It is probable that all heavy matter possessesólatent and bound up with the structure of the atomóa similar quantity of energy to that possessed by radium. If it could be tapped and controlled, what an agent it would be in shaping the world's destiny! The man who puts his hand on the lever by which a parsimonious nature regulates so jealously the output of this store of energy would possess a weapon by which he could destroy the Earth if he chose. A prescient remark on atomic energy after the discovery of radioactivity, but decades before the harnessing of nuclear fission in an atomic bomb became a reality
Frederick Soddy
With all our mastery over the powers of Nature we have adhered to the view that the struggle for existence is a permanent and necessary condition of life.
Frederick Soddy
The pure air and dazzling snow belong to things beyond the reach of all personal feeling, almost beyond the reach of life. Yet such things are a part of our life, neither the least noble nor the most terrible.
Frederick Soddy