Niels, Harald, and their older sister, Jenny, grew up in a cultured and stimulating home. From their earliest days they were exposed to a world of ideas and discussion, of conflicting views rationally and good-temperedly examined, and they developed a respect for all who seek deeper knowledge and understanding.
My interest in the study of physics was awakened while I was still in school, largely owing to the influence of my father.
The two are inseparable. I have never known people to be as close as they are.
It does not seem possible at the present stage of the development of the electron theory to explain the magnetic properties of bodies from this theory.
Some people have speculated about the lucky circumstances which combined to make Niels so successful. I think the ingredients of his life were by no means matters of chance but deeply ingrained in the structure of his personality ... It was not luck, rather deep insight, which led him to find in young years his wife, who, as we all know, had such a decisive role in making his whole scientific and personal activity possible and harmonious.