When a Caltech student asked the eminent cosmologist Michael Turner what his "bias" was in favoring one or another particle as a likely candidate to compromise dark matter in the universe, Feynmann snapped, "Why do you want to know his bias? Form your own bias!"

Richard P. Feynman

I would rather have questions that can't be answered than answers that can't be questioned.

Richard P. Feynman

answers

Fall in love with some activity, and do it! Nobody ever figures out what life is all about, and it doesn't matter. Explore the world. Nearly everything is really interesting if you go into it deeply enough. Work as hard and as much as you want to on the things you like to do the best. Don't think about what you want to be, but what you want to do. Keep up some kind of a minimum with other things so that society doesn't stop you from doing anything at all.

Richard P. Feynman

falling-in-love interesting thinking

Study hard what interests you the most in the most undisciplined, irreverent and original manner possible.

Richard P. Feynman

encouraging education inspirational

You have no responsibility to live up to what other people think you ought to accomplish. I have no responsibility to be like they expect me to be. It's their mistake, not my failing.

Richard P. Feynman

confidence powerful life

I learned very early the difference between knowing the name of something and knowing something.

Richard P. Feynman

education motivational inspirational

The truth always turns out to be simpler than you thought.

Richard P. Feynman

simplicity truth science

It doesn't matter how beautiful your theory is, it doesn't matter how smart you are. If it doesn't agree with experiment, it's wrong.

Richard P. Feynman

smart beautiful science

Our responsibility is to do what we can, learn what we can, improve the solutions, and pass them on.

Richard P. Feynman

human-race unreasonable responsibility

If you think you understand quantum mechanics, you don't understand quantum mechanics.

Richard P. Feynman

mechanic quantum thinking

Physics is like sex: sure, it may give some practical results, but that's not why we do it.

Richard P. Feynman

learning science sex

I think it's much more interesting to live not knowing than to have answers which might be wrong. I have approximate answers, and possible beliefs, and different degrees of uncertainty about different things, but I am not absolutely sure of anything. There are many things I don't know anything about, such as whether it means anything to ask "Why are we here?" I might think about it a little bit, and if I can't figure it out then I go on to something else. But I don't have to know an answer. I don't feel frightened by not knowing things, by being lost in the mysterious universe without having any purpose - which is the way it really is, as far as I can tell.

Richard P. Feynman

humility acceptance mean

If you can't explain something to a first year student, then you haven't really understood .

Richard P. Feynman

students years firsts

Science is the belief in the ignorance of experts.

Richard P. Feynman

ignorance science thinking

No government has the right to decide on the truth of scientific principles, nor to prescribe in any way the character of the questions investigated. Neither may a government determine the aesthetic value of artistic creations, nor limit the forms of literacy or artistic expression. Nor should it pronounce on the validity of economic, historic, religious, or philosophical doctrines. Instead it has a duty to its citizens to maintain the freedom, to let those citizens contribute to the further adventure and the development of the human race.

Richard P. Feynman

philosophical religious character

The thing that doesn't fit is the thing that is most interesting.

Richard P. Feynman

most-interesting fit interesting

We absolutely must leave room for doubt or there is no progress and no learning. There is no learning without having to pose a question. And a question requires doubt. People search for certainty. But there is no certainty.

Richard P. Feynman

progress doubt people

To those who do not know mathematics it is difficult to get across a real feeling as to the beauty, the deepest beauty, of nature ... If you want to learn about nature, to appreciate nature, it is necessary to understand the language that she speaks in.

Richard P. Feynman

learning nature real

My rule is, when you are unhappy, think about it. But when you're happy, don't. Why spoil it? You're probably happy for some ridiculous reason and you'd just spoil it to know it.

Richard P. Feynman

ridiculous unhappy thinking

Scientists are explorers. Philosophers are tourists.

Richard P. Feynman

philosopher tourists science

You can always recognize truth by its beauty and simplicity.

Richard P. Feynman

simplicity