Quotes of All Topics . Occasions . Authors
If a man cannot see a church, it is preposterous to take his opinion about its altar-piece or painted window.
Better live a crossing-sweeper than die and be made to talk twaddle by a "medium" hired at a guinea a seance.
The love of complexity without reductionism makes art; the love of complexity with reductionism makes science.
The adoration of human nature by the Greeks appeared in Greek plastic art and was the cause of its excellence.
To be able to observe with a stranger's eye helps one to see with an artist's eye. What alienates us inspires.
Certain brief sentences are peerless in their ability to give one the feeling that nothing remains to be said.
You can analyze a glass of water and you're left with a lot of chemical components, but nothing you can drink.
History warns us that it is the customary fate of new truths to begin as heresies and to end as superstitions.
Suggested remedy for the common cold: A good gulp of whiskey at bedtime-it's not very scientific, but it helps.
You could have two completely different careers if you could stay healthy to 90. How fascinating that would be.
I was a little truth seeker as a child. I wanted more than anything to understand myself and also other people.
I don't judge a regime by the damning criticism of the opposition, but by the ingenuous praise of the partisan.
Hatred, for the man who is not engaged in it, is a little like the odor of garlic for one who hasn't eaten any.
One kills a man, one is an assassin; one kills millions, one is a conqueror; one kills everybody, one is a god.
If you really want to study evolution, you've got go outside sometime, because you'll see symbiosis everywhere!
Make up your mind to act decidedly and take the consequences. No good is ever done in this world by hesitation.
[Bacteria are the] dark matter of the biological world [with 4 million mostly unknown species in a ton of soil].
Nothing is more admirable than the fortitude with which millionaires tolerate the disadvantages of their wealth.
Any suggestion that science and religion are incompatible flies in the face of history, logic, and common sense.
There is no greater mistake than the hasty conclusion that opinions are worthless because they are badly argued.
Only one absolute certainty is possible to man, namely that at any given moment the feeling which he has exists.
23andMe set out to try and change healthcare - this is not an easy business. This is not a coffee shop in Austin.
Technologists practice faith too; 'Faith that problems have solutions before having the knowledge to solve them.'
With worms you can just change genes at random and see if you can find a mutant that does what you want it to do.
Religious belief itself is an adaptation that has evolved because we're hard-wired to form tribalistic religions.
Man knows at last that he is alone in the universe's unfeeling immensity, out of which he emerged only by chance.
I think I am one of those who can manage not to take on a completely different appearance under their own glance.
And if we must educate our poets and artists in science, we must educate our masters, labour and capital, in art.
I think that the idea of people wanting to steal your genome remains a little bit in the world of science fiction.
Be prepared mentally for some amount of chaos and failure. Waste and frustration often attend the earliest stages.
Our brain is mapping the world. Often that map is distorted, but it's a map with constant immediate sensory input.
Whatever evil voices may rage, Science, secure among the powers that are eternal, will do her work and be blessed.
Mathematics may be compared to a mill of exquisite workmanship, which grinds your stuff to any degree of fineness.
The man who is all morality and intellect, although he may be good and even great, is, after all, only half a man.
The world is neither wise nor just, but it makes up for all its folly and injustice by being damnably sentimental.
People want to be in charge of health information. They want it available the same way online banking is available.
A few small changes in your DNA can turn your eyes blue, make you lactose intolerant or put some curl in your hair.
The world depends on fungi, because they are major players in the cycling of materials and energy around the world.
We have decommissioned natural selection and must now look deep within ourselves and decide what we wish to become.
Man finally knows that he is alone in the indifferent immensity of the Universe, from which he emerged by accident.
In matters of intellect, follow your reason as far as it will take you, without regard for any other consideration.
The dogma of the infallibility of the Bible is no more self-evident than is that of the infallibility of the popes.
I like company lunches because I think going out wastes valuable time; plus, a lot of good ideas come up over lunch.
In nature, no organic substance is synthesized unless there is provision for its degradation; recycling is enforced.
In principle, if you understood the mechanisms of keeping things repaired, you could keep things going indefinitely.
There are moments when very little truth would be enough to shape opinion. One might be hated at extremely low cost.
To romp along the connected rooftops and fire escapes of Chicagos second city of garages was my young lifes passion.
If individuality has no play, society does not advance; if individuality breaks out of all bounds, society perishes.
It's up to all of us, the consumers, to take charge of our health. It's almost like voting. It's your responsibility.
Our understanding of the world is achieved more effectively by conceptual improvements than by discovery of new facts