Charles Francis Richter

“The damn thing is, we're not running an earthquake prediction program; we're running a public relations program.”

“The name Richter is German and it means 'judge.' I am a judge of earthquakes.”

“The scale is a logarithmic one; a magnitude 7 earthquake is 10 times larger than a 6, 100 times larger than a 5, and 1,000 times larger than a 4.”

“Nothing is less important than an earthquake.”

“Don't build your house on a fault line.”

“Nothing is less predictable than the development of an active scientific field.”

“I don't know why people are so interested. It's just a number.”

“Only a fool worries about things he can't control.”

“Logarithmic scales are a device of the devil.”

“I got a certain notoriety, but I'm not a public figure.”

“I have no idea of what it is all about. I am not a philosopher.”

“Only a fool would try to predict earthquakes.”

“I found it tempting to invent a new lie, on the spot, but my professional ethics overrode my sense of humor.”

“We are all going to die, but I'm going to die a little sooner.”

“We have had a lot of luck with our preliminary findings and have been able to use that to push the envelope.”

“I found that the reporters would come to me in an earthquake and I would give them some general information, but then they would have to go to Gutenberg for the details.”

“I don't know what it is about me that makes people think I'm a god. I'm just a scientist.”