No one may have the guts to say this, but if we could make better human beings by knowing how to add genes, why shouldn't we?
James D. WatsonRead
I have an odd theory on happiness, and it bothers people. My general theory is that happiness is a reward for an animal doing what it should be doing. So if a horse runs, it feels happy. Or if you are too thin, you can't be happy, because evolution wants you to be tense and anxious, trying to wake up in the morning looking for food.
Interpretation
Happiness is a natural reward for fulfilling one's purpose or needs.
James D. Watson's quote suggests that happiness is intrinsically linked to fulfilling biological and evolutionary roles. It implies that when creatures, including humans, are engaged in activities aligned with their natural instincts—like a horse running—they experience happiness. Conversely, he points out the tensions that arise when individuals stray too far from their natural state, indicating that true happiness comes from being grounded in one's own purpose and evolutionary needs.
In practice
This quote can be used in a motivational talk about pursuing one's true passions.
No one may have the guts to say this, but if we could make better human beings by knowing how to add genes, why shouldn't we?
I think the reason people are dealing with science less well now than 50 years ago is that it has become so complicated.
Polls consistently show that the majority of Americans favour research using embryonic stem cells and yet politicians continue to pander to the outspoken religious minority that is hampering efforts to develop this potentially valuable technology.
DNA was my only gold rush. I regarded DNA as worth a gold rush.
Science has always been my preoccupation and when you think a breakthrough is possible, it is terribly exciting.
If you go into science, I think you better go in with a dream that maybe you, too, will get a Nobel Prize. It's not that I went in and I thought I was very bright and I was going to get one, but I'll confess, you know, I knew what it was.
The circus is the only fun you can buy that is good for you.
Bodily labor alleviates the pains of the mind and from this arises the happiness of the poor
I just drove past Brad Paisley jogging down the side of the road. I rolled down the window and screamed RUN FORREST RUN. I live for….. little moments…..like that.
We have thousands of opportunities every day to be grateful: for having good weather, to have slept well last night, to be able to get up, to be healthy, to have enough to eat. ... There's opportunity upon opportunity to be grateful; that's what life is.
The moment I stopped spending so much time chasing the big pleasure of life. I began to enjoy the little ones, like watching the stars dancing in moonlit sky or soaking in the sunbeams of a glorious summer morning.
On with dance, let joy be unconfined, is my motto; whether there's any dance to dance or any joy to unconfined.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.