Max Planck

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It is not the possession of truth, but the success which attends the seeking after it, that enriches the seeker and brings happiness to him

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This is one of man's oldest riddles. How can the independence of human volition be harmonized with the fact that we are integral parts of a universe which is subject to the rigid order of nature's laws?

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The longing to behold this pre-established harmony [of phenomena and theoretical principles] is the source of the inexhaustible patience and perseverance with which Planck has devoted himself ... The state of mind which enables a man to do work of this kind is akin to that of the religious worshiper or the lover; the daily effort comes from no deliberate intention or program, but straight from the heart

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The goal is nothing other than the coherence and completeness of the system not only in respect of all details, but also in respect of all physicists of all places, all times, all peoples, and all cultures

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In this field, almost everything is already discovered, and all that remains is to fill a few unimportant holes.{Advising his student, Max Planck, whom he advised in 1878, not to go into physics, at at the University of Munich}