String theory is an attempt at a deeper description of nature by thinking of an elementary particle not as a little point but as a little loop of vibrating string.

There was a long history of speculation that in quantum gravity, unlike Einstein's classical theory, it might be possible for the topology of spacetime to change.

There is a difference between knowing what is true and knowing why it is true

We know a lot of things, but what we don't know is a lot more.

I have a tendency, more than most other physicists, to try to figure out everything all at once, before I publish. And even to try to figure out everything in my head, without pencil and paper.

Im actually, for the most part, a complete agnostic politically.

So when you ask me how string theory might be tested, I can tell you what's likely to happen at accelerators or some parts of the theory that are likely to be tested.

I have a much easier time imagining how we would understand the big bang, even though we can't do it yet, than I can imagine understanding consciousness.

As of now, string theorists have no explanation of why there are three large dimensions as well as time, and the other dimensions are microscopic. Proposals about that have been all over the map.

One very important aspect of string theory is definitely testable. That was the prediction of supersymmetry, which emerged from string theory in the early '70s.

M stands for Magic, Mystery, or Matrixaccording to taste

Do not desperately seek refuge in heaven and delve in blissful ignorance

I'd been painting rats for three years before someone said 'that's clever it's an anagram of art' and I had to pretend I'd known that all along.

So, once I've written a song, you know, I'm pretty happy with what the song is on its own terms.

Fighting in the air is not sport. It is scientific murder.

I was born and raised in China, and my parents were missionaries.

I like colonic irrigation because sometimes you find old jewelry.

I don't turn Britney Spears into a star. I have to spot that these people are going to be stars, in the future, and say, "Okay, these guys have cultural validity and they're going to pop."

You gave me a significant look, but significant of what?

No matter how humble your work may seem, do it in the spirit of an artist, of a master. In this way you lift it out of commonness and rob it of what would otherwise be drudgery.

If you want to use television to teach somebody, you must first teach them how to use television.