As a man who has devoted his whole life to the most clear headed science, to the study of matter, I can tell you as a result of my research about atoms this much: There is no matter as such. All matter originates and exists only by virtue of a force which brings the particle of an atom to vibration and holds this most minute solar system of the atom together. We must assume behind this force the existence of a conscious and intelligent mind. This mind is the matrix of all matter
Attributed toMax Planck1858–1947 · German theoretical physicist
Widely credited to Planck and tied to a German passage held by the Archive of the Max Planck Society. That archive catalogs the item as an undated typewritten copy with no source reference. No published work by Planck containing it has been identified, and the popular English wording is a loose translation of unknown origin.
“As a man who has devoted his whole life to the most clear headed science, to the study of matter, I can tell you as a result of my research about atoms this much: There is no matter as such. All matter originates and exists only by virtue of a force which brings the particle of an atom to vibration and holds this most minute solar system of the atom together. We must assume behind this force the existence of a conscious and intelligent mind. This mind is the matrix of all matter” attributed to Max Planck; known only from an undated, unsourced typescript copy in the Archive of the Max Planck Society (Va. Abt., Rep. 11, Nr. 1797). Translator unknown. Via Quotle.info
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In context
Evoking the world of Max Planck — German theoretical physicist, originator of quantum theory. Theme: "As a man who has devoted his whole life to the most clear headed science, to the study of matter, I can tell you as a result of my research about atoms this much: There is no matter as such. All matter originates and exists only by virtue of a force which brings the particle of an atom to vibration and holds this most minute solar system of the atom together. We must assume behind this force the existence of a conscious and intelligent mind. This mind is the matrix of all matter". Atmospheric and restrained, cinematic directional light, a muted period-appropriate palette, fine grain and texture. Compose with generous empty space for the quote and a small credit line. No lettering in the image itself.
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Provenance
The only source: an unsourced typescript copy
Archive item
“Äußerungen Max Plancks über Gott” (Max Planck’s statements about God), typewritten copy
Holding
Archiv der Max-Planck-Gesellschaft, Va. Abt., Rep. 11, Nr. 1797
Date
“ohne Datum” (undated); catalog note: “ohne Quellenangabe, von einem Kongreß in Florenz”
Translation
Translator unknown. Geist can be rendered “Mind” or “Spirit”; the cited English versions use “Mind.” An abridged “Mind” version is in Gregg Braden, The Divine Matrix (2007)
Als Physiker, der sein ganzes Leben der nüchternen Wissenschaft, der Erforschung der Materie widmete, bin ich sicher von dem Verdacht frei, für einen Schwarmgeist gehalten zu werden. Und so sage ich nach meinen Erforschungen des Atoms dieses: Es gibt keine Materie an sich. Alle Materie entsteht und besteht nur durch eine Kraft, welche die Atomteilchen in Schwingung bringt und sie zum winzigsten Sonnensystem des Alls zusammenhält. Da es im ganzen Weltall aber weder eine intelligente Kraft noch eine ewige Kraft gibt—es ist der Menschheit nicht gelungen, das heißersehnte Perpetuum mobile zu erfinden—so müssen wir hinter dieser Kraft einen bewußten intelligenten Geist annehmen. Dieser Geist ist der Urgrund aller Materie.
German text as published by Lönnig and on Wikiquote, both citing archive item Nr. 1797
This German text is the version on Wikiquote, which quotes it via Braden. W.-E. Lönnig, citing archive item Nr. 1797, gives the same text but opens it with “Meine Herren,” (Gentlemen). No direct transcription of the archive copy has been published. The popular English drops the sentence about not being taken for a “Schwarmgeist” (fanatic) and the perpetual-motion reasoning. It renders nüchternen (sober) as “clear headed” and Urgrund (primordial ground or ultimate source) as “matrix.” Geist can mean either “mind” or “spirit.”
The archive copy. The Max Planck Society archive lists item Nr. 1797 as an undated typewritten copy of “Max Planck’s statements about God,” with no source reference. It says only that the copy comes “from a congress in Florence” and from the estate of Katharina Horsch (catalog record ↗).
The German text in print online. The biologist W.-E. Lönnig put the German passage at the head of his Planck collection, citing Nr. 1797. He adds that the archive sent him the document and that Hans Roos, then responsible for Planck’s papers, had no doubts about it (Lönnig’s page ↗).
