Quotes from Luis Alvarez

I read The Cuckoo’s Egg by Cliff Stoll. I found some very inspiring quotes from Luis Alvarez. I present here some quotes, which can be found in pages 105 and 106 of the book. The book is a good read.

...When you are doing real research, you never know what it’ll cost, how much time it’ll take, or what you’ll find. You just know there’s unexplored territory and a chance to discover what’s out there.

Don’t try to be a cop, be a scientist. Research the connections, the techniques, the holes. Apply physical principles. Find new methods to solve problems. Compile statistics, publish your results, and only trust what you can prove. But don’t exclude improbable solutions–keep your mind open.

Dead ends are illusory. When did you ever let a ‘Do Not Enter’ sign keep you away from anything? Go around the brick walls. When you can’t go around, climb over or dig under. Just don’t give up.

Permission, bah. Funding, forget it. Nobody will pay for research; they’re only interested in results.

Excellent Job

Excellent work! Amazing job! Do you always fish for such phrases from others?
Here is a quote from the former US President Harry S Truman:

"It is amazing how much you can accomplish when it doesn't matter who gets the credit."

Accomplishment is achieving a goal. While a positive reinforcement in the form of praise or a pat in the back is a motivating factor, but that should never be the reason for doing something.

Einstein’s perspective

Einstein: His Life and Universe by Walter Isaacson is a best seller. I got a peek at one of the chapters through Reader's Digest. I liked the closing comments in the article where Einstein talks about his approach to life.

"I discovered that nature was constructed in a wonderful way, and our task is to find out [its] mathematical structure," Einstein explained about his own education. "It is a kind of faith that helped me through my whole life."

Simply superb! That ought to do to convince me to buy this wonderful book.

Imagination

"Imagination is a very precise thing, you know — it is not fantasy; the man who invented the wheel while he was observing another man walking — that is imagination!" — Jacques Lipchitz

Perspective

Try to look at everything through the eyes of a child.
— Ruth Draper

Source: Paperquote

Medicine

The bitter cup we strive to remove from us holds the medicine we are most in need of.
— Gaelic proverb

Batman Begins

Quotes from Batman Begins

If you make yourself more than just a man, if you devote yourself to an ideal, you become something else entirely. You must become more than just a man in the mind of your opponent.

why do we fall? So we can learn to pick ourselves up.

To manipulate fears of others, you must first master your own.

The training is nothing! The will is everything!

Men fear most what they cannot see.

Theatricality and deception are powerful agents.

Honor and Reward

No person was ever honored for what he received. Honor has been the reward for what he gave.
— Calvin Coolidge

Source: PaperQuote

Service

I slept and dreamt that life was joy; I awoke and saw that life was service; I acted, and behold, service was joy.
— Rabindranath Tagore

Source: Paperquote

Sye - Challenge

Sye is an excellent movie about a bunch of college students who defend their playground by winning a game of rugby. This is a very intense movie and I rate it pretty high.

Any man's finest hour, is that moment when he has worked his heart out in a good cause and lies exhausted in the field of battle... victorious

How was your day?

Don't judge each day by the harvest you reap, but by the seeds you plant.
— Robert Louis Stevenson

Live in Peace

He that would live in peace and at ease must not speak all he knows or all he sees. — Benjamin Franklin

Life

Life isn't about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself.
— George Bernard Shaw
Let the refining and improving of your own life keep you so busy that you have little time to criticize others.
— H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

Key to Failure

I don't know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody. — Bill Cosby

Quote

Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails.
Explore. Dream. Discover.
— Mark Twain.

Are You Watching Closely?

The Prestige is a movie about rival magicians, which is based on the novel by the same title. A truly wonderful movie, but can confuse the viewer if not attentive. I did not appreciate the movie until I saw the ending, which was scintillating.
The movie presented a clever demonstration of the three acts of magic: The Pledge, The Turn, and The Prestige.
I present the following quote from the Anatomy of an illusion

Every great magic trick consists of three parts, or acts.
The first part is called "The Pledge";
The magician shows you something ordinary - a deck of cards, a bird or a man. He shows you this object-perhaps he asks you to inspect it, to see that it is indeed real-normal. But of course it probably isn't.

The second act is called "The Turn";
The magician makes his ordinary something and makes it to do something extraordinary. Now, you 're looking for the secret, but you won't find it because of course you're not really looking. You don't really want to know. You want to be fooled. But you wouldn't clap yet because making something disappear isn't enough. You have to bring it back.

That's why every magic act has a third act. The hardest part. The part we call "The Prestige".
This is the part with the twists and turns, where lives hang in the balance, and you see something shocking you've never seen before.

Some more memorable quotes from the movie:

Things don't always go as planned. That's the beauty of science.

Simple maybe, but not easy.

Do you need a break?

Think again before you take that break.

It is wonderful how much may be done if we are always doing.
— Thomas Jefferson

Pursue your dreams

Two distinct movies: The Pursuit of Happyness and Guru. One theme: Pursue your dreams, no matter how many obstacles you face.

Abhishek Bachan (as Gurubhai) and Will Smith (as Chris Gardner) gave commendable performances.

Some quotes from The Pursuit of Happyness:

Don't ever let someone tell you, you can't do something.

You got a dream, you gotta protect it. People can't do something themselves, they wanna tell you that you can't do it. You want something? Go get it. Period.

Some quotes from Guru:

There is a saying in our village, if people say bad things about you, you must be doing something good

If you don't dream you will be stuck to your village all your life

If a law can be made in one day it can be changed in a single day

I don't want to walk... I want to run

Swami Vivekananda

I received this quote through an email.

When I Asked God for Strength
He Gave Me Difficult Situations to Face

When I Asked God for Brain & Brown
He Gave Me Puzzles in Life to Solve

When I Asked God for Happiness
He Showed Me Some Unhappy People

When I Asked God for Wealth
He Showed Me How to Work Hard

When I Asked God for Favors
He Showed Me Opportunities to Work Hard

When I Asked God for Peace
He Showed Me How to Help Others

God Gave Me Nothing I Wanted
He Gave Me Everything I Needed
- Swami Vivekananda

Valentine's Day

Aptly, I found this good quote today.

A heart that loves is always young. — Greek proverb
(Courtesy: Paperquote)