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Richard P. Feynman

Richard P. Feynman Quotes

Physicist

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Famous Richard P. Feynman Quotes

“We've learned from experience that the truth will out. Other experimenters will repeat your experiment and find out whether you were wrong or right. Nature's phenomena will agree or they'll disagree with your theory. And, although you may gain some temporary fame and excitement, you will not gain a good reputation as a scientist if you haven't tried to be very careful in this kind of work. And it's this type of integrity, this kind of care not to fool yourself, that is missing to a large extent in much of the research in Cargo Cult Science.”

IfsKindMayCareMissingHavensTheoryTypeFoolIntegrityFameResearchGainsScientistAgreeCarefulExperimentsReputationExcitementRepeatsTemporaryDisagreeCultCargoGood ReputationWrong Or RightTruth Will Come Out
Author:Richard P. Feynman
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“The first principle is that you must not fool yourself—and you are the easiest person to fool. So you have to be very careful about that. After you’ve not fooled yourself, it’s easy not to fool other scientists. You just have to be honest in a conventional way after that.”

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Book:Surely You're Joking Mr Feynman: Adventures of a Curious Character as Told to Ralph Leighton
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“When a scientist doesn't know the answer to a problem, he is ignorant. When he has a hunch as to what the result is, he is uncertain. And when he is pretty darn sure of what the result is going to be, he is still in some doubt. We have found it of paramount importance that in order to progress we must recognize our ignorance and leave room for doubt. Scientific knowledge is a body of statements of varying degrees of certainty - some most unsure, some nearly sure, but none absolutely certain.”

KnowsStillsProblemBodyCertainOrderFoundAnswersRoomsResultsDoubtProgressIgnoranceDegreesScientistImportanceStatementsIgnorantUncertaintyUncertainParamountUnsureHunchesScientific KnowledgeUncertainty And Doubt
Author:Richard P. Feynman
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“I think it's much more interesting to live not knowing than to have answers which might be wrong.”

ThinkingMightScienceAnswersInterestingKnowledgeKnowingScientistUncertaintyNot KnowingSkepticismUncertainBadassSkepticalSkepticDoubtedScience PhysicsSubtle AtheistKnowing ThingsDoubt And CertaintyUncertainty And DoubtScientist LifeKnowing MoreMysterious Universe
Book:The Pleasure of Finding Things Out: The Best Short Works of Richard P. Feynman
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“You should not fool the laymen when you're talking as a scientist... . I'm talking about a specific, extra type of integrity that is not lying, but bending over backwards to show how you're maybe wrong, [an integrity] that you ought to have when acting as a scientist. And this is our responsibility as scientists, certainly to other scientists, and I think to laymen.”

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Author:Richard P. Feynman
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“I have a friend who's an artist, and he sometimes takes a view which I don't agree with. He'll hold up a flower and say, "Look how beautiful it is," and I'll agree. But then he'll say, "I, as an artist, can see how beautiful a flower is. But you, as a scientist, take it all apart and it becomes dull." I think he's kind of nutty. [...] There are all kinds of interesting questions that come from a knowledge of science, which only adds to the excitement and mystery and awe of a flower. It only adds. I don't understand how it subtracts.”

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Author:Richard P. Feynman
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“It is our responsibility as scientists, knowing the great progress which comes from a satisfactory philosophy of ignorance, the great progress which is the fruit of freedom of thought, to proclaim the value of this freedom; to teach how doubt is not to be feared but welcomed and discussed; and to demand this freedom as our duty to all coming generations.”

PhilosophyValuesFreedomResponsibilityTeachKnowingDoubtProgressGenerationsIgnoranceDutyDemandScientistFruitFreedom Of ThoughtGreat Progress
Author:Richard P. Feynman
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