xy favourite quotes (page 102) | Quotes of famous people

“The miracle of the appropriateness of the language of mathematics for the formulation of the laws of physics is a wonderful gift which we neither understand nor deserve.”

Eugene Paul Wigner The Unreasonable Effectiveness of Mathematics in the Natural Sciences

"The Unreasonable Effectiveness of Mathematics in the Natural Sciences," Communications in Pure and Applied Mathematics, February 1960, final sentence.

“Where in the Schrödinger equation do you put the joy of being alive?”

Eugene Paul Wigner (1902–1995) mathematician and Nobel Prize-winning physicist

As quoted by Freeman Dyson from a private conversation, Infinite in All Directions (1988)

“In science, it is not speed that is the most important. It is the dedication, the commitment, the interest and the will to know something and to understand it — these are the things that come first.”

Eugene Paul Wigner (1902–1995) mathematician and Nobel Prize-winning physicist

in an interview by [István Kardos, Scientists face to face, Corvina Kiadó, 1978, 963130373X, 370]

“A possible explanation of the physicist's use of mathematics to formulate his laws of nature is that he is a somewhat irresponsible person. As a result, when he finds a connection between two quantities which resembles a connection well-known from mathematics, he will jump at the conclusion that the connection is that discussed in mathematics simply because he does not know of any other similar connection.”

Eugene Paul Wigner The Unreasonable Effectiveness of Mathematics in the Natural Sciences

"The Unreasonable Effectiveness of Mathematics in the Natural Sciences," Communications in Pure and Applied Mathematics, February 1960.

“A mind of von Neumann's inexorable logic had to understand and accept much that most of us do not want to accept and do not even wish to understand.”

Eugene Paul Wigner (1902–1995) mathematician and Nobel Prize-winning physicist

Biographical memoir: "John von Neumann (1903 - 1957)" in Year book of the American Philosophical Society (1958); later in Symmetries and Reflections : Scientific Essays of Eugene P. Wigner (1967), p. 261
Context: A deep sense of humor and an unusual ability for telling stories and jokes endeared Johnny even to casual acquaintances. He could be blunt when necessary, but was never pompous. A mind of von Neumann's inexorable logic had to understand and accept much that most of us do not want to accept and do not even wish to understand. This fact colored many of von Neumann's moral judgments. "It is just as foolish to complain that people are selfish and treacherous as it is to complain that the magnetic field does not increase unless the electric field has a curl. Both are laws of nature." Only scientific intellectual dishonesty and misappropriation of scientific results could rouse his indignation and ire — but these did — and did almost equally whether he himself, or someone else, was wronged.

“A deep sense of humor and an unusual ability for telling stories and jokes endeared Johnny even to casual acquaintances.”

Eugene Paul Wigner (1902–1995) mathematician and Nobel Prize-winning physicist

Biographical memoir: "John von Neumann (1903 - 1957)" in Year book of the American Philosophical Society (1958); later in Symmetries and Reflections : Scientific Essays of Eugene P. Wigner (1967), p. 261
Context: A deep sense of humor and an unusual ability for telling stories and jokes endeared Johnny even to casual acquaintances. He could be blunt when necessary, but was never pompous. A mind of von Neumann's inexorable logic had to understand and accept much that most of us do not want to accept and do not even wish to understand. This fact colored many of von Neumann's moral judgments. "It is just as foolish to complain that people are selfish and treacherous as it is to complain that the magnetic field does not increase unless the electric field has a curl. Both are laws of nature." Only scientific intellectual dishonesty and misappropriation of scientific results could rouse his indignation and ire — but these did — and did almost equally whether he himself, or someone else, was wronged.

“You can pretend to be serious but you can't pretend to be witty.”

Sacha Guitry (1885–1957) French dramatist and playwright

Book of Humorous Quotations, ed. Connie Robertson (1998), page 83

“Honest women are inconsolable for the mistakes they haven't made.”

Sacha Guitry (1885–1957) French dramatist and playwright

Book of Humorous Quotations, ed. Connie Robertson (1998), page 83

“The little I know, I owe to my ignorance.”

Sacha Guitry (1885–1957) French dramatist and playwright

Book of Humorous Quotations, ed. Connie Robertson (1998), page 83

“When a man steals your wife there is no better revenge than to let him keep her.”

Sacha Guitry (1885–1957) French dramatist and playwright

Book of Humorous Quotations, ed. Connie Robertson (1998), page 83

“When a man marries his mistress, he creates a job vacancy.”

Sacha Guitry (1885–1957) French dramatist and playwright

Book of Humorous Quotations, ed. Connie Robertson (1998), page 83