Marie Curie Quotations

Be less curious about people and more curious about ideas.

One never notices what has been done; one can only see what remains to be done.

All my life through, the new sights of Nature made me rejoice like a child.

Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less.

Life is not easy for any of us. But what of that? We must have perseverance and above all confidence in ourselves. We must believe that we are gifted for something and that this thing must be attained.

I have no dress except the one I wear every day. If you are going to be kind enough to give me one, please let it be practical and dark so that I can put it on afterwards to go to the laboratory.

I have frequently been questioned, especially by women, of how I could reconcile family life with a scientific career. Well, it has not been easy.

After all, science is essentially international, and it is only through lack of the historical sense that national qualities have been attributed to it.

I am one of those who think like Nobel, that humanity will draw more good than evil from new discoveries.

A scientist in his laboratory is not a mere technician: he is also a child confronting natural phenomena that impress him as though they were fairy tales.

I was taught that the way of progress was neither swift nor easy.

There are sadistic scientists who hurry to hunt down errors instead of establishing the truth.

In science we must be interested in things, not in persons.

I never see what has been done; I only see what remains to be done.

I was taught that the way of progress I neither swift nor easy.

Nothing in life is to be feared. It is only to be understood.

Without doubt, these dreamers do not deserve wealth, because they do not desire it. Even so, a well-organized society should assure to such workers the efficient means of accomplishing their task, in a life freed from material care and freely consecr

Scientific work must not be considered from the point of view of the direct usefulness of it. It must be done for itself, for the beauty of science, and then there is always the chance that a scientific discovery may become like the radium, a benefit

The various reasons we have just enumerated lead us to believe that the new radioactive substance contains a new element to which we propose to give the name of RADIUM.

We must believe that we are gifted for something, and that this thing, at whatever cost, must be attained.

First principle: never to let one's self be beaten down by persons or by events.

You cannot hope to build a better world without improving the individuals.

Nothing in this world is to be feared... only understood.

Each of us must work for his own improvement, and at the same time share a general responsibility for all humanity.

The older one gets, the more one feels that the present must be enjoyed; it is a precious gift, comparable to a state of grace

We must have perseverance and above all confidence in ourselves.

I am among those who think that science has great beauty.

We must not forget that when radium was discovered no one knew that it would prove useful in hospitals. The work was one of pure science. And this is a proof that scientific work must not be considered from the point of view of the direct usefulness of it. It must be done for itself, for the beauty of science, and then there is always the chance that a scientific discovery may become like the radium a benefit for mankind.

I am among those who think that science has great beauty. A scientist in his laboratory is not only a technician: he is also a child placed before natural phenomena which impress him like a fairy tale. We should not allow it to be believed that all scientific progress can be reduced to mechanisms, machines, gearings, even though such machinery has its own beauty.

Scientist believe in things, not in person

Just remember you will find that one special love that you know is right but for some reason just doesn't last

Now is the time to understand more, so we fear less.

You can only analyze the data you have. Be strategic about what to gather and how to store it

Life is not easy for any of us. But what of that? We must have perseverance.

Sometimes my courage fails me and I think I ought to stop working, live in the country and devote myself to gardening. But I am held by a thousand bonds, and I don't know when I shall be able to arrange things otherwise. Nor do I know whether, even by writing scientific books, I could live without the laboratory.

I was taught the method for advancement is not quick or simple.

When one studies strongly radioactive substances special precautions must be taken. Dust, the air of the room, and one's clothes, all become radioactive.

Pierre Curie voluntarily exposed his arm to the action of radium for several hours. This resulted in damage resembling a burn that developed progressively and required several months to heal. Henri Becquerel had by accident a similar burn as a result of carrying in his vest pocket a glass tube containing radium salt. He came to tell us of this evil effect of radium, exclaiming in a manner at once delighted and annoyed: "I love it, but I owe it a grudge."

It is my earnest desire that some of you should carry on this scientific work and keep for your ambition the determination to make a permanent contribution to science.

This means that we have here an entirely separate kind of chemistry for which the current tool we use is the electrometer, not the balance, and which we might well call the chemistry of the imponderable.

We believe the substance we have extracted from pitchblende contains a metal not yet observed, related to bismuth by its analytical properties. If the existence of this new metal is confirmed we propose to call it polonium, from the name of the original country of one of us.

Humanity needs practical men, who get the most out of their work, and, without forgetting the general good, safeguard their own interests. But humanity also needs dreamers, for whom the disinterested development of an enterprise is so captivating that it becomes impossible for them to devote their care to their own material profit.

The various reasons which we have enumerated lead us to believe that the new radio-active substance contains a new element which we propose to give the name of radium.

Stability can only be attained by inactive matter.

Certein bodies... become luminous when heated. Their luminosity disappears after some time, but the capacity of becoming luminous afresh through heat is restored to them by the action of a spark, and also by the action of radium.

The sensitive plate, the gas which is ionised, the fluorescent screen, are in reality receivers, into another kind of energy, chemical energy, ionic energy... luminous energy.

Life is not easy for any for us.

My husband and I were so closely united by our affection and our common work that we passed nearly all of our time together.

It's always good to marry your best friend.

I believe international work is a heavy task, but that it is nevertheless indispensable to go through an apprenticeship in it, at the cost of many efforts and also of a real spirit of sacrifice: however imperfect it may be, the work of Geneva has a grandeur that deserves our support.

You cannot hope to build a better world without improving the individuals. To that end,each of us must work for our own improvement and, at the same time, share a genaral responsibility for all humanity, our particular duty being to aid those to whom we think can be most useful.

More and more, I feel the need for a house and a garden.

It was like a new world opened to me, the world of science, which I was at last permitted to know in all liberty.

Radium is not to enrich any one. It is an element; it is for all people.

I have the best husband one could dream of; I could never have imagined finding one like him. He is a true gift of heaven, and the more we live together the more we love each other.

I shall devote only a few lines to the expression of my belief in the importance of science … it is by this daily striving after knowledge that man has raised himself to the unique position he occupies on earth, and that his power and well-being have continually increased.