“When we have found how the nucleus of atoms is built up we shall have found the greatest secret of all — except life.”
As quoted in The Wit and Wisdom of the 20th Century : A Dictionary of Quotations (1987) by Frank S. Pepper, p. 226
Context: When we have found how the nucleus of atoms is built up we shall have found the greatest secret of all — except life. We shall have found the basis of everything — of the earth we walk on, of the air we breathe, of the sunshine, of our physical body itself, of everything in the world, however great or however small — except life.
Help us to complete the source, original and additional information
Ernest Rutherford 16
New Zealand-born British chemist and physicist 1871–1937Related quotes
“What is the greatest surprise you have found about life?”
a university student asked me several years ago.
"Its brevity" I replied without hesitation. … Time moves so quickly, and no matter who we are or what we have done, the time will come when our lives will be over. As Jesus said, "As long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work" (John 9:4). … Life is short, and every day is a gift from God.
Just As I Am : The Autobiography of Billy Graham (1997), co-written with Cliff Barrows
“if we have not found the heaven within, we have not found the heaven without”
Source: Lost Horizon
“Until we accept the fact that life itself is founded in mystery, we shall learn nothing.”
“I found the secret to life; I'm okay when everything is not okay”
"Upside Down".
Songs
Und doch sehr oft, wenn wir uns von dem Beabsichtigten für ewig getrennt sehen, haben wir schon auf unserm Wege irgend ein anderes Wünschenswerthe gefunden, etwas uns Gemäßes, mit dem uns zu begnügen wir eigentlich geboren sind.
Maxim 68, trans. Stopp
Maxims and Reflections (1833)
Edwin Grant Conklin, in: Evolution by Association : A History of Symbiosis: A History of Symbiosis http://books.google.co.in/books?id=wEo1QUkr7pUC&pg=PA129, Oxford University Press, 22 August 1994
