Brian Greene

“Science is a self-correcting discipline that can, in subsequent generations, show that previous ideas were not correct.”

“What makes a Beethoven symphony spectacular, what makes a Brahms rhapsody spectacular is that the patterns are wondrous.”

“If the theory turns out to be right, that will be tremendously thick and tasty icing on the cake.”

“I believe the process of going from confusion to understanding is a precious, even emotional, experience that can be the foundation of self-confidence.”

“How can a speck of a universe be physically identical to the great expanse we view in the heavens above?”

“We're on this planet for the briefest of moments in cosmic terms, and I want to spend that time thinking about what I consider the deepest questions.”

“Science is the greatest of all adventure stories, one that's been unfolding for thousands of years as we have sought to understand ourselves and our surroundings.”

“Free will is the sensation of making a choice. The sensation is real, but the choice seems illusory. Laws of physics determine the future.”

“The fact that I don't have any particular need for religion doesn't mean that I have a need to cast religion aside the way some of my colleagues do.”

“When general relativity was first put forward in 1915, the math was very unfamiliar to most physicists. Now we teach general relativity to advanced high school students.”

“Sometimes nature guards her secrets with the unbreakable grip of physical law. Sometimes the true nature of reality beckons from just beyond the horizon.”

“Many different planets are many different distances from their host star; we find ourselves at this distance because if we were closer or farther away, the temperature would be hotter or colder, eliminating liquid water, an essential ingredient for our survival.”

“I've had various experiences where I've been called by Hollywood studios to look at a script or comment on various scientific ideas that they're trying to inject into a story.”

“Einstein's theory of relativity does a fantastic job for explaining big things. Quantum mechanics is fantastic for the other end of the spectrum - for small things.”

“I do feel strongly that string theory is our best hope for making progress at unifying gravity and quantum mechanics.”

“Science is a way of life. Science is a perspective. Science is the process that takes us from confusion to understanding in a manner that's precise, predictive and reliable - a transformation, for those lucky enough to experience it, that is empowering and emotional.”

“Exploring the unknown requires tolerating uncertainty.”

“Physicists have come to realize that mathematics, when used with sufficient care, is a proven pathway to truth.”

“I can assure you that no string theorist would be interested in working on string theory if it were somehow permanently beyond testability. That would no longer be doing science.”

“I would say in one sentence my goal is to at least be part of the journey to find the unified theory that Einstein himself was really the first to look for.”