Paul Dirac Quotes

The physicist, in his study of natural phenomena, has two methods of making progress: (1) the method of experiment and observation, and (2) the method of mathematical reasoning. The former is just the collection of selected data; the latter enables one to infer results about experiments that have not been performed. There is no logical reason why the second method should be possible at all, but one has found in practice that it does work and meets with reasonable success. ~ Paul Dirac

I think it is a peculiarity of myself that I like to play about with equations, just looking for beautiful mathematical relations which maybe don't have any physical meaning at all. Sometimes they do.
At age 60. ~ Paul Dirac

It is more important to have beauty in one's equations than to have them fit experiment. ~ Paul Dirac

A good deal of my research in physics has consisted in not setting out to solve some particular problem, but simply examining mathematical equations of a kind that physicists use and trying to fit them together in an interesting way, regardless of any application that the work may have. It is simply a search for pretty mathematics. It may turn out later to have an application. Then one has good luck. At age 78. ~ Paul Dirac

The fundamental laws necessary for the mathematical treatment of a large part of physics and the whole of chemistry are thus completely known, and the difficulty lies only in the fact that application of these laws leads to equations that are too complex to be solved. ~ Paul Dirac

Mathematical theories have sometimes been used to predict phenomena that were not confirmed until years later. For example, Maxwell's equations, named after physicist James Clerk Maxwell, predicted radio waves. Einstein's field equations suggested that gravity would bend light and that the universe is expanding. Physicist Paul Dirac once noted that the abstract mathematics we study now gives us a glimpse of physics in the future. In fact, his equations predicted the existence of antimatter, which was subsequently discovered. Similarly, mathematician Nikolai Lobachevsky said that "there is no branch of mathematics, however abstract, which may not someday be applied to the phenomena of the real world. ~ Clifford A. Pickover

Es gibt keinen Gott und Dirac ist sein Prophet. (There is no God and Dirac is his Prophet.)

{A remark made during the Fifth Solvay International Conference (October 1927), after a discussion of the religious views of various physicists, at which all the participants laughed, including Dirac, as quoted in Teil und das Ganze (1969), by Werner Heisenberg, p. 119; it is an ironic play on the Muslim statement of faith, the Shahada, often translated: 'There is no god but Allah, and Muhammad is his Prophet.'} ~ Wolfgang Pauli

I consider that I understand an equation when I can predict the properties of its solutions, without actually solving it. ~ Paul Dirac

If there is a God, he's a great mathematician. ~ Paul Dirac

The underlying physical laws necessary for the mathematical theory of a large part of physics and the whole of chemistry are thus completely known, and the difficulty is only that the exact application of these laws leads to equations much too complicated to be soluble. It therefore becomes desirable that approximate practical methods of applying quantum mechanics should be developed, which can lead to an explanation of the main features of complex atomic systems without too much computation. ~ Paul Dirac

It seems clear that the present quantum mechanics is not in its final form. Some further changes will be needed, just about as drastic as the changes made in passing from Bohr's orbit theory to quantum mechanics. Some day a new quantum mechanics, a relativistic one, will be discovered, in which we will not have these infinities occurring at all. It might very well be that the new quantum mechanics will have determinism in the way that Einstein wanted. ~ Paul Dirac

I should like to suggest to you that the cause of all the economic troubles is that we have an economic system which tries to maintain an equality of value between two things, which it would be better to recognise from the beginning as of unequal value. ~ Paul Dirac

Quantum mechanics has explained all of chemistry and most of physics. ~ Paul Dirac

What makes the theory of relativity so acceptable to physicists in spite of its going against the principle of simplicity is its great mathematical beauty. This is a quality which cannot be defined, any more than beauty in art can be defined, but which people who study mathematics usually have no difficulty in appreciating. ~ Paul Dirac

If we are honest - and scientists have to be - we must admit that religion is a jumble of false assertions, with no basis in reality. ~ Paul Dirac

Renormalization is just a stop-gap procedure. There must be some fundamental change in our ideas, probably a change just as fundamental as the passage from Bohr's orbit theory to quantum mechanics. When you get a number turning out to be infinite which ought to be finite, you should admit that there is something wrong with your equations, and not hope that you can get a good theory just by doctoring up that number. ~ Paul Dirac

I do not see how a man can work on the frontiers of physics and write poetry at the same time. They are in opposition. ~ Paul Dirac

A great deal of my work is just playing with equations and seeing what they give. ~ Paul Dirac

I learnt to distrust all physical concepts as the basis for a theory. Instead one should put one's trust in a mathematical scheme, even if the scheme does not appear at first sight to be connected with physics. One should concentrate on getting interesting mathematics. ~ Paul Dirac

Theoretical physicists accept the need for mathematical beauty as an act of faith ... For example, the main reason why the theory of relativity is so universally accepted is its mathematical beauty. ~ Paul Dirac

A book on the new physics, if not purely descriptive of experimental work, must essentially be mathematical. ~ Paul Dirac

Scientific progress is measured in units of courage, not intelligence. ~ Paul Dirac

The shortage of buyers, which the world is suffering from, is readily understood, not as due to people not wishing to obtain possession of goods, but as people being unwilling to part with something which might earn a regular income in exchange for those goods. ~ Paul Dirac

It was not until some weeks later that I realized there is no need to restrict oneself to 2 by 2 matrices. One could go on to 4 by 4 matrices, and the problem is then easily soluable. In retrospect, it seems strange that one can be so much held up over such an elementary point. The resulting wave equation for the electron turned out to be very successful. It led to correct values for the spin and the magnetic moment. This was quite unexpected. The work all followed from a study of pretty mathematics, without any thought being given to these physical properties of the electron. ~ Paul Dirac

Defective is an adjective that has long been deemed too freighted for liberal discourse, but the medical terms that have supplanted it - illness, syndrome, condition - can be almost equally pejorative in their discreet way. We often use illness to disparage a way of being, and identity to validate that same way of being. This is a false dichotomy. In physics, the Copenhagen interpretation defines energy/matter as behaving sometimes like a wave and sometimes like a particle, which suggests that it is both, and posits that it is our human limitation to be unable to see both at the same time. The Nobel Prize–winning physicist Paul Dirac identified how light appears to be a particle if we ask a particle-like question, and a wave if we ask a wavelike question. A similar duality obtains in this matter of self. Many conditions are both illness and identity, but we can see one only when we obscure the other. Identity politics refutes the idea of illness, while medicine shortchanges identity. Both are diminished by this narrowness.

Physicists gain certain insights from understanding energy as a wave, and other insights from understanding it as a particle, and use quantum mechanics to reconcile the information they have gleaned. Similarly, we have to examine illness and identity, understand that observation will usually happen in one domain or the other, and come up with a syncretic mechanics. We need a vocabulary in which the two concepts are not opposites, but compatible a ~ Andrew Solomon

I never read. It prevents me from thinking. (Paul Dirac) ~ Fritjof Capra

The only object of theoretical physics is to calculate results that can be compared with experiment ... it is quite unnecessary that any satisfactory description of the whole course of the phenomena should be given. ~ Paul Dirac

There are probably more annoying things than being hectored about African development by a wealthy Irish rock star in a cowboy hat, but I can't think of one at the moment. ~ Paul Theroux

I think, internally, we Catholics have known this for a long time. I think we're just thrilled and grateful that the rest of the world now is sharing in the esteem and gratitude that we've had for Pope John Paul II for 26 and a half years. ~ Chris Matthews

Better understanding of the natural world not only enhances all of us as human beings, but can also be harnessed for the better good, leading to improved health and quality of life. ~ Paul Nurse

It is not enough to be in the right place at the right time. You should also have an open mind at the right time. ~ Paul Erdos

I'm always worried about the sitters - are they cold, are they hot, are they comfortable? ~ Paul Emsley

A democracy without values easily turns into open or thinly disguised totalitarianism. ~ Pope John Paul II

It's not a playoff game, it's like the Super Bowl. ... This is going to be a blood bath out there. I know they're going to be ready to play. This is going to be a physical game. I'm sure that I'm going to be ready and I know my boys are going to be ready to back it up. ~ Jason Pierre-Paul

Writing is like jazz. It can be learned, but it can't be taught. ~ Paul Desmond

You see,in the sunset land the time is ever so much longer than it is here. ~ "Paul Irving" -L.M Montgomery

I was brought up Catholic. I'm lapsed. From the age of three I was with the nuns. Now I'm an atheist. ~ Paul Bettany

Helen Hunt is terrific, and I got to do a couple of guest spots with Helen and Paul Reiser on 'Mad About You.' ~ Lyle Lovett

The thing you must remember is that I'm the Number One John Lennon fan. I love him to this day and I always did love him ~ Paul McCartney

It's better to regret what you have done than what you haven't. ~ Paul Arden

I was always into sports games. Never really played anything else. I grew up on games like Madden and NBA Jam. ~ Chris Paul

The greatness of work is inside man. ~ Pope John Paul II

There is no true peace without fairness , truth , justice and solidarity . ~ Pope John Paul II

I'd rather have 1% of the effort of 100 men than 100% of my own effort. ~ J. Paul Getty

I would support immediate construction of the Keystone Pipeline. ~ Rand Paul

And all these existents which bustled about this tree came from nowhere and were going nowhere. Suddenly they existed, then suddenly they existed no longer: existence is without memory; of the vanished it retains nothing - not even a memory. Existence everywhere, infinitely, in excess, for ever and everywhere; existence - which is limited only by existence. I sank down on the bench, stupefied, stunned by this profusion of beings without origin: everywhere blossomings, hatchings out, my ears buzzed with existence, my very flesh throbbed and opened, abandoned itself to the universal burgeoning. It was repugnant. But why, I thought, why so many existences, since they all look alike? What good are so many duplicates of trees? So many existences missed, obstinately begun again and again missed - like the awkward efforts of an insect fallen on its back? (I was one of those efforts.) ~ Jean-Paul Sartre

Joy is the emotional expression of the courageous YES to one's own true being. ~ Paul Tillich

I'm not sure that the current value of the NASDAQ is justified, but I'm not sure that it isn't. ~ Paul Krugman

Ephesians 5:25-27 is actually one long sentence. In these verses Paul is saying that husbands should love their wives as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her. He did this that He might sanctify her, cleansing her by the washing of water in the Word, in order that He might present the church to Himself glorious, without spot, wrinkle, or any such things. ~ Witness Lee

We have taught this generation how to "market" the Gospel but we have neglected to encourage them to "preach" the Gospel. ~ John Paul Warren

Cross and resurrection are the South and North polls, true gospel polarities, of a single, undivided, salvation world. Remove either Paul and you've got salvation. ~ Eugene H. Peterson

Now then, if we were to go the lowest road and plaster my face on the bottle of oil and vinegar dressing just to line our pockets, it would sink. But to go the low road to get to the high road- shameless exploitation for charity, for the common good- now that's an idea worth the hustle, a reciprocal trade agreement. ~ Paul Newman

The only true love is grace. All else is a counterfeit. ~ Richard Paul Evans

It is very expensive to give bad medical care to poor people in a rich country. ~ Paul Farmer

It was the roughest day of my career, my final day of shooting on 'Breaking Bad,' knowing that I will never be able to kind of zip on that skin again. ~ Aaron Paul

The real test of the saint is not preaching the gospel, but washing disciples' feet, that is, doing the things that do not count in the actual estimate of men, but count everything in the estimate of God. Paul ~ Oswald Chambers

America is hope. It is compassion. It is excellence. It is valor. ~ Paul Tsongas

The grace gospel is the only message which puts Jesus at the center of all things. The very essence of life is Christ. In Him is life... ~ Paul Silway

Politics is about grievances.... Poetry is about grief. ~ Raymond Paul

Even if this advice to portfolio decision makers to drop dead is good advice, it obviously is not counsel that will be eagerly followed. Few people will commit suicide without a push. And fewer still will pay good money to be told to do what is against human nature and self-interest to do. ~ Paul Samuelson