The Quotable Feynman

"Some people say, 'How can you live without knowing?' I do not know what they mean. I always live without knowing. That is easy. How you get to know is what I want to know."--Richard P. Feynman

Nobel Prize-winning physicist Richard P. Feynman (1918-88) was that rarest of creatures--a towering scientific genius who could make himself understood by anyone and who became as famous for the wit and wisdom of his popular lectures and writings as for his fundamental contributions to science. The Quotable Feynman is a treasure-trove of this revered and beloved scientist's most profound, provocative, humorous, and memorable quotations on a wide range of subjects.

Carefully selected by Richard Feynman's daughter, Michelle Feynman, from his spoken and written legacy, including interviews, lectures, letters, articles, and books, the quotations are arranged under two dozen topics--from art, childhood, discovery, family, imagination, and humor to mathematics, politics, science, religion, and uncertainty. These brief passages--about 500 in all--vividly demonstrate Feynman's astonishing yet playful intelligence, and his almost constitutional inability to be anything other than unconventional, engaging, and inspiring. Together, the quotations create a unique, illuminating, and enjoyable portrait of Feynman's life and thought that will be treasured by his fans at the same time that they provide an ideal introduction to Feynman for readers new to this intriguing and important thinker.

The book features some previously unpublished quotations, a personal preface by Michelle Feynman, a chronology of Richard Feynman's life, some twenty photos of Feynman, a section of memorable quotations about Feynman from other notable figures, and an index.

Features:

• Approximately 500 quotations, some of them previously unpublished, arranged by topic
• A chronology of Feynman's life
• A personal preface by Feynman's daughter, Michelle Feynman
• Some twenty photos of Feynman
• A section of quotations about Feynman from other notable figures
• An index

[Some sample quotes:]

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

"Thinking is nothing but talking to yourself inside."

"It is wonderful if you can find something you love to do in your youth which is big enough to sustain your interest through all your adult life. Because, whatever it is, if you do it well enough (and you will, if you truly love it), people will pay you to do what you want to do anyway."

"I'd hate to die twice. It's so boring."