Marie Curie Quotes

"Life is not easy for any of us. But what of that? We must have perseverance and above all confidence in ourselves."

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

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

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

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

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

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

"Humanity needs practical men, who get the most out of their work... 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."

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

"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."

"Scientific work must not be considered from the point of view of the direct usefulness of it. It must be done for the beauty of science."

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

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

"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 I can put it on afterwards to go to the laboratory."

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

"It is impossible to notice the swift flight of time in our quiet life, and we are surprised when the little ones grow up and it becomes time to work."

"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."

"A great discovery does not issue from a scientist's brain ready-made, like Minerva springing fully armed from Jupiter's head; it is the fruit of an accumulation of preliminary work."

"We have no money, no laboratory, and no help... and yet it was in this miserable old shed that the best and happiest years of our life were spent."

"Unknown in the beginning, the element radium has become a helper of mankind."

"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."

"My husband and I refused to patent the radium producing process. We were of the opinion that there should be no secret about it."

"I decided to devote my life to science."

"If I see anything vital around me, it is precisely that spirit of adventure, which seems indestructible and is akin to curiosity."

"There is always the chance that a scientific discovery may become like the radium, a benefit for humanity."

"When one studies radioactive substances, one must use special precautions."

"It is the duty of scientists to publish their discoveries."

"I have the best husband one could dream of; I could never have imagined finding one like him."

"The scientific history of radium is beautiful."

"All that I saw and learned that was new was a delight to me."

"We must not forget that when radium was discovered no one knew that it would prove useful in hospitals."

"We must keep our certainty that after the bad days the good times will come again."

"Be less curious about people and more curious about ideas."