Enrico Fermi

It is very hard to be famous and still do good work.

I have been very lucky in my life. I have always been able to do what I wanted to do, and I have always been able to do it with people I liked.

Don't ever do anything that you don't want to explain to a student.

The future of nuclear energy is not in bombs, but in power.

It seems to me that we have started an avalanche.

I am not an optimist. I am a realist. I believe that we must be prepared for the worst, and hope for the best.

The problem of making a nuclear reactor is not a problem of physics, but a problem of engineering.

The greatest discovery of all time was made by accident.

The true joy of discovery is not in finding something new, but in understanding something old.

I have never been interested in making money. I have always been interested in doing physics.

The atomic age will either usher in a new era of prosperity, or it will be the end of civilization.

There is no such thing as a trivial experiment.

We are like children who have found a new toy. We do not know what to do with it, but we are playing with it.

The future of science depends on the education of young people.

I have always believed that physics should be simple and beautiful.

The atomic bomb is a terrible weapon, but it is also a source of great power.

It is the theory that decides what we can observe.

The atomic age is a new age, and we must learn to live in it.

I am a simple man, and I like simple explanations.

The most important thing is to never stop questioning.