Abraham Pais Quotes

"One of the things I learned, one of the strangest things, is how to think. There was nothing else to do. I couldn't see people, or go for a walk in the forest. All I had was my head and my books, and I thought a lot."
- Abraham Pais
(Related: Thought, People, Books, Nothing)

"One of the absolute rules I learned in the war was, don't know anything you don't need to know, because if you ever get caught they will get it out of you."
- Abraham Pais
(Related: War, Rules, Will)

"Once I even took the train to Utrecht, forty miles from Amsterdam, with my yellow star, this star which I still have. Why did I go? I just wanted to visit some friends. I was a little bit crazy, a little bit insane."
- Abraham Pais
(Related: Friends, Visit)

"Of course, relative citation frequencies are no measure of relative importance. Who has not aspired to write a paper so fundamental that very soon it is known to everyone and cited by no one?"
- Abraham Pais
(Related: Importance, Measure)

"I spent every night until four in the morning on my dissertation, until I came to the point when I could not write another word, not even the next letter. I went to bed. Eight o'clock the next morning I was up writing again."
- Abraham Pais
(Related: Bed, Night, Word, Writing)