John von Neumann quotes - page 2

Science, as well as technology, will in the near and in the farther future increasingly turn from problems of intensity, substance, and energy, to problems of structure, organization, information, and control. (John von Neumann)
Problems are often stated in vague terms... because it is quite uncertain what the problems really are. View quote
John von Neumann
Technological possibilities are irresistible to man. If man can go to the moon, he will. If he can control the climate, he will. View quote
John von Neumann
I am thinking about something much more important than bombs. I am thinking about computers. View quote
John von Neumann
I think that it is a relatively good approximation to truth - which is much too complicated to allow anything but approximations - that mathematical ideas originate in empirics. View quote
John von Neumann
In the second place, and more important, no one really knows what entropy really is, so in a debate you will always have the advantage. View quote
John von Neumann
The most vitally characteristic fact about mathematics is, in my opinion, its quite peculiar relationship to the natural sciences, or more generally, to any science which interprets experience on a higher than purely descriptive level. View quote
John von Neumann
The total subject of mathematics is clearly too broad for any one of us. I do not think that any mathematician since Gauss has covered it fully and uniformly, even Hilbert did not, and all of us are of considerably lesser width (quite apart from the question of depth) than Hilbert. It would therefore, be quite unrealistic not to admit, that any address I could possibly give would not be biased towards some areas in mathematics in which I have had some experience, to the detriment of others which may be equally or more important. To be specific, I could not avoid a bias towards those parts of analysis, logics, and certain border areas of the applications of mathematics to other sciences in which I have worked. If your Committee feels that an address which is affected by such imperfections still fits into the program of the Congress, and if the very generous confidence in my ability to deliver continues, I shall be glad to undertake it. View quote
John von Neumann
It will not be sufficient to know that the enemy has only fifty possible tricks and that we can counter every one of them, but we must be able to counter them almost at the very instant they occur. View quote
John von Neumann