Man at last knows that he is alone in the unfeeling immensity of the universe, out of which he emerged only by chance. Neither his destiny nor his du…

- Jacques Monod

Man finally knows that he is alone in the indifferent immensity of the Universe, from which he emerged by accident.

- Jacques Monod

A curious aspect of the theory of evolution is that everybody thinks he understands it.

- Jacques Monod

The whole concert of animate nature arose entirely from annoying noises.

- Jacques Monod

Every living being is also a fossil. Within it, all the way down to the microscopic structure of its proteins, it bears the traces if not the stigmat…

- Jacques Monod

There are living systems; there is no'living matter'.

- Jacques Monod

Chance alone is at the source of every innovaton, of all creation in the biosphere. Pure chance, only chance, absolute but blind liberty is at the ro…

- Jacques Monod

In science, self-satisfaction is death. Personal self-satisfaction is the death of the scientist. Collective self-satisfaction is the death of the re…

- Jacques Monod

What is true for E. coli is also true for the elephant.

- Jacques Monod