[Pauling] has a speculative mind of the first order, great analytical ability, and the genius to keep in close and inspiring touch with experimental work.... He...is nearly universally rated as the leading theoretical chemist of the world.
Warren Weaver. Weaver diary notes, as referenced in Force of Nature, by Tom Hager, p. 187. October 1933.

"I doubt that many Nobel Prizes have been so popular with the masses in science.... [A]lmost all are delighted that the Nobel Prize embarrasses the State Department."
Charles Coryell. Letter to J. Robert Oppenheimer, as referenced in Force of Nature, by Tom Hager, p. 451. November 2, 1954.

"I had something of a shock when I went to Europe in 1926 and discovered that there were a good number of people around that I thought to be smarter than me."
Linus Pauling. Interview with Tom Hager, published in Force of Nature, p. 130. 1991.

"Anybody could see that quantum mechanics must lead to the tetrahedral carbon atom, because we have it. But the equations were so complicated that I never could be sure that I could present the arguments in such a way that they would be convincing to anybody."
Linus Pauling. Interview with Tom Hager, published in Force of Nature, p. 142. 1991.

"My attitude was, why shouldn’t I use the understanding that I have developed of the nature of crystals in inorganic substances to proceed to predict their structures?"
Linus Pauling. Interview with Tom Hager, published in Force of Nature, p. 144. 1991.

"I might well have become egotistical as a result [of the Langmuir Prize].... But...I think that I just said I shouldn’t let this go to my head. I shouldn’t think I’m really better than other people even though I do this one thing better than other people."
Linus Pauling. Interview with Tom Hager, published in Force of Nature, p. 160. 1991.

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