Any argument that is built wholly upon the denigration of another, without any reference to evidence or support from logic, must be very fragile indeed

The great error of our nature is not knowing the difference between the pursuit of happiness, and the pursuit of more

When it comes to metaphysical claims the average man, convinced that his beliefs were formed by Devine Revelation instead of childhood indoctrination, seems much more interested in the comforts of mass delusion than in the possibility of discovering that he might be wrong

I visited the Gymnasium in The Hague and passed my final examination (in the sciences section) in 1943.

Nevertheless, if I have at times been able to make original contributions in the accelerator field, I cannot help feeling that to a certain extent my slightly amateur approach in physics, combined with much practical experience, was an asset.

My father was a schoolteacher and my mother came from a teacher's family.