Carlo Rovelli

Einstein youth loafing aimlessly waisting time parent teenager

“In his youth Albert Einstein spent a year loafing aimlessly. You don't get anywhere by not 'wasting' time- something, unfortunately, that the parents of teenagers tend frequently to forget.”

― Carlo Rovelli

foundation science doubt

“The very foundation of science is to keep the door open to doubt.”

― Carlo Rovelli

discover earth round turn mad reality appear

“Ever since we discovered that Earth is round and turns like a mad spinning-top, we have understood that reality is not as it appears to us.”

― Carlo Rovelli

world object interactive relationship

“Once again, the world seems to be less about objects than about interactive relationships.”

― Carlo Rovelli

human cling certainty fear opinion question knowledge truth

“Human beings often cling to their certainties for fear that their opinions will be proven false. But a certainty that cannot be called into question is not a certainty. Solid certainties are those that survive questioning. In order to accept questioning as the foundation for our voyage toward knowledge, we must be humble enough to accept that today’s truth may become tomorrow’s falsehood.”

― Carlo Rovelli

time see clock hands variable

"We never really see time. We see only clocks. If you say this object moves, what you really mean is that this object is here when the hand of your clock is here, and so on. We say we measure time with clocks, but we see only the hands of the clocks, not time itself. And the hands of a clock are a physical variable like any other. So in a sense we cheat because what we really observe are physical variables as a function of other physical variables, but we represent that as if everything is evolving in time."

― Carlo Rovelli

trust teacher

"Don't trust your teachers."

― Carlo Rovelli

mystery time ourselves universe

"The mystery of time is ultimately, perhaps, more about ourselves than about the cosmos."

― Carlo Rovelli