Edward Teller Quotes

Quotes about:

• When you come to the end of all the light you know, and it's time to step into the darkness of the unknown, faith is knowing that one of two things shall happen: either you will be given something solid to stand on or you will be taught to fly.

  Edward Teller

  Inspirational, Life, Motivational

  "Seven Steps to Starting and Running an Editorial Consulting Business" by Jane M. Frutchey, (p. 121), 2002.

  79 Copy quote

• There's no system foolproof enough to defeat a sufficiently great fool.

  Edward Teller

  Science, Fool Proof, Defeat

  "Nuclear Reactions". "Omni" Magazine, May 1988.

  37 Copy quote

• The science of today is the technology of tomorrow.

  Edward Teller

  Teacher, Science, Technology

  60 Copy quote

• When you're certain you cannot be fooled, you become easy to fool.

  Edward Teller

  Funny, Humor, Fool

  14 Copy quote

• We must learn to live with contradictions, because they lead to deeper and more effective understanding.

  Edward Teller

  Understanding, Contradiction, Deeper

  "Science and Morality". Science, Vol. 280, (p. 1200), 1998.

  22 Copy quote

• The extinction of the human race will come from its inability to EMOTIONALLY comprehend the exponential function.

  Edward Teller

  Race, Inability, Extinction

  25 Copy quote

• The best weapon of a dictatorship is secrecy; the best weapon of a democracy is openness.

  Edward Teller

  Freedom, Democracy, Weapons

  22 Copy quote

• I believe in evil. It is the property of all those who are certain of truth. Despair and fanaticism are only differing manifestations of evil.

  Edward Teller

  Believe, Evil, Despair

  Edward Teller (1987). “Better a shield than a sword: perspectives on defense and technology”, Free Pr

  29 Copy quote

• I hate doubt, yet I am certain that doubt is the only way to approach anything worth believing in.

  Edward Teller

  Hate, Believe, Doubt

  Edward Teller (1987). “Better a shield than a sword: perspectives on defense and technology”, Free Pr

  19 Copy quote

• Science attempts to find logic and simplicity in nature. Mathematics attempts to establish order and simplicity in human thought.

  Edward Teller

  Nature, Science, Order

  Edward Teller (1981). “The Pursuit of Simplicity”, Pepperdine Press

  22 Copy quote

• Had we not pursued the hydrogen bomb, there is a very real threat that we would now all be speaking Russian. I have no regrets.

  Edward Teller

  Regret, Real, Hydrogen Bomb

  20 Copy quote

• On May 7, a few weeks after the accident at Three-Mile Island, I was in Washington. I was there to refute some of that propaganda that Ralph Nader, Jane Fonda and their kind are spewing to the news media in their attempt to frighten people away from nuclear power. I am 71 years old, and I was working 20 hours a day. The strain was too much. The next day, I suffered a heart attack. You might say that I was the only one whose health was affected by that reactor near Harrisburg. No, that would be wrong. It was not the reactor. It was Jane Fonda. Reactors are not dangerous.

  Edward Teller

  Heart, Next Day, Islands

  2 page advertisement sponsored by Dresser Industries in the "Wall Street Journal", July 31, 1979.

  24 Copy quote

• I believe in excellence. It is a basic need of every human soul. All of us can be excellent, because, fortunately, we are exceedingly diverse in our ambitions and talents.

  Edward Teller

  Believe, Ambition, Soul

  Edward Teller (1987). “Better a shield than a sword: perspectives on defense and technology”, Free Pr

  15 Copy quote

• Life improves slowly and goes wrong fast, and only catastrophe is clearly visible.

  Edward Teller

  Catastrophe, Visible

  Edward Teller (1980). “The Pursuit of Simplicity”, Pepperdine Press

  10 Copy quote

• No endeavor that is worthwhile is simple in prospect; if it is right, it will be simple in retrospect.

  Edward Teller

  Simple, Perspective, Retrospect

  Edward Teller (1981). “The Pursuit of Simplicity”, Pepperdine Press

  21 Copy quote

• If anyone wants a hole in the ground, nuclear explosives can make big holes

  Edward Teller

  Nuclear, Want, Holes

  Edward Teller, Allen Brown, Jr. (1975). “The Legacy of Hiroshima”, Greenwood Press

  6 Copy quote

• When Columbus took off, the purpose was to improve trade relations with China. That problem has not been solved to this very day, but just look at the by-products.

  Edward Teller

  Looks, Purpose, Columbus

  15 Copy quote

• A fact is a simple statement that everyone believes. It is innocent, unless found guilty. A hypothesis is a novel suggestion that no one wants to believe. It is guilty, until found effective.

  Edward Teller

  Believe, Science, Simple

  Edward Teller, Wendy Teller, Wilson Talley (2013). “Conversations on the Dark Secrets of Physics”, p.69, Basic Books

  19 Copy quote

• If there ever was a misnomer, it is "exact science." Science has always been full of mistakes. The present day is no exception. And our mistakes are good mistakes; they require a genius to correct. Of course, we do not see our own mistakes.

  Edward Teller

  Mistake, Science, Genius

  Edward Teller, Wendy Teller, Wilson Talley (2013). “Conversations on the Dark Secrets of Physics”, p.37, Basic Books

  16 Copy quote

• Secrecy, once accepted, becomes an addiction.

  Edward Teller

  Addiction, Accepted, Secrecy

  15 Copy quote

• The eyes of childhood are magnifying lenses.

  Edward Teller

  Eye, Childhood, Lenses

  Edward Teller, Judith Schoolery (2009). “Memoirs: A Twentieth Century Journey in Science and Politics”, p.5, Basic Books

  6 Copy quote

• Physics is, hopefully, simple. Physicists are not.

  Edward Teller

  Simple, Hydrogen Bomb, Physics

  "Conversations on the Dark Secrets of Physics" by Edward Teller, Wendy Teller and Wilson Talley, (Ch. 10, p. 150), 1991.

  8 Copy quote

• The scientist is not responsible for the laws of nature. It is his job to find out how these laws operate. It is the scientist's job to find the ways in which these laws can serve the human will. However, it is not the scientist's job to determine whether a hydrogen bomb should be constructed, whether it should be used, or how it should be used. This responsibility rests with the American people and with their chosen representatives.

  Edward Teller

  Jobs, Responsibility, Science

  4 Copy quote

• Secrecy in science does not work. Withholding information does more damage to us than to our competitors.

  Edward Teller

  Doe, Information, Damage

  "Proceedings of the International Conference on Lasers '87" edited by F. J. Duarte, (p. 1165), 1988.

  53 Copy quote

• Physics without mathematics is meaningless.

  Edward Teller

  Physics, Mathematics, Meaningless

  Edward Teller, Wendy Teller, Wilson Talley (2013). “Conversations on the Dark Secrets of Physics”, p.1, Basic Books

  7 Copy quote

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