Lawrence M. Krauss quotes

Lawrence M. Krauss is an American-Canadian theoretical physicist and cosmologist renowned for his work in the fields of dark matter, cosmology, and science communication. His popular science books and public lectures have made physics and cosmology accessible to broader audiences. He is also known for actively engaging in discussions about science, religion, and public policy. Here are 56 of his quotes:

Now, since the time of Newton there had been a debate about whether light was a wave---that is, a traveling disturbance in some background medium---or a particle, which travels regardless of the presence of a background medium. The observation of Maxwell that electromagnetic waves must exist and that their speed was identical to that of light ended the debate: light was an electromagnetic wave.

Lawrence M. Krauss

The universe is the way it is, whether we like it or not. The existence or nonexistence of a creator is independent of our desires. A world without God or purpose may seem harsh or pointless, but that alone doesn ' t require God to actually exist.

Lawrence M. Krauss

Forget Jesus, the stars died so you could be born.

Lawrence M. Krauss

The purpose of education is not to validate ignorance but to overcome it.

Lawrence M. Krauss

It is a shame when nonsense can substitute for fact with impunity.

Lawrence M. Krauss

I like to say that while antimatter may seem strange, it is strange in the sense that Belgians are strange. They are not really strange; it is just that one rarely meets them.

Lawrence M. Krauss

every atom in your body came from a star that exploded. and, the atoms in your left hand probably came from a different star than your right hand. it really is the most poetic thing i know about physics: you are all stardust.

Lawrence M. Krauss

My area of research is something that in all fairness has no practical usability whatsoever and the thing is I'm often asked to apologize for that. It is interesting to me that people ask 'what's the point of doing that if it's not useful?' But they never ask that, or do they very rarely ask that about art or literature or music. Those things are not gonna produce a better toaster.

Lawrence M. Krauss

If you have nothing in quantum mechanics, you will always have something.

Lawrence M. Krauss

Every atom in your body came from a star that exploded. And, the atoms in your left hand probably came from a different star than your right hand. It really is the most poetic thing I know about physics: You are all stardust. You couldn't be here if stars hadn't exploded, because the elements - the carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, iron, all the things that matter for evolution and for life - weren't created at the beginning of time. They were created in the nuclear furnaces of stars, and the only way for them to get into your body is if those stars were kind enough to explode. So, forget Jesus. The stars died so that you could be here today.

Lawrence M. Krauss

In 5 billion years, the expansion of the universe will have progressed to the point where all other galaxies will have receded beyond detection. Indeed, they will be receding faster than the speed of light, so detection will be impossible. Future civilizations will discover science and all its laws, and never know about other galaxies or the cosmic background radiation. They will inevitably come to the wrong conclusion about the universe......We live in a special time, the only time, where we can observationally verify that we live in a special time.

Lawrence M. Krauss

[W]hy presumes purpose... But what if there isn't purpose? Whenever we say why we really mean how.

Lawrence M. Krauss

Whatever the evolutionary basis of religion, the xenophobia it now generates is clearly maladaptive.

Lawrence M. Krauss

The root cause of the looming energy problem - and the key to easing environmental, economic and religious tensions while improving public health - is to address the unending, and unequal, growth of the human population. And the one proven way to reduce fertility rates is to empower young women by educating them.

Lawrence M. Krauss

The illusion of purpose and design is perhaps the most pervasive illusion about nature that science has to confront on a daily basis.

Lawrence M. Krauss

A significant fraction of evangelical voters appear more likely to ignore the candidates' specific economic and foreign policy platforms in favor of concerns about gay marriage or abortion.

Lawrence M. Krauss

Science simply forces us to revise what is sensible to accommodate the universe, rather than vice versa.

Lawrence M. Krauss

Lack of comfort means we are on the threshold of new insights.

Lawrence M. Krauss

Science is empirical: knowing the answer is nothing. Testing your knowledge means everything.

Lawrence M. Krauss

Theorists always know the answer, they just sometimes right.

Lawrence M. Krauss

There's a loophole if you weigh galaxies and clusters because you're weighing the total amount of energy around galaxies. What if there's energy where galaxies aren't? What is where galaxies aren't? Nothing.

Lawrence M. Krauss

The universe has a much greater imagination than we do, which is why the real story of the universe is far more interesting than any of the fairy tales we have invented to describe it.

Lawrence M. Krauss