“Language tethers us to the world; without it we spin like atoms.”
Penelope Lively book Moon Tiger
Source: Moon Tiger
1950s, Atoms for Peace (1953)
Context: I feel impelled to speak today in a language that in a sense is new--one which I, who have spent so much of my life in the military profession, would have preferred never to use. That new language is the language of atomic warfare. The atomic age has moved forward at such a pace that every citizen of the world should have some comprehension, at least in comparative terms, of the extent of this development of the utmost significance to every one of us. Clearly, if the people of the world are to conduct an intelligent search for peace, they must be armed with the significant facts of today's existence.
“Language tethers us to the world; without it we spin like atoms.”
Penelope Lively book Moon Tiger
Source: Moon Tiger
“You are part of every atom in the world, and every atom is part of you.”
Werner Erhard (1935) Critical Thinker and Author
[176, Larson's Book of World Religions and Alternative Spirituality, Bob Larson, Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 2004, 084236417X]
Attributed
Bernard Baruch (1870–1965) American businessman
Address to the United Nations Atomic Energy Commission (14 June 1946)
“We must be clear that when it comes to atoms, language can be used only as in poetry.”
Niels Bohr (1885–1962) Danish physicist
In his first meeting with Werner Heisenberg in early summer 1920, in response to questions on the nature of language, as reported in Discussions about Language (1933); quoted in Defense Implications of International Indeterminacy (1972) by Robert J. Pranger, p. 11, and Theorizing Modernism : Essays in Critical Theory (1993) by Steve Giles, p. 28
Context: We must be clear that 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 and establishing mental connections.
William D. Leahy (1875–1959) United States admiral, ambassador to France, Chief of Staff
Source: I Was There (1950), p. 442
Edwin H. Land (1909–1991) American scientist and inventor
"A Talk with Polaroid's Dr. Edwin Land" in Forbes Vol. 115, No. 7 (1 April 1975), p. 50
Albert Einstein (1879–1955) German-born physicist and founder of the theory of relativity
"Only Then Shall We Find Courage", New York Times Magazine (23 June 1946).
1940s
Christian Heinrich von Dillmann (1829–1899) German educationist
Source: Die Mathematik die Fackelträgerin einer neuen Zeit (Stuttgart, 1889), p. 5.
Kurt Vonnegut book The Sirens of Titan
Source: The Sirens of Titan (1959), Chapter 7 “Victory” (p. 174)
Harry Truman (1884–1972) American politician, 33rd president of the United States (in office from 1945 to 1953)
Report on the Potsdam Conference (1945)
Context: I realize the tragic significance of the atomic bomb. Its production and its use were not lightly undertaken by this Government. But we knew that our enemies were on the search for it. We know now how close they were to finding it. And we knew the disaster which would come to this Nation, and to all peace-loving nations, to all civilization, if they had found it first. That is why we felt compelled to undertake the long and uncertain and costly labor of discovery and production. We won the race of discovery against the Germans.
Having found the bomb we have used it. We have used it against those who attacked us without warning at Pearl Harbor, against those who have starved and beaten and executed American prisoners of war, against those who have abandoned all pretense of obeying international laws of warfare. We have used it in order to shorten the agony of war, in order to save the lives of thousands and thousands of young Americans. We shall continue to use it until we completely destroy Japan's power to make war. Only a Japanese surrender will stop us.