The popular English. Gregg Braden’s The Divine Matrix (2007) opens with an abridged version that ends “This Mind is the matrix of all matter” and is signed “Max Planck, 1944” (publisher sample ↗).
The doubts. English Wikiquote lists the German text and translations, citing the archive and Braden (Wikiquote ↗). Its talk page says “I can see no good source” (talk ↗). German Wikiquote editors report that the passage is not printed in Planck’s Vorträge und Erinnerungen (1949) and call the archive citation untraceable (Diskussion ↗).
No first publication of this passage by Planck has been identified. The German text survives only as an undated, unsourced archive copy, and the English wording is an anonymous translation in several variants. A later book that reprints a version, such as Braden’s 2007 The Divine Matrix, is itself in copyright, so no public-domain status is claimed here.
Rights status is our research, not legal advice — and copyright varies by country and edition. For commercial or published use, confirm with the rightsholder. See terms.
Fact-check
What the popular version gets wrong
The thought may be Planck’s, but the details that make the quote look firmly sourced are not in the record it rests on. The archive says only that the copy is “from a congress in Florence”; it gives no 1944 date and no title “Das Wesen der Materie.”
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The occasion“Das Wesen der Materie,” a 1944 speech in Florence Unconfirmed
Wikiquote gives this title and date, and Braden signs the quote “1944.” The archive’s own record for Nr. 1797 gives neither: it is “ohne Datum,” with no title of that kind, and says only “von einem Kongreß in Florenz” (from a congress in Florence) (catalog ↗). German Wikiquote editors trace the 1944 dating to a 2002 letter from Heinz Saedler to Ulrich Kutschera (Diskussion ↗).
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The key word“This mind is the matrix of all matter” Loose translation
The German ends “Dieser Geist ist der Urgrund aller Materie.” Urgrund means the primordial ground or ultimate source, and one translation on Wikiquote ↗ renders it as “the ultimate source of matter.” “Matrix” is a variant rendering.
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The popularizerGregg Braden, The Divine Matrix (2007) Abridged
Braden’s epigraph cuts the passage to its last lines and uses it to introduce his own “Divine Matrix” idea (sample ↗).
✓The honest status is “attributed.” The words are known only from an undated typewritten copy with no source reference, held in the Max Planck Society archive (record ↗).
Context
Why it travels
The passage is popular because it seems to give the founder of quantum theory’s backing to the idea that mind or spirit underlies matter. Intelligent-design writers, New Age authors and religious sites all quote it. That spread explains why the 1944 date and the speech title are repeated so confidently, although the archive record gives neither and says only that the copy is “from a congress in Florence.”
Planck did write and lecture on religion and science, so the sentiment is not out of character. But a plausible sentiment is not a documented text. Until the Florence congress is dated or an original manuscript is identified, the safe course is to quote it as “attributed to Max Planck” and to cite the German archive copy rather than a speech.
Dieser Geist ist der Urgrund aller Materie.
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Filed under
More provenance-checked quotes on the same theme, each with its reuse status.
1858–1947 · German theoretical physicist, originator of quantum theory
Max Planck founded quantum theory and was one of the leading figures of German science in the first half of the twentieth century. He also lectured and wrote on science and religion, for example in Religion und Naturwissenschaft. That makes a passage about a “conscious and intelligent” mind behind matter plausible in tone, but it does not document this particular text.
For writers & researchers
Cite this
Archive copy
Attributed to Max Planck. “Äußerungen Max Plancks über Gott,” typewritten copy without source reference, “von einem Kongreß in Florenz,” undated. Archiv der Max-Planck-Gesellschaft, Va. Abt., Rep. 11, Nr. 1797. English wording of unknown translation; abridged version in Gregg Braden, The Divine Matrix (Hay House, 2007).
This verification page
Quotle.info. “Who really said ‘As a man who has devoted his whole life to the most clear headed science, to the study of matter, I can tell you as a result of my research about atoms this much: There is no matter as such. All matter originates and exists only by virtue of a force which brings the particle of an atom to vibration and holds this most minute solar system of the atom together. We must assume behind this force the existence of a conscious and intelligent mind. This mind is the matrix of all matter’?” Last verified 2 Nov 2026. https://quotle.info/who-said/as-a-man-who-has-devoted-his-whole-life-to-the-most-clear/