On One Occasion When [william] Smart Found

Events Do Not Happen; They Are Just There, And We Come Across Them.

It Is A Primitive Form Of Thought That Things Exist Or Do Not Exist.

Observation And Theory Get On Best When They Are Mixed Together, Both Helping One Another In The Pursuit Of Truth. It Is A Good Rule Not To Put Overmuch Confidence In A Theory Until It Has Been Confirmed By Observation. I Hope I Shall Not Shock The Experimental Physicists Too Much If I Add That It Is Also A Good Rule Not To Put Overmuch Confidence In The Observational Results That Are Put Forward Until They Have Been Confirmed By Theory.

In Einstein's Theory Of Relativity The Observer Is A Man Who Sets Out In Quest Of Truth Armed With A Measuring-rod. In Quantum Theory He Sets Out With A Sieve.

If Someone Points Out To You That Your Pet Theory Of The Universe Is In Disagreement With Maxwell's Equations - Then So Much The Worse For Maxwell's Equations. If It Is Found To Be Contradicted By Observation - Well, These Experimentalists Do Bungle Things Sometimes. But If Your Theory Is Found To Be Against The Second Law Of Thermodynamics I Can Give You No Hope; There Is Nothing For It But To Collapse In Deepest Humiliation.