John Archibald Wheeler Quotes

Time is what prevents everything from happening at once. 
― John Archibald Wheeler 

We live on an island surrounded by a sea of ignorance. As our island of knowledge grows, so does the shore of our ignorance. 
― John Archibald Wheeler 

In any field, find the strangest thing and then explore it. 
― John Archibald Wheeler 

 If you haven't found something strange during the day, it hasn't been much of a day. 
― John Archibald Wheeler 

In any field, find the strangest thing and then explore it. 
― John Archibald Wheeler 

Spacetime tells matter how to move; matter tells spacetime how to curve. 
― John Archibald Wheeler 

The universe gives birth to consciousness, and consciousness gives meaning to the universe. 
― John Archibald Wheeler 

 Yes, there is happiness to be found in the mere contemplation of the deepest mysteries. 
― John Archibald Wheeler 

Knowledge only progresses by making mistakes as fast as possible. 
― John Archibald Wheeler 

Spacetime grips mass, telling it how to move. Mass grips spacetime, telling it how to curve 
― John Archibald Wheeler 

Individual events. Events beyond law. Events so numerous and so uncoordinated that, flaunting their freedom from formula, they yet fabricate firm form. 
― John Archibald Wheeler 

Nobody can be anybody without somebodies around. 
― John Archibald Wheeler 

Anyone who expects to create, be it as a scientist or artist, scholar or writer, needs self-confidence, even bravado. How else can one dare to imagine understanding what no one else has understood, discovering what no one else has discovered? Where does this confidence come from? Fortunately, every young person is blessed with some of it. It is part of human character. 
― John Archibald Wheeler 

There are many modes of thinking about the world around us and our place in it. I like to consider all the angles from which we might gain perspective on our amazing universe and the nature of existence.
― John Archibald Wheeler 

Never make a calculation until you know the answer. 
― John Archibald Wheeler 

But some numbers, called dimensionless numbers, have the same numerical value no matter what units of measurement are chosen. Probably the most famous of these is the "fine-structure constant," .... Physicists love this number not just because it is dimensionless, but also because it is a combination of three fundamental constants of nature. Why do these constants come together to make the particular number 1/137.036 and not some other number? 
― John Archibald Wheeler 

The past has no existence except as it is recorded in the present ... we would seem forced to say that no phenomenon is a phenomenon until it is an observed phenomenon. The universe does not 'exist, out there' independent of all acts of observation. Instead, it is in some strange sense a participatory universe. 
― John Archibald Wheeler