We are all agreed that your theory is crazy. The question that divides us is whether it is crazy enough to have a chance of being correct.

Niels Bohr (1885-1962) Danish physicist
(Attributed)

Said by Bohr to Wolfgang Pauli after his presentation of Heisenberg's and Pauli's nonlinear field theory of elementary particles, at Columbia University (1958), in Dale Lee Wolfe, Symposium on Basic Research (1959) by Dael Lee Wolfle.

Variants:

  • "Your theory is crazy, but it's not crazy enough to be true." (Spencer Scoular, First Philosophy: The Theory of Everything (2007)).
  • "We are all agreed that your theory is crazy. The question which divides us is whether it is crazy enough."
  • "We are all agreed that your theory is crazy. The question is whether it is crazy enough to be have a chance of being correct."
  • "We in the back are convinced your theory is crazy. But what divides us is whether it is crazy enough."
  • "Your theory is crazy, the question is whether it's crazy enough to be true."
  • "Yes, I think that your theory is crazy. Sadly, it's not crazy enough to be believed."

 
Added on 19-Oct-12 | Last updated 9-Dec-12
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