Quotes by Niels Bohr

About Niels Bohr:

Niels Henrik David Bohr was a Danish physicist who made foundational contributions to understanding atomic structure and quantum theory, for which he received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1922. Bohr was also a philosopher and a promoter of scientific research.
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must come to Copenhagen to work with us. We like people who can actually perform thought experiments!

Niels Bohr

Stop telling God what to do with his dice.

Niels Bohr

There are trivial truths and there are great truths. The opposite of a trivial truth is plainly false. The opposite of a great truth is also true.

Niels Bohr

Every sentence I utter must be understood not as an affirmation but as a question. [A caution he gives his students, to be wary of dogmatism.]

Niels Bohr

The opposite of a fact is falsehood, but the opposite of one profound truth may very well be another profound truth.

Niels Bohr

Every great and deep difficulty bears in itself its own solution. It forces us to change our thinking in order to find it.

Niels Bohr

Einstein, stop telling God what to do!

Niels Bohr

We are all agreed that your theory is crazy. The question which divides us is whether it is crazy enough to have a chance of being correct. My own feeling is that it is not crazy enough.

Niels Bohr

How wonderful that we have met with a paradox. Now we have some hope of making progress.

Niels Bohr

Technology has advanced more in the last thirty years than in the previous two thousand. The exponential increase in advancement will only continue. Anthropological Commentary The opposite of a trivial truth is false; the opposite of a great truth is...

Niels Bohr

There 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 Bohr

Prediction is very difficult, especially if it's about the future.

Niels Bohr

It is wrong to think that the task of physics is to find out how Nature is. Physics concerns what we say about Nature.

Niels Bohr

When 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.

Niels Bohr

Your theory is crazy, but it's not crazy enough to be true.

Niels Bohr

The opposite of a correct statement is a false statement. But the opposite of a profound truth may well be another profound truth.

Niels Bohr

Author Bio

  • NameNiels Bohr
  • DescriptionDanish physicist and receiver of a 1922 Nobel Prize
  • AliasesNiels Henrik David Bohr
  • BornOctober 7, 1885
  • DiedNovember 18, 1962
  • CountryDenmark
  • ProfessionPhysicist; Association Football Player; Chemist; Philosopher
  • AwardsNobel Prize In Physics; Franklin Medal; Order Of The Elephant; Atoms For Peace Award; Order Of Merit For Arts And Science; Niels Bohr International Gold Medal; Copley Medal; Faraday Lectureship Prize; Max Planck Medal