In fact, death seems to have been a rather late invention in evolution. One can go a long way in evolution before encountering an authentic corpse.
George WaldRead
Nuclear weapons offer us nothing but a balance of terror, and a balance of terror is still terror.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Nuclear weapons create a false sense of security through fear, and that fear itself is destructive.
In this quote, George Wald emphasizes the paradoxical nature of nuclear weapons, suggesting that they do not provide genuine safety but rather instill a pervasive atmosphere of fear. The concept of a 'balance of terror' implies that while nations may feel equally threatened and therefore deterred from using these weapons, the underlying reality is that the threat of annihilation festers a continuous state of terror that undermines true stability and peace.
Themes
NuclearWeaponsTerrorBalanceFear
In practice
Example use cases
In a debate on international security, one might use this quote to highlight the futility of relying on nuclear deterrence.
More from George Wald
All quotes βI have lived much of my life among molecules. They are good company. I tell my students to try to know molecules, so well that when they have some question involving molecules, they can ask themselves, What would I do if I were that molecule? I tell them, Try to feel like a molecule; and if you work hard, who knows? Some day you may get to feel like a big molecule!
George WaldRead
Our challenge is to give what account we can of what becomes of life in the solar system, this corner of the universe that is our home; and, most of all, what becomes of men-all men, of all nations, colors, and creeds. This has become one world, a world for all men. It is only such a world that can now offer us life, and the chance to go on.
George WaldRead
Evolution advances, not by a priori design, but by the selection of what works best out of whatever choices offer. We are the products of editing, rather than of authorship.
George WaldRead
I think if a physician wrote on a death certificate that old age was the cause of death, he'd be thrown out of the union. There is always some final event, some failure of an organ, some last attack of pneumonia, that finishes off a life. No one dies of old age.
George WaldRead
Civilization will end within 15 or 30 years unless immediate action is taken against problems facing mankind.
George WaldRead
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