I hope that some day scientists can be considered heroes again, instead of Paris Hilton.
Interpretation
The quote critiques the societal values that prioritize celebrity over the achievements of scientists.
Walter Isaacson's quote highlights a cultural shift where public admiration tends to favor celebrities, such as Paris Hilton, rather than the significant contributions of scientists who advance knowledge and society. This reflection on values emphasizes the need to reconsider who we celebrate and recognize as heroes in our society.
In practice
In a speech about the importance of scientific contributions to society, this quote could emphasize the need to celebrate real heroes.
I visited Jobs for the last time in his Palo Alto, Calif., home. He had moved to a downstairs bedroom because he was too weak to go up and down stairs. He was curled up in some pain, but his mind was still sharp and his humor vibrant
I've always had an abundance of material about the subjects of my biographies.
Polite and velvety leaders, who take care to avoid bruising others, are generally not as effective at forcing change.
for Steve, less is always more, simpler is always better. Therefore, if you can build a glass box with fewer elements, it’s better, it’s simpler, and it’s at the forefront of technology. That’s where Steve likes to be, in both his products and his stores.
What are the five products you want to focus on? Get rid of the rest, because they’re dragging you down. They’re turning you into Microsoft. They’re causing you to turn out products that are adequate but not great.
When there are multiple versions of a story, you really have three ways to go. You can pick the most sensational version. You can try to balance things in your gut to get to what you think is the honest truth. Or you can err on the side of kindness.
Our job is not to predict the future. Rather, it's to suggest all the possible futures - so that society can make informed decisions about where we want to go.
There is much that science doesn't understand, many mysteries still to be resolved. In a Universe tens of billions of light-years across and some ten or fifteen billion years old, this may be the case forever. We are constantly stumbling on new surprises
There are no miracles in agricultural production.
That is the essence of science: ask an impertinent question, and you are on the way to a pertinent answer.
Any important disease whose causality is murky, and for which treatment is ineffectual, tends to be awash in significance.
It is mistaken to claim that global problems will be solved more quickly if only researchers would abandon their quest to understand the universe and knuckle down to work on an agenda of public or political concerns. These are not 'either/or' options - indeed, there is a positive symbiosis between them.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.