I think the universe is pure geometry - basically, a beautiful shape twisting around and dancing over space-time.
Coral is a very beautiful and unusual animal. Each coral head consists of thousand of individual polyps. These polyps are continually budding and branching into genetically identical neighbors.
What physics tells us is that everything comes down to geometry and the interactions of elementary particles. And things can happen only if these interactions are perfectly balanced.
Being poor sucks... It's hard to figure out the secrets of the universe when you're trying to figure out where you and your girlfriend are going to sleep next month.
Deep down, everybody wants to do what they want to be doing. They just feel that they can't.
There are a lot of good things about string theory, and it's great that some people want to work on it.
If you share an office next to a guy for twenty years, and you like him and you're friends with him, it's hard to tell him that you think that his whole idea of how the universe works is completely wrong.
The only thing that makes sense is if the universe is beautiful and simple and elegant.
It is extraordinarily difficult, even in academia, to find a job that will let you do whatever you want with your time. If you are determined to spend your time following your own interests, you pretty much have to do it on your own.
The mathematics of quantum mechanics very accurately describes how our universe works.
As with any large investment, it can be emotionally difficult to abandon a line of research when it isn't working out. But in science, if something isn't working, you have to toss it out and try something else.