order of ideas, the very notions of society and culture have changed, and will not return to what they have been in the past. What is new is new, not because it has never been there before, but because it has changed in quality.”

WorldHumansHas BeensIdeasPastOrderCultureCommunityQualityProgressThis WorldChangedReturnNotionNew WorldUnitsSociety And Culture
Book:Uncommon Sense
Create image

“We knew the world would not be the same. A few people laughed, a few people cried, most people were silent. I remembered the line from the Hindu scripture, the Bhagavad-Gita; Vishnu is trying to persuade the Prince that he should do his duty and, to impress him, takes on his multi-armed form and says, "Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds." I suppose we all thought that, one way or another.”

PeopleWorldWayShouldTryingFormScienceLinesDutySilentScriptureOne WayRememberedLaughedCriedImpressDestroyersGitaNuclear BombVishnu
Author:J. Robert Oppenheimer
Create image

“But when you come right down to it the reason that we did this job is because it was an organic necessity. If you are a scientist you cannot stop such a thing. If you are a scientist you believe that it is good to find out how the world works; that it is good to find out what the realities are; that it is good to turn over to mankind at large the greatest possible power to control the world and to deal with it according to its lights and values.”

IfsWorldBelieveReasonRealityLightJobsScienceValuesTurnsDealsMankindProjectsResearchScientistBombsAtomic Bomb
Author:J. Robert Oppenheimer
Create image

“The open society, the unrestricted access to knowledge, the unplanned and uninhibited association of men for its furtherance-these are what may make a vast, complex, ever growing, ever changing, ever more specialized and expert technological world, nevertheless a world of human community.”

MenWorldHumansMayScienceCommunityKnowledgeGrowingSocietyComplexesAccessExpertsAssociationNeverthelessTechnological
Book:Atom and Void: Essays on Science and Community
Create image