Of course I don't believe in it [pointing to horseshoe on his office wall]. But I understand that it brings you luck whether you believe in it or not.
Interpretation
Belief can influence perception of luck, regardless of whether it's rational.
This quote by Niels Bohr highlights the distinction between belief and reality, suggesting that the act of believing in something, such as a horseshoe as a symbol of luck, can have a psychological effect. Even if one does not personally subscribe to the superstition, understanding its influence on others can be significant, revealing how our perceptions can shape our experiences.
In practice
During a motivational speech, to emphasize the power of belief.
When asked ... [about] an underlying quantum world, Bohr would answer, 'There is no quantum world. There is only an abstract quantum physical description. It is wrong to think that the task of physics is to find out how nature is. Physics concerns what we can say about Nature.'
An independant reality in the ordinary physical sense can neither be ascribed to the phenomenon nor to the agencies of observation.
An expert is a man who has made all the mistakes which can be made, in a narrow field.
Those who are not shocked when they first come across quantum theory cannot possibly have understood it.
When searching for harmony in life one must never forget that in the drama of existence we are ourselves both actors and spectators.
And anyone who thinks they can talk about quantum theory without feeling dizzy hasn't yet understood the first thing about it.
Events, once happened, lose reality, alter with a glance, a storm, a night. In time, the past never happened. But who could know? Who could know that the past is not as solid as this instant.
When a man says he does not want to speak of something he usually means he can think of nothing else.
A checkbook is a theological document, it will tell you who and what you worship.
Generally speaking, our prisoners were capable of loving animals, and if they had been allowed they would have delighted to rear large numbers of domestic animals and birds in the prison. And I wonder what other activity could better have softened and refined their harsh and brutal natures than this. But it was not allowed. Neither the regulations nor the nature of the prison made it possible.
How can I know anything about the past or the future, when the light of the Beloved shines only Now.
How well I have learned that there is no fence to sit on between heaven and hell. There is a deep, wide gulf, a chasm, and in that chasm is no place for any man.
